This salad was born from a glorious idea a friend gave me.  Something so simple, so quick it’s really a non-recipe recipe:  slice up some tempeh, saute it, then dip it in barbecue sauce.  I think that little idea changed my life.  Who doesn’t need one more option of something to dip into barbecue sauce?  After that, I realized it was my duty as a citizen of this earth to pass along that gem.  You’re welcome.

But what else can I do with that?  I needed to find it a veggie companion, without dismissing the barbecue sauce.  I have a box of sweet potatoes in the basement, so they were destined to enter the picture.  At the end of the farmers market last season, I purchased a 25 lb. box of sweet potatoes for $25 to last me through the winter.  That was the end of October and I’m just now starting to see the bottom of the box.  The farmers don’t clean the dirt off the potatoes so they’ll keep longer, and they have!  I highly recommend it if you have that option.  So, sweet potatoes, check!  I had a golden beet in the fridge along with some red onion and goat cheese.  And the BBQ sauce?  Let’s turn that into a dressing!  Hows about a salad?  Let’s do it!