Last night my son brought friends over to have dinner and he requested a healthy meal. Translate: hold the mayo and butter and forget about anything involving meat. Ok, I like good food that’s good for you, but when company is involved I usually pull out all stops and toss dieting out the window. But it was a reasonable request, from people who are in a place in life to see a drive thru window more often than the inside of an oven, so I complied. Grilling some fish and cooking vegetables is no great challenge, leaving me still wanting something for that wow factor. You know what I mean – the dish makes you say YUM! I decided on a beautiful salad. When cool weather is on the horizon it’s easy to settle into the comfort foods of fall that are a little more hearty, so a salad isn’t typically what pops into my mind in early October. Well that’s changing here and now – our salad was definitely the star of the show. Here were the inspirations: fresh apple cider, butternut squash and a garden with some beautiful arugula that could turn into a mushy mess with the predicted frost next week. After that it was easy – roast the squash with a little olive oil, thyme, and maple syrup, toast a few walnuts at the same time, and toss some arugula, spinach and red onion together. The dressing – apple cider of course, with a bit of garlic and apple cider vinegar served warm - it is a fall salad after all! Add dried cranberries for color and sweetness plus a bit of salty cheese and your salad is a movie idol ready for the close-up! So, pretty, delicious and good for you… doesn’t that just fit the bill for everything life should be!
Roasted Butternut Squash Salad
Ingredients
Salad
Butternut squash, cut in ½ inch cubes
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp maple syrup (the real stuff)
1 tsp each, salt and pepper
1 tsp fresh or ½ tsp dried thyme
½ cup walnuts
1 bag pre-washed spinach
1 small bunch of arugula (this could be optional if it’s hard to find or you could use all arugula in place of spinach if you love it!)
¼ sliced red onion (about half of a small one)
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
Dressing
1 cup apple cider or apple juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Dijon mustard
¼ cup olive oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix butternut squash with olive oil, maple syrup, salt, pepper, and thyme and place on a foil lined baking sheet.
Bake squash about 20 minutes until tender with caramelized edges.
Toast walnuts in a separate pan for about 10 minutes in the same oven.
Remove squash and walnuts from oven to cool about 5 to 10 minutes as you assemble the salad.
While squash is baking, make dressing.
In a small saucepan over medium high heat add apple cider or juice, garlic, vinegar, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and let simmer for about 10 minutes to reduce slightly.
Remove dressing from heat and whisk in mustard and olive oil.
In a large salad bowl, combine spinach and arugula and top with red onion and feta cheese.
Add squash and walnuts to the salad and toss with enough dressing to coat.
Serve immediately and wait for all those YUMS!
Roasted Butternut Squash Salad
