You guys. I did a 6 day juice cleanse. Who am I?
It was the longest one I’ve ever done – and I feel marvelous. But ummm I seriously missed chewing. Like, big time.
Part of being on a juice cleanse is the “post” cleansing period where you have to eat really clean and healthy foods so your body doesn’t go into shock. So don’t pull a Gaby and eat pizza on your first day “post” cleanse like I did a few months ago. My stomach literally punched me in the gut.
So salads are the name of the game. Loaded salads to be exact. This one is kind of a re-creation of what I did for Thanksgiving last year and everyone was totally obsessed. I just threw a bunch of vegetables into my oven and roasted the heck out of them until they were slightly golden brown and gorgeous. Aren’t veggies better when they are roasted? I think so. They taste like candy. And then I threw in 2 avocados, because 2 is always better than 1 and who doesn’t love avocados Am I right? I don’t know if we can be friends if you don’t like avocado.
Speaking of which, did I tell you that Thomas, my hubby, thought he was allergic to avocados for a hot second. I thought we were going to have to call off the wedding (kidding) but it turns out he just had a serious avocado overdose. I guess eating 10 avocados in a day while I was recipe testing for my book will do that to a guy.
Anyways…. I also added some dried cranberries and my all time favorite salad dress ever. Mustard Herb Vinaigrette. You should totally make it if you haven’t tried it yet. My recipe makes a decent size batch, so you can be awesome like me and store it in the fridge and just throw it into loaded salads all week long. It’s seriously delish. And it makes life easier. Pinkie promise.
Roasted Vegetable, Arugula and Avocado Salad
Ingredients
- 3 cups arugula
- 1 cup chopped butternut squash cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 cups cauliflower florets broken into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup mushrooms cleaned and stems removed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 avocados skin removed and cut into wedges
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- handful of dried cranberries
- handful chopped white cheddar cheese
- Mustard Herb Vinaigrette
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Arrange the arugula in a large salad bowl.
- Place the chopped butternut squash, cauliflower and mushroom heads on a baking sheet in an even layer and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Place the baking sheet into the oven and roast for 30-35 minutes until the vegetables are slightly golden brown and tender to touch.
- Remove the vegetables from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before tossing them with the arugula.
- Add the avocado, cherry tomatoes, cranberries and white cheddar cheese and toss to combine.
- Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette on top and toss. Taste and add more vinaigrette or salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve immediately.
I think I would kill someone if I did a juice cleanse. Good for you though. Must have be TOUGH. I have to chew 🙂 Love the salad
Props to you for doing a juice cleanse, but I probably wouldn’t have any friends by the end of mine from being so dang cranky!
hahaah that’s what I thought too! I tend to not be so social during them 🙂
This needs to be my jaaaaam.
This salad is gorgeous! That’s how I feel when I do cleanses.. the chewing!!
Yum! I love a good salad with an avocado (or more!). What juice cleanse did you do? I’m debating if I want to do one or just stick to salads for a while…
Hey Katelyn,
I did a combo of a homemade cleanse (which I’ll post later next week!) and Pressed Juicery! It’s a fun way to kick start a healthy eating plan – but it’s kinda $$$ so I like to juice my own juices sometimes!
I don’t think I would survive a cleanse! I can eat this salad all day though!
This looks so healthy and delicious! I need to get on my diet asap and this looks like a great place to start! I have been tempted to do a cleanse..i just don’t have the guts to do it! Not sure if I could survive..eek!
I could never do a cleanse that long.
Did you have any cravings?
I mean day 3 were you fighting any demons? lol
Yes – cravings for sure on the first 2 days… but after that they went away. The first day ALL I could think about was a pulled pork grilled cheese panini!! OMG. I was dying. But after that I felt awesome 🙂 hahaha
I totally respect people who partake in the juice cleanse – I really don’t think I’m strong enough!
Arugula and Avocado are my two favorite veggies (although artichokes take a close second!).
Do you have information on the juice cleanse you did? I have been wanting to find a good one!
Hey Alicia!! I don’t have it on the site – but I will put up some homemade juices this weekend!! When I order the juices online I order from pressed juicery. They have the best green juice – greens 3!
Let me know if you have any questions! More than happy to help
This looks lovely! I’m on a herbal cleanse right now and could certainly use some creative veggie dishes at the moment. thanks!!
I would love more details on the juice cleanse you do. I’ve been wanting to do one, but am so leery! It’d be great to do one that is recommended!
juice cleanse info coming next week!!! a full post with lots of recipes and tips 🙂
I can’t imagine the depression that would set in at your house if Thomas was actually allergic to avocados. Good thing it was a false alarm! 🙂 This salad look fantastic, Gaby – something I would happily eat every day.
I mean could you even imagine if he has allergic?? It would be a serious tragedy!
Good for you! Don’t know if I could do it ;). I love how hardy this salad is-definitely feels like a real meal. YuM!
That is definitely one healthy salad. Yum!
Um, phew to your husband not being allergic to avocado. Salad looks delish and I’m going to be awesome and make it, eat some, store some and then finish it BY MYSELF. 🙂
This has so many of my favorite things in it, and I love the dressing. I think I might throw in some of my new best friend, kale, as well!!
To me, it’s not a salad unless it’s fully loaded like this one! Looks incredible and now I want to do a juice cleanse. I just have to get my juicer back… 🙁
Gaby, this salad looks fabulous. I’m craving veggies. Will definitely be putting this into the menu planning rotation. Thanks, dear!
I have always wanted to do a juice cleanse, but not sure I could handle 6 days. I think I would be crazy crabby!
Love this salad, the big slices of avocado are calling my name!
Looks wonderful Gaby!! Perfect for any season 🙂
Yahoo for making it all 6 days!! Did you lose more weight, or did it just kind of stay the same after a while? I can’t wait to start my 6-day cleanse next Tues! Love your salad choice- good one for coming off the cleanse!
I lost 5 lbs this time around! I still have a few more to lose, but I think it’s going to have to be some serious exercise that makes those lbs come off!
OK that would have been so random if Thomas would have been allergic to avocados!
I saw your line-up of juices on IG. You are my hero.
this looks amazing! thanks for sharing!
This is stunning!
Holy guacamole – this is one killer salad. I’ve always loved avocado, in fact I’m dreaming of having avocado toast right now, lol. I’m so interested to do juice cleanse, but afraid for not being able to do it. So in the meantime, let me enjoyt this salad first, then.
I am a huge fan of huge salads to eat all week. No joke, it is a weekly thing I do. I am officially making this next weeks big salad. I think you may have met your avocado loving twin here. I am Mexican/Spanish, grew up in California and Mexico, and eat avocados straight out of their perfect little vessels! Oh with salt and pepper of course. Soooo perfect.
Made this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely wonderful! I only made one change. I used spinach instead of arugula. Thank you for the recipe!
yay!! spinach is just as good!! so glad you loved it!
Gaby — what’s the dressing in the picture above? It looks too white to be your Herb Mustard Viniagrette (which I love, by the way). The “Ranch-dressing-lover” in me is just curious…thanks!
It’s the herb mustard vin – but I made it in a blender rather than by hand and it turned white!! weird, right? tastes the exact same but it’s more creamy since I used the blender!
Yes to loaded salads – I always dream of a world where I can have one huge veggie salad on a daily basis. Alas, that isn’t my reality but maybe someday….
Hi! What kind of cleanse did you do? 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing! I added some toasted pine nuts for a little crunch. I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
yum!!! love the crunch addition!
I just discovered this salad and so glad I did! I’ve made it 3 times in the past week. I left out the cheese to lower the calories and still great. The dressing is delicious. Thank you for my new obsession!