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Home » Recipe Index » Salads

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Citrus Tahini Dressing

Published: Dec 7, 2017 · Modified: Jan 20, 2025 by Fida | Sweet and Savoury Pursuits · This post may contain affiliate links · 6 Comments

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This Roasted Sweet Potato and Halloumi Salad with Citrus Tahini Dressing is an elegant, vibrant and gourmet salad perfect for the holiday season.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Citrus Tahini Dressing

Using seasonal ingredients, this Roasted Sweet Potato and Halloumi Salad with Citrus Tahini Dressing hits all the rights notes for the holiday season.

Holidays and celebrations require special salads and this particular one is sure to impress. The combination of textures, flavors and colors in this salad make it one that your guests are sure to remember.

The salad greens are embellished with caramelized sweet potatoes, toasted pine nuts, crunchy red onions, sweet ruby red pomegranate seeds and warm and salty Halloumi cheese. Best of all is the delicious citrusy tahini dressing used to dress this salad.

Plate of Roasted Sweet Potato Salad drizzled with Citrus Tahini Dressing
Jump to:
  • How to Make Sweet Potato and Halloumi Salad
  • About the Tahini Salad Dressing
  • Ingredients
  • Steps Overview
  • Serving Suggestions
  • More Special Occasion Salads
  • Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Citrus Tahini Dressing Recipe

How to Make Sweet Potato and Halloumi Salad

If you decide to make this salad as part of your holiday spread, I recommend you plan ahead. This is what I like to call a special occasion salad and does take some time to prepare.

You can speed things up by getting some of it done a day before your special event. Since pomegranates take some time to de-seed, it's best to do it ahead of time. You can also toast the pine nuts and make the citrus tahini dressing a day or two before serving.

If those three things are done ahead of time, then all that will be left to do is roast the sweet potatoes and prepare your salad greens. For optimal results, it's best to pan-fry the Halloumi as close as possible to serving time.

About the Tahini Salad Dressing

The recipe for the tahini dressing and the technique for pan frying the halloumi cheese are adapted from Suzanne Husseini's Modern Flavors of Arabia cookbook.

I love Suzanne's citrus-infused tahini dressing and find it complements this salad perfectly (by the way, this is not a sponsored post, I just like Suzanne's recipes and recommend her book to all who enjoy Middle-Eastern food).

Suzanne makes the dressing by adding honey to the tahini paste and including freshly squeezed lemon and orange juice. This makes the dressing less tart and perfect for dressing sweet and savoury salads.

Ingredients

For the salad:

  • Sweet potatoes
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Baby romaine lettuce or your favourite blend
  • Pomegranate arils
  • Pine nuts
  • Red onion
  • Halloumi cheese: Goat or feta cheese are also good choices.

For the dressing:

  • Garlic clove
  • Salt
  • Tahini
  • Lemon freshly squeezed juice
  • Orange. You'll need the zest and juice of half an orange
  • Honey 
  • Ground sumac. This ingredient is optional (see recipe note)
  • Water. Used to thin out tahini to a dressing consistency.

Steps Overview

  1. Preheat oven and peel, chop and roast the sweet potatoes.
  2. De-seed the pomegranate, toast the pine nuts, slice the red onion and wash and dry the salad greens. 
  3. Make the dressing by combining tahini, garlic paste, orange zest and freshly squeezed lemon and orange juice in a bowl or jar. Slowly add ½ cup of water, whisking until the sauce is well blended. If the sauce is too thick, you can add a teaspoon of water at a time until you have the desired consistency.
  4. Assemble the salad and just before serving, pan fry the halloumi until golden. Top salad with the cheese and serve!

Serving Suggestions

This holiday salad is a perfect starter or side dish to your special meal, it goes wonderfully with this Roast Turkey and this Pistachio Crusted Salmon.

Just like this recipe for Pomegranate, Pear and Pecan Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette, it's really worth the extra time and effort.

Enjoy!

