Roasted Spiced Butternut Squash Salad with MacIntosh Apples

This delicious salad was the main dish of our Thanksgiving meal and thoroughly enjoyed!

Butternut squash, spiced with clove, cinnamon and allspice and roasted then tossed with a mix of kale and spinach, red onions, chopped apples both dry and fresh, a handful of pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries and then tossed in mild creamy dressing of apple juice, sage, garlic and onions with a slight sweetness of added dates.

This salad just screams fall harvest making use of seasonal vegetables and colors.

The recipe was adapted from the new book by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Eat to Live Cookbook, and like all the recipes of his that I have tried, is certainly a winner in our home. I'm looking forward to cooking my way through this book.

The best thing about his recipes is that I don't have to worry about them being healthy and I mean truly healthy not just some fad based on someone's opinion. Dr. Fuhrman puts so much emphasis on nutritional research that I don't think anyone else can truly compete in this area. He has enlisted the help of some top chefs to utilize his knowledge and guidelines and put together some winning recipes. I know that the recipes are designed for total wellness and having had such good results with every recipe tried so far, I also know that I don't have to worry about them tasting good. Two big thumbs up from here.

So on to the recipe:

Roasted Spiced Butternut Squash Salad with MacIntosh Apples

Recipe adapted from Dr. Fuhrman's book Eat to Live- Cookbook

Serves 4

For the Dressing:

1 clove of garlic
1 tablspoon chopped shallots
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard (optional)
1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice or water
2 tablespoons raw almond butter
1 Medjool date, pitted and stemmed
1/2 cup parsley
6 fresh sage leaves

Combine dressing ingredients in a high speed blender until well combined. Set aside.

For the Butternut Squash:

12 ounces butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch diced pieces

1 tablespoon coconut or date sugar (optional)

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of ground cloves

pinch ground allspice

pinch of cayenne

1/2 cup of unsweetened apple juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a big bowl, toss the squash with the sugar, spices and apple juice until well coated. Place the mixture in a roasting pan, cover with foil and roast until the squash is caramelized and slightly browned but still firm when tested with a fork. About 15 mins total but stir/toss about half way through.

Note: If you are fortunate to find fresh diced squash in your grocery store, usually in 32 ounce portions, go ahead and double this portion of the recipe. I guarantee the extra roasted squash will not go to waste. It's so good!

For the Salad:

4 tablespoons pumpkin seeds

4 tablespoons dried cranberries

2 apples of choice, (Winesap is what was called for in the original recipe but I used MacIntosh)

2 tablespoons chopped dried apples

1/2 of a red onion, sliced into fine rings

3 cups spinach, sliced

3 cups kale, sliced

While the squash is roasting, combine the salad ingredients in a big bowl.

When the squash is ready, toss it with the salad dressing until well coated and then add to the salad, toss and serve right away. 

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did. You can substitute sweet potatoes, parsnips or any other type of squash you desire as well. It's all good.

And if you are looking for a nice dessert for this meal, check out the previous recipe for the Cranberry Apple Tart!

Enjoy!

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Kale Waldorf Salad

Looking for a tasty way to add more kale into your life? Then this salad is for you.

Kale, walnuts, cran- raisins, apple, celery tossed in a creamy and tangy non dairy dressing for a salad that tastes even better a little later.

I received the heads up about this recipe from my