A Fall Inspired Salad

Fresh Express is sponsoring a salad challenge to win a trip to the Foodbuzz Festival in San Francisco. I eat some form of a salad or lettuce daily, so this challenge is right up my alley.

Here is my recipe for a Fall inspired salad full of beautiful fall colors and flavors. This would be perfect for lunch or a light dinner.

It starts with an Acorn Squash. I recently tried butternut squash, so now it’s time to try acorn. The acorn has a beautiful yellow-orange color and flavor on the inside when baked. It is delicious. I think I like it better than butternut.

To roast the squash, first you chop it in half with a strong knife. Beware of fingers. It’s the hardest part of the dish.

Then you scoop out the insides but save the seeds. Throw away the strings. Place the squash open side up in a shallow pool of water for baking so the skins don’t burn.

Season with 1 T margarine and 1 T brown sugar. You could add maple syrup, but I didn’t want it overly sweet.

Cook on 400* for one hour. Remove and let cool before cutting into it. The white clouds in the picture are smoke clouds! It was super hot.

With the seeds you saved from the squash, rinse them in water and dry well. Lay them on a parchment paper covered baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and salt.

Bake at 400* for 10-12 minutes until browned. Your nose will know when it’s done. Same temperature as the squash, and the parchment saves you from dirtying another baking sheet.

I used the 50/50 Spinach and Spring Mix salad pack.

Now it’s time to assemble the salad!

I cut 1/4 of the squash into cubes. There were a few steamed green beans with ends trimmed off. 1/2 Gala apple. and Feta cheese.

The dressing/dipping sauce was homemade basil pesto. It is a rich flavor that goes great with squash and green beans. Then on top are the roasted seeds.

Pesto Recipe here.