This is a showstopper of a salad. It's elegant and satisfying, with roasted veggies, spiced pecans, juicy pears, hearty greens, and a delicious and tangy dressing that will make you want to lick your plate. And it's vegan and gluten-free. You and your guests will love this Spinach Arugula Salad with Black Garlic Vinaigrette!
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💕Why you'll love this salad
Simple with make-ahead options
You'll save time by preparing parts of the salad while others parts are simultaneously underway. There are faster substitutions you can make if you'd like, and you can make parts ahead as well. This salad is so flexible, and will be amazing however you customize it!
Made with love
While this salad is easy to make, it has elegant and delightful elements that showcase your effort to please. Your family and guests will find this salad intriguing and fulfilling, and you'll be so proud that you've made them feel special.
Hearty and satisfying
The raw and roasted veggies pair perfectly with the black garlic vinaigrette dressing, delicious greens, juicy pears and pomegranate seeds, and earthy rosemary spiced pecans. This salad can serve beautifully as either a side dish or a filling meal that everyone will love!
📓Ingredient notes
Black garlic
If you haven't yet tried black garlic, you're in for a tangy and savory revelation! And you'll be incorporating it into an easy, addictive dressing. My daughter has practically licked her plate each time I've made it, and she keeps asking me to make more. I'll take that as proof of dressing success!
Black garlic is made by fermenting entire garlic heads at low heat over several weeks. You can do this in a slow cooker. I've yet to make my own, but it's definitely doable. There are great tutorials online about how to do this. It's also available pre-made on Amazon and at well-stocked grocery stores.
I've bought black garlic in two different types of head types, either with a single giant clove or traditional multiple cloves. Here's a photo of each, so you can decide which you'd like to use. I've found it much easier to go with the single large clove type. This makes peeling much simpler:
On the left is the large, single-clove type of head. And on the right is the multiple-clove head type. Both will work, and I've found the prices to be comparable. So please use whatever works for you in terms of availability. The single-clove heads are definitely less time-consuming to peel. If you try making your own black garlic, please let me know how it turns out in the comments!
Vinaigrette ingredients
Here are the ingredients for the dressing:
- Black garlic: There are several options available on Amazon, and I've also found it at Whole Foods. A well-stocked grocery store in your area should hopefully have it. For simplicity's sake, I'd use the large single-clove heads to make peeling easier.
- Olive oil: This helps to carry the salad dressing flavors.
- Balsamic vinegar: This elevates the tangy flavors in this recipe.
- Tahini: Many vinaigrettes use a strong-flavored sauce like mustard to break the emulsion and make a smooth dressing. Since I really wanted the black garlic to shine in this recipe, I decided to use the mild, creamy flavor of tahini to be more of a supporting player in the background.
- Maple syrup: Please use real maple syrup in this recipe if you can. It'll really make a difference in the flavor.
- Shallot: I love the mild oniony crunch from the shallots in this dressing. If you'd like your dressing to be perfectly smooth, you can put it in the blender instead of stirring or shaking it. The shallot flavor will still be there in the background.
- Kosher salt: I like to use fine-textured salt to really spread its weight evenly throughout the dressing.
- Freshly-ground pepper: Please use a grinder if possible, to ensure the pepper flavor is extra-fresh.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Salad ingredients
- Sweet potato: You can use any type of sweet potato in this salad. Feel free to use your favorite.
- Cauliflower: To save time, you can buy the florets pre-cut, and then just trim any large ones down for consistent sizes for roasting.
- Olive oil: I use just a minimum amount of oil to give the sweet potatoes and cauliflower some crisp and caramelized edges in roasting.
- Kosher salt: This fine-textured salt carries its flavor evenly over the roasted veggies.
- Freshly-ground black pepper: I love to use pepper to elevate flavors in roasting.
- Carrots: Use any carrots you'd like in this recipe. A color variety would look wonderful in this salad.
- Pomegranate arils / seeds: Please don't be intimidated in removing the seeds from the fruit. It's totally doable. But at the same time, you want to wear a shirt that can hide a possible errant spray. You'll be de-seeding under water in a bowl to minimize the chance of this happening. And to save time, you can instead buy the seeds already removed if your grocery store carries them.
