An Autumn Salad from Karen Cushman

Warm Salad with Roasted Squash, with Cranberry Vinaigrette, Hazelnuts, and Chèvre

I must admit I’m more of a free-form cook. I don’t real­ly fol­low recipes but adapt them to what I have on hand or what my cre­ative juices are call­ing for. Usu­al­ly. The fol­low­ing recipe I love so much that I make it as sug­gest­ed except for the squash. I do love del­i­ca­ta. I don’t know where the recipe orig­i­nal­ly came from — I print­ed it out in 2009 — but I’m glad I found and kept it.
Serv­ings: 4 peo­ple
Author: Karen­Cush­man

Ingredients

for the squash

  • 2 – 3 del­i­ca­ta squash (my favorite but you can use but­ter­nut or similar)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper

for the salad dressing

  • 1 tbsp oil for sautéeing
  • 1 cup leeks, cleaned and sliced thin
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 14 cup fresh cran­ber­ries
  • 14 cup bal­sam­ic vinegar
  • 14 cup olive oil

for the salad

  • 4 cups baby greens or baby spinach
  • 14 cup toast­ed hazelnuts
  • 4 oz chèvre or oth­er soft goat cheese

Instructions

  • Peel the squash and cut into ¾‑inch cubes. Toss with the olive oil, salt, and pep­per. Spread on
    a bak­ing sheet and roast at 425ºF for 15 – 20 minutes.
  • For the dress­ing, heat the oil in a sauté pan over medi­um heat and add the leeks. Stir-fry for 3 – 4 min­utes. Add maple syrup and cran­ber­ries and cook for 2 – 3 min­utes more or until cran­ber­ries start to pop.
  • In a small bowl, stir togeth­er the vine­gar and olive oil and sea­son with salt and pep­per. Add to the pan and stir to heat through.
  • Toss the greens with the warm dress­ing. Top with squash, hazel­nuts, and chevre. Toss it all togeth­er (that’s what I do) or serve the greens on sep­a­rate plates and top with squash, nuts, and chevre.

 

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Cynthia
4 years ago

This looks scrump­tious!! Can’t wait to try it.