Autumn Harvest Salad with Horseradish Vinaigrette - Gluten-free + Vegan

I just cannot seem to get enough veggies lately. Even after the 5-day Fall Cleanse where I literally only ate fruits and vegetables, I have just been craving them like crazy. I find, as someone who eats intuitively, that when my body is craving tons of vegetables it is usually for good reason. I enjoy knowing my body well enough to be able to listen to what it needs and to enough to catch the cues that make me aware. It is so easy to misread cravings and to give in to the foods that don’t nourish us. Recognizing you have a craving and it’s for something like Brussels sprouts, that takes some time to get used to and some serious practice in self awareness.

This past Sunday we had a fall potluck dinner at our place with friends and we had lots of different fun fall foods. Of course, with cooler weather comes the comfort food, so we had hearty helpings like gluten-free mac and cheese, gluten-free stuffing (I did a quick lesson on making gluten-free stuffing for a newly gluten-free friend, Debbie, who wants to make it for Thanksgiving this year. Hence the randomness of this dish), deviled eggs, Mark put chicken wings on the grill for folks (sent all the way from Buffalo), I made my pumpkin hummus, a delicious sweet potato appetizer (that I can’t wait to share with you guys) and lots more. Although it wasn’t all heavy, I did want to make sure we had a delicious healthy and light Autumn-inspired vegetable salad to balance everything out. Consequently, personally this salad, it was also my favorite part of the meal. Read the rest of this entry »