- Pears: I like to use firm pears for this recipe, so they'll hold their shape. I recommend varieties such as bartlett, anjou, or bosc, or another firm variety that you like.
- Arugula: Please don't hesitate to try this delicious green because you've heard it's "peppery." It is, but in such an enjoyable way. This assertive but not overpowering taste stands up well to the variety of flavors in this hearty salad.
- Baby spinach: I love the mild, creamy notes in this green. And the texture of the leaves is sturdy at the same time, with a beautiful chew.
- Pecans: I recommend making extras of the rosemary spiced pecans, since they're so irresistible to snack on. Their sweet and salty flavors go perfectly with this salad. And you want to make sure you'll have enough for both!
See recipe card for quantities.
📒Step-by-step instructions
Vinaigrette steps
Peel the black garlic and mash it with a fork.
Add remaining dressing ingredients, and stir well to blend.
Salad steps
Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a large rimmed baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Peel and chop the sweet potato and cauliflower, and season with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 22-18 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Meanwhile, make the carrot ribbons. Using a y-peeler, you can make them thin or thick, wide or narrow. I've made mine thin and narrow, so they're like flexible noodles while maintaining some nice crunch.
Cut off the top, and core the pomegranate along the 5 outer ridges to prepare to remove the arils / seeds.
Place the pomegranate in a bowl of water to minimize spraying while removing the seeds. Carefully open the pomegranate under the water surface along the score lines you've created. Separate the seeds, skim off any floating membrane bits, and drain the seeds through a sieve and place on a paper towel to dry.
Make the rosemary spiced pecans and let cool. They're addictive, so feel free to snack on some, but make sure you leave enough to put in the salad!
Meanwhile, Slice the pears into quarters, and chop into bite-sized pieces.
Assemble the salad
Now it's time to put it all together. To a large bowl, add the arugula, spinach, roasted sweet potato and cauliflower, carrots, pomegranate arils, and pears. Top with rosemary spiced pecans. Place the salad on plates. Pass a bowl or a small pitcher of the black garlic vinaigrette for each guest to stir first and add to their own salad. This makes it more fun, and it also allows you to set aside any extra salad without dressing the whole thing. This way it'll last longer in the fridge. Your guests will love this Spinach Arugula Salad with Black Garlic Vinaigrette!
💡Tips for success
- When refrigerated, the olive oil in the black garlic vinaigrette will settle on the top and solidify. So before serving the salad, you can either take it out of the fridge earlier in the day, or you can gently heat it up for a few seconds in the microwave and stir to reincorporate.
- I recommend only dressing the amount of salad you'll be serving right away. In fact, my favorite way to serve a salad is to allow each guest to add their own a dressing per their personal preferences. This makes serving it more fun too. I like to pass around a bowl or small pitcher with a dinner spoon, asking each guest to give the dressing a vigorous stir and then to drizzle it on their salad as they see fit. You're going to love this dressing, so it's always helpful to have extra on hand for leftovers and upcoming salads!
🔀Substitutions
Carrots: If you don't have time or energy to peel the ribbons, feel free to used pre-shredded carrots instead. They'll still look beautiful, with a good amount of crunch. Also, a combination of multi-colored carrots would be gorgeous in this salad. You can slice them thinly if you don't have time to make the ribbons.
Sweet potato: You can use squash or pumpkin here, and you can even buy pre-cut if you'd like to save time. I think delicata squash would work especially well here, and it has the added benefit of not needing to be peeled.
Greens: Any sturdy salad greens will work here. You want them to have enough texture to hold up to the various other ingredients in the salad. Kale would be great, as would a combination of escarole, radicchio, or a hearty lettuce.
Pears: Apples would work just as well here, especially ones that are crisp and juicy. Honeycrisp, pink lady, or fuji apples would work particularly well. If you're concerned about the pears or apples browning before you serve the salad, you could either sprinkle them with a little lemon juice, or chop them at the last minute before serving.
Cauliflower: Broccoli would also be great in this salad. It's so fragrant and crisp when roasted.
