Warm Butternut Squash Salad
If you are like me, you might be a little tired of salads as September hits and the air gets cooler. I want something delicious and cozy to eat and this ‘warm’ salad works great as both a main dish or side dish for roasted meats like pork or duck and is especially complimentary to grilled steak.
Part 1 - Mise-en-place
Gather the basic ingredients:
1 medium/large butternut squash
Olive oil
1 tablespoon Garam Masala seasoning
Sea salt and black pepper
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1 bag mixed baby greens
1/2 cup crumbled bleu cheese
For the dressing:
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 - 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (to taste)
1 teaspoon mild Dijon mustard
Pinch of sea salt
Part 2 - Method
Preheat your oven to 190C/375F
Peel, half and remove seeds and fibers from the butternut squash and cut into dice-sized cubes.
Place squash cubes into a XL zip bag and add olive oil ( a good drizzle to coat evenly) plus the Garam Masala and a generous pinch or more of sea salt. Taste to be sure that the salt enhances the pungent flavor of the seasoning. Add a few turns of black pepper.
Zip the bag securely closed and shake the bag to evenly distribute the seasoning and oil and then empty the bag onto a baking sheet.
Bake for approx. ten minutes. Sometimes it cooks very quickly and you want to be sure that you don’t over-brown it or allow it to over-cook and become mushy. I always test at the 10 - minute mark and adjust the cooking accordingly.
Once the squash is roasted, set aside to cool, and toast your pine nuts if needed. You can use the oven or stove-top, but be warned, these little and very expensive nuts burn easily. If you make the on the stove top - use the lowest heat and stir constantly. As soon as they smell and appear ‘toasted’, remove from heat and allow to cool.
Part 3 - Bringing it all together
In a shallow salad bowl, create your dressing by whisking ingredients in the bottom of the bowl. Add washed and dried salad and toss lightly.
Top the salad with the warm or room temperature butternut squash cubes, the crumbled cheese and the pine nuts.
Serve as a side dish for meat or soup, or as a main vegetarian dish.
TIPS:
You can roast the butternut squash in advance and leave it at room temperature. You just want to be sure that it is cooked ‘al dente’ and not mushy if you are planning on reheating it for the salad.
You can also substitute any crumbly cheese if you are not fond of the bleu varieties. Feta cheese will add a bit of saltiness or a plain goat cheese is a lovely creamier addition.
About the Author
Writer, photographer & foodie living on a farm in Normandy called Rabbit Hill, I also run a French lifestyle online pop-up shop and offer French foodie workshops.
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