More Special Occasion Salads

  • Roasted Beet and Orange Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette
  • Spinach and Clementine Salad
  • Spinach Apple Cranberry Salad
  • Lebanese Tabbouleh
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Citrus Tahini Dressing

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Citrus Tahini Dressing Recipe

This Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Citrus Tahini Dressing is an elegant, vibrant and gourmet salad just perfect for the holidays.
4.84 from 12 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Saved!
Prep Time 35 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Total Time 55 minutes mins
Course Main, Side Dish
Cuisine Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern
Servings 8 people as a side
Calories 394 kcal

Ingredients
  

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

  • 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes
  • 1-½ tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 8 cups baby romaine lettuce or your favourite blend
  • 1 cup pomegranate arils
  • ⅓ cup pine nuts
  • ½ small red onion thinly sliced
  • 250 grams halloumi cheese goat or feta cheese are also good choices

Citrus Tahini Dressing* (see note)

  • 1 medium garlic clove
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup tahini
  • 1 lemon freshly squeezed juice
  • orange zest of half an orange
  • ½ orange, freshly squeezed juice
  • 1 tablespoon honey adjust sweetness according to taste.
  • ½ teaspoon ground sumac** optional (see recipe note)
  • ½ cup water more or less, to thin out tahini to desired consistency.

Instructions
 

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

  • Preheat oven to 425°F.
  • Peel the sweet potatoes and chop into bite-size cubes (about 1 inch). Add the sweet potatoes to a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well to coat the sweet potatoes with oil and seasonings.
  • Roast sweet potatoes in the oven for 10 minutes, flip and roast for another 10 to 15 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender and start to caramelize. Let cool to room temperature. 
  • Meanwhile, de-seed the pomegranate and set aside one cup of the seeds for the salad.
  • Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet cooking over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until lightly golden. Be careful, they burn easily! Set aside.
  • Slice the red onion and set aside.
  • Wash and dry the salad greens. 
  • Top salad greens with roasted sweet potatoes,  red onions, pomegranate seeds and toasted pine nuts.  
  • Just before serving the salad, use a paper towel to absorb some of the moisture from the Halloumi. Lightly dredge the slices of Halloumi in all-purpose flour. Melt 2 teaspoons of butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Pan fry the Halloumi cheese until golden, flip and cook until golden on the other side, about 1 to 2 minutes on each side.

Citrus Tahini Dressing

  • In a mortar and pestle, crush 1 garlic clove with ½ tsp. of salt. Mash until garlic and salt form a paste.
  • In a medium bowl, combine the tahini, garlic paste, lemon juice, orange zest and juice. Slowly add ½ cup of water, whisking until the sauce is well blended. Taste and adjust to your liking. If the sauce is too thick, you can add a teaspoon of water at a time until you have reached the desired consistency.

Notes

*Citrus tahini dressing can be prepared a day ahead of time and refrigerated. Before dressing the salad,  adjust thickness of dressing by thinning out with a bit of water if needed. 
**Ground Sumac is a spice used in Middle-Eastern cuisine. Though it does complement the citrus tahini dressing, it's not absolutely necessary to this recipe and can be omitted.  

Nutrition

Calories: 394kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 13gFat: 26gSaturated Fat: 7gSodium: 570mgPotassium: 569mgFiber: 5gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 13355IUVitamin C: 20.2mgCalcium: 391mgIron: 2.3mg
Keyword Roasted Sweet Potato Salad, Salad with Halloumi Cheese, Sweet Potato and Halloumi Salad, Sweet Potato Salad
Tried this recipe? Have any questions, comments or suggestions? Leave a comment below!Mention @sweetandsavourypursuits or tag #sweetandsavourypursuits!

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Comments

    4.84 from 12 votes (12 ratings without comment)

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  1. sugarlovespices says

    December 13, 2017 at 11:09 am

    You are so right, the colors and flavors of this salad are so festive and will look beautiful on a holiday table! I also agree on doing some prep the day before so not to rush and feel overwhelmed! 🙂

    Reply
    • Sweet and Savoury Pursuits says

      December 13, 2017 at 11:30 am

      Yes, this salad does take some work, but I feel it's so worth it for special occasions. Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  2. Flavour and Savour @flavourandsavour.com says

    December 13, 2017 at 11:04 am

    This is MY kind of salad! Pinned . . . . and I will likely be making this one very soon!

    Reply
    • Sweet and Savoury Pursuits says

      December 13, 2017 at 11:28 am

      Thank you so much, I really love this salad, hope you enjoy it too!

      Reply
  3. C.M. says

    December 13, 2017 at 10:12 am

    We tried this salad on the weekend and it was so good, we're planning on making it again for Christmas.

    Reply
    • Sweet and Savoury Pursuits says

      December 13, 2017 at 11:26 am

      Yay! So happy you enjoyed it, I'm sure it will be a hit at Christmas!

      Reply
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