Roasted Delicata Squash Salad - Salads Recipe

 Roasted Delicata Squash Salad is a colorful delicious salad celebrating the best fruits and vegetables of the season.

Ingredients:

Here’s what you need for this salad:

• 2 medium Delicata squash
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Pinch of fine salt
• 5 cups arugula and or mixed greens
• 1 pomegranate, seeded (about 1 cup)
• ⅓ cup pecans, chopped
• 3 to 4 ounces goat cheese (about ¾ cup)
• For the Salad Dressing:
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ¼ teaspoon fine salt
• black pepper, to taste

How to make Roasted Delicata Squash Salad:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 F. Line a sheet pan with parchment or foil.
2. Wash off the exterior of the squash. Slice the squash into 1/2 inch rounds. Use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and the insides from each slice. Drizzle olive oil over all the squash rounds, use your hands to toss them all together to make sure they are all coated in the olive oil. Sprinkle all with a big pinch of sea salt. Arrange on the sheet pan in a single layer. Roast in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Flip each round over in the middle of the cook time, for more even roasting.
3. Toast the pecans: In a dry skillet add the chopped pecans. Turn on the heat and toast until fragrant. Remove from the skillet and store at room temp until ready to add to the salad.
4. De-seed your pomegranate: in a bowl of water, remove the seeds from the pomegranate.
5. Make the Salad Dressing: In a glass jar, mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, sea salt and black pepper. Use a a small whisk or a fork to combine.
6. Plate your salad: when the squash is cooled, you are ready to bring it all together. On a large serving platter: Add the mixed greens, roasted Delicata squash, pomegranate arils, toasted pecans and crumbled goat cheese. Drizzle all with the vinaigrette dressing and toss to coat. Serve right away and enjoy!

Variations:

There’s a bunch of different ways to make this salad your own. That’s the beauty of a salad, you can completely customize it to your liking.

• Pomegranate hard to find? Try a swapping for dried cranberries (crazins), or a handful of dried cherries.
• Not a fan of pecans, swap with your favorite roasted nuts or seeds: like almonds or raw pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)
• Candy the Pecans: Try adding sugar to the hot pecans while you are toasting them. The sugar will melt and solidify onto the pecans. Remove from the skillet to cool.
• Goat Cheese can get expensive: Try swapping goat cheese for crumbled feta cheese
• Not wanting to serve the big rounds of sliced Delicata Squash? Serve them in half circle shaped slices. To do this: Slice the squash the long way first and then scrape out the seeds and insides, then slice into 1/2 inch slices.
• Dressing Swap: If you happen to have a pre-made bottle of balsamic glaze, you can use that in the place of maple syrup and balsamic vinegar.

Tips and Tricks:

• Flip the squash over during the roasting time to make for even roasting.
• Not a fan of removing the seeds from a pomegranate? The best way to do it is in a bowl of water. The seeds float to the bottom and the rest of it floats to the top, making it easy to remove the arils (aka seeds)
• Shortcut: buy the container of pomegranate arils from the store and skip the step above completely.