Spiced rosemary pecans: If you don't have time to make these, you can use any spiced, candied, or roasted nuts. Roasted seeds would also be perfect here. These could include sunflower, pepita, or sesame seeds.
Pomegranate seeds / arils: These are often available already seeded, which would be a great time saver.
Black garlic vinaigrette: This dressing makes a special difference, and really amplifies the flavors in this salad. But you can also use a particularly good-quality balsamic vinaigrette dressing if you'd like.
🍶Variations
This salad is so fun and flexible, so have fun with it! Your guest will love it, however you decide to make it your own. Here are some possibilities for changing it up:
Roasted veggies: You can use various options here that roast well and would go well in this salad. Squash, pumpkin, beets, peppers, fennel, and onions would be flavorful additions.
Legumes: Beans or lentils would be comforting and substantial to add here. And they'd boost the protein content too.
Nuts: You can use different nuts instead of the spiced pecans. Try the recipe with cashews, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, or walnuts. It can be difficult to find peanuts raw, so if you use these pre-roasted, you can adjust the oven time accordingly. Or you can buy nuts already spiced. I suggest a hearty version to really contribute flavor to the salad. Roasted seeds would also be wonderful.
Fruit: Apples, grapes, berries, figs (either fresh or dried), or orange sections would work well here!
Grains: Among others, you could add wild rice, quinoa, or farro. The latter contains gluten, if this is a concern.
Other additions: homemade herbed croutons made with sturdy bread would be really satisfying. So would crispy tofu or shaved vegan parmesan. And you could chop some fresh herbs as well, such as dill, thyme, savory, or oregano.
🥣Equipment
- Large rimmed baking sheet
- Sheet of parchment paper or silicone mat
- Y-shaped peeler
- Sieve
- Salad spinner if greens aren't pre-washed
⏲Make ahead and storage
There are so many ways you can adjust your timing to prepare the components in advance. There's so much flexibility, depending on your schedule. Here are some options:
- Dressing: The salad dressing should keep in the fridge for at least a week. For me it lasts several days longer.
- Greens: You can loosely wrap undressed greens in a damp paper towel, and put this in a plastic bag in the fridge. Or, if you have space, and if you've used a salad spinner to wash and dry them, you can keep your greens directly in the spinner in the fridge. They should stay fresh this way for up to 5 days.
- Pecans: You can roast the pecans a few days in advance. They'll stay good for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.
- Pomegranate seeds: Once removed from the pomegranate, the seeds should stay fresh for 5-7 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Roasted veggies: You can also roast the cauliflower and sweet potato in advance, and store them for 3-4 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Carrots: The carrot ribbons (or pre-shredded ones, if using) should stay good for at least one week in an airtight container.
❓Frequently asked questions
There are so many options for either making parts of this salad in advance, using different ingredients, or buying pre-prepared ingredients. Please see the substitutions section above for some great ways to do this!
This salad is so flexible and forgiving, and you can make much of it well in advance. Please see the make ahead and storage section above for tips on how to do this.
My favorite idea here is to buy homemade tahini at a Middle Eastern grocery store. It'll be so fresh and creamy, and will really make a difference in making the black garlic vinaigrette! But also, feel free to play around with variations (as in the section above) for so many ways to put your personal and special spin on this salad!
✨More herbs and recipes you'll love
Looking for other garden posts and recipes like this? Try these:
✏️Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments and reviews below!
Black Garlic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (60 g) black garlic, 1-3 regular garlic heads or 3-5 single-clove heads
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- ¾ cup (175 ml) olive oil
- ¼ cup (60 ml) balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) shallot, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
Instructions
- See the ingredient notes in the post for different black garlic head types. Whichever one you have, you'll use the same amount of black garlic in the recipe, about 4 tablespoons or 60 grams.
- You can make this dressing in one of three ways: stirring, shaking in a jar with a lid (both of these ways let you retain the slight crunch from the shallots), or blending together in a high-speed blender. This latter option will give you a smooth and creamy dressing. All three ways are easy and fast, so you can quickly get to the salad prep afterward.
- If stirring or shaking in a jar: Peel the black garlic and place in a mixing bowl. Mash with a fork. If your tahini is fairly solid, mash that in with the garlic too. To the bowl or jar, add the remaining ingredients, and either stir with a whisk or place a lid on the jar and shake. Adjust seasonings as needed.
