Butternut squash and walnut salad

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Heat let up and the nights are getting longer, and this means one thing - it's time to take advantage of autumn riches in the kitchen. Today we'll prepare an autumn salad with baked butternut squash, walnuts and apple dressing - it'll be colourful, healthy and delicious.


Baked butternut is slightly sweet and full of flavour. It's balanced by sharp dressing, while walnuts are crunchy and parmesan not only decorates our salad, but also give it a bit of edge. With dishes like this autumn doesn't have to be bleak!

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

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Ingredients

  • 1 butternut squash (~600 g)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground blacked pepper
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
  • 4 tbsp dry cranberries (~50 g)
  • 70 g baby spinach
  • 125 g Italian rocket
  • 2 pamfuls (~50 g) walnuts
  • Parmesan

Dressing

  • 1 large shallot (~50 g)
  • 3/4 cup apple juice
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 scant tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 40 ml olive oil

Method

  1. Finely chop one large shallot and cut one butternut squash into 2 cm cubes.
  2. Transfer cubed squash onto a baking tray lined with aluminum foil. Sprinkle 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp ground black pepper on top and add 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey. Stir squash with your hands so it gets covered with spices and fat, and spread it across the surface of the tray - we want to bake our squash, not stew it.
  3. Put squash into a conventional oven preheated to 200 deg C for 25 minutes. After initial 10 minutes rotate squash pieces. 5 minutes before the end sprinkle 4 tbsp dry cranberries on top. Stir the contents of the tray through so that cranberries get covered with oil, too. After 25 minute take squash out of the oven and set aside to cool completely.
  4. Prepare apple dressing. Into a small pan pour 180 ml apple juice and 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar. Add chopped shallot. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 5-8 minutes. The contents of the pan should reduce by about a half.
  5.  Pour dressing into a separate bowl. Season it with 1 scant tsp salt and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper. Add 2 tsp Dijon mustard and whisk together until uniform. As you whisk, trickle in 40 ml olive oil. Set dressing aside to cool completely.
  6. Put 50 g walnuts onto a heated pan and roast them for about 2 minutes. Once walnuts release aroma and get some colour, transfer them to a separate bowl.
  7. Assemble the salad. Into the bottom of a serving dish put spinach and Italian rocket; cover them with a layer of baked squash and cranberries. Sprinkle roasted walnuts on top and pour in apple dressing. Decorate with parmesan shavings.
  8. Enjoy!    

Approximate nutritional value

1 serving (recipe makes 4 servings)

  • 372 kcal
  • Carbs: 44 g 
  • Fat: 22 g
  • Protein: 1 g
  • Fibre: 1 g

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