SPICY BUTTERNUT SQUASH SALAD
I know, I know. The thought of a butternut squash salad is just odd, right? Well, it’s certainly no more odd than making butternut squash soup in 96 degree weather in Arizona at the end of October. I just could not fathom eating soup in this hot October weather, so salad it was. In fact, come to think of it, yesterday was just a squashy day. We had this salad, we carved pumpkins and roasted all of the seeds from the pumpkins.
If you’ve never roasted your own pumpkin seeds, you must try it. We kicked ours up a notch by seasoning them with kosher salt, cumin, chipotle chile powder and a little brown sugar. Let’s just say they are amazing. I have seasoning leftover and I’m thinking it will be just as great on popcorn. OK, enough already, here’s the recipe:
- 4 c. of cubed, peeled butternut squash (I bought the already prepped container from Costco)
- Olive Oil
- ½ c. chopped walnuts
- ½ t. salt
- 2 T. red wine vinegar
- 1 T. Dijon mustard
- 1 T. honey
- 1 t. of adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers (so, I guess you need a whole can of chipotle peppers if you don’t already keep this kind of stuff in your fridge like I do)
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- ¼ t. pepper
- 1 15-ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 bag of arugula (I think mine was 9 ounces)
- ½ c. crumbed goat cheese
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees farenheit.
Line a baking sheet with foil to make your life easier. Toss the butternut squash with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Pop it in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven.
While the squash is baking, make the vinaigrette for the salad by whisking together 1 T. of olive oil, the vinegar, mustard, honey and adobo sauce. Set this aside.
Put the walnuts into the oven on a baking sheet for about 5 – 10 minutes. WATCH them. Seriously. I burned my first batch last night. You just want them toasted, not burnt. Once you can smell them, that’s a clue that they need to come out of the oven. If you don’t want to risk it, raw walnuts are fine and taste just as good.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with a splash of olive oil. Add the garlic and sauté for about a minute. Add the squash, salt, peppers, and beans. Heat and stir for about 2 – 3 minutes. Remove from the burner and mix in about 3 T. of the vinaigrette.
Add the remaining vinaigrette to the arugula and toss to dress the greens.
Pile up greens on the plate, top with the squash mixture, toasted walnuts and goat cheese. Enjoy!
NOTE: I’d say this yields 3 entrée servings. This made two big salads for us to eat as an entrée along with some leftover squash and bean mixture. I only dressed 2/3 of a bag of the arugula.