- If using a blender: Place all ingredients in the blender container and blend until smooth. Adjust seasonings as needed.
Notes
Spinach Arugula Salad with Black Garlic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 2 cups (266 g) sweet potato, any type, about 2 small or 1 large
- 2 cups (200 g) cauliflower florets, less than half a small head
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or olive oil spray
- Kosher salt to taste
- Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
- 2 (145 g) large carrots
- 1 (436 g) large pomegranate, yields about ½ cup (210 g) seeds
- 1 (270 g) large firm pear, such as bartlett, anjou, or bosc
- 3 cups (60 g) lightly packed arugula
- 3 cups (90 g) lightly packed baby spinach
- 1 cup (112 g) rosemary spiced pecans
- 1 cup (236 ml) black garlic vinaigrette
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).Line a large rimmed baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Meanwhile, make the carrot ribbons:Trim the ends and peel the carrots with a y-shaped peeler. Either hold each carrot with one hand, or place it flat on a cutting board, whichever is most comfortable for you. Using the peeler, make long ribbons along the length of the carrots. Rotate the carrot with each peel to help yield a consistent ribbon width. Make the ribbons to the desired thickness by varying the pressure you place on the peeler. (I like to make my ribbons thin and flexible, but still giving a nice hint of crunch, so I apply very little pressure with the peeler.) When you reach the center of the carrot, you can either snack on it, or just slice it up and add it to the salad. After removing the trimmed ends and outside peels, this yields about 2 cups (145 g) of lightly-packed carrot ribbons.
- Prepare the sweet potato and cauliflower:Peel (or leave the skin on, whichever you prefer) and cut the sweet potato, and cut the cauliflower florets into pieces of about 1 inch (2.5 cm). Add both to the baking sheet. Toss or spray with the olive oil until evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and spread into a single layer. Place the baking sheet into the oven. Roast for about 22-28 minutes, stirring once halfway through. The sweet potatoes and cauliflower should be browned on the edges and easily pierced with a fork. Remove from the oven and let cool as you finish preparing the salad.
- Remove the pomegranate arils:Make sure to wear a dark shirt that you won't mind staining in case a seed sprays you while peeling. But using this method should help to prevent that from happening: Fill a medium mixing bowl halfway with water and set aside. Slice the top ¼ inch (0.6 cm) off of the pomegranate, just below the crown. Score the skin vertically from top to bottom down each of the 5 large ridges along the fruit. Hold the fruit under the water in the bowl. With your thumbs on opposite sides, carefully open the pomegranate Peel away the skin and beige membranes to expose the arils (seeds). Gently pull the seeds away from each section, submerging as needed to prevent the juice from spraying. Let the seeds drop into the water. Skim any membrane bits that float to the top, then drain. Place the seeds on a paper towel to dry off excess water. Yields about 1 ¼ cups (200 g) of pomegranate arils.
- Make the rosemary spiced pecans: Let cool.
- Make the pears:Meanwhile, core and slice the pears into about 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces. After coring, yields about 2 cups (270 g) of pear pieces.
- Wash and dry the greens:If your arugula and spinach aren't pre-washed, you can rinse and dry them in a salad spinner. If you won't be using all of the salad at once, keep the extra dressing, prepared ingredients, and the salad greens separate and refrigerated until you use the rest. This way, your salad will be fresh when you're ready to serve the leftovers.
- Assemble the salad:To a large salad bowl, add the arugula, spinach, roasted sweet potato and cauliflower, carrots, pomegranate arils, and pears. Top with the rosemary spiced pecans and black garlic vinaigrette. The salad yields about 15 cups (1080 g).
Notes
- When refrigerating any leftover dressing, the olive oil will solidify on top. Just microwave the dressing for a few seconds in the microwave, stir vigorously, and it'll be ready to go again.
- I like to pass around a bowl or small pitcher with a dinner spoon, asking each guest to give the dressing a vigorous stir and then to drizzle it on their salad as they see fit. You're going to love this dressing, so it's always helpful to have extra on hand for leftovers and upcoming salads!
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