When it comes to salads I'm all about the crunch and prefer to use greens over lettuce. One of my favourite dark leafy greens to use is Rainbow/Swiss chard. I grow it in my garden and it grows well even into winter here in the mild drizzly Pacific Northwest. I know not everyone is a beet lover. Did you know that when you roast them, it transforms these earthy gems into sweet treasures. The candied nuts are super simple to make, and are ready in less than 20 minutes. Warning: you may just eat them all before they make it to your salad! Unlike traditional candied nuts, they are only lightly sweetened with unrefined sweeteners. Any raw nut can be used to make these. Many stores now carry roasted prepared beets so if you use these beets you can shave at least 1 hour off the total prep time.

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F. Line a rimmed cookie/baking sheet with parchment paper. Place all the ingredients on the sheet and using your hands mix well. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the syrup starts to bubble and the nuts are lightly toasted.
Once you remove the nuts from the oven, stir so that they are evenly coated with the topping. Place in a bowl and allow to cool and then enjoy. This makes technically more than you would need for the salad but once you taste them you'll want to snack endlessly on them!
Prick beet root with fork at least 4-6 times and place in preheated 400 F oven and roast on a tin foil lined rimmed sheet pan for about 60 minutes or until fork tender. Allow beets to cool and once cool remove skins and chop into large bite sized chunks.
Add sliced chard, sweet pepper and beets to a large bowl. Pour over prepared vinaigrette and toss gently to combine. Top individual portions of salad with desired amount of candied nuts and enjoy!
Add all of the ingredients to a glass jar and shake vigorously to combine. Set aside until you are ready to dress the salad. Make sure you shake well again before dressing.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F. Line a rimmed cookie/baking sheet with parchment paper. Place all the ingredients on the sheet and using your hands mix well. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the syrup starts to bubble and the nuts are lightly toasted.
Once you remove the nuts from the oven, stir so that they are evenly coated with the topping. Place in a bowl and allow to cool and then enjoy. This makes technically more than you would need for the salad but once you taste them you'll want to snack endlessly on them!
Prick beet root with fork at least 4-6 times and place in preheated 400 F oven and roast on a tin foil lined rimmed sheet pan for about 60 minutes or until fork tender. Allow beets to cool and once cool remove skins and chop into large bite sized chunks.
Add sliced chard, sweet pepper and beets to a large bowl. Pour over prepared vinaigrette and toss gently to combine. Top individual portions of salad with desired amount of candied nuts and enjoy!
Add all of the ingredients to a glass jar and shake vigorously to combine. Set aside until you are ready to dress the salad. Make sure you shake well again before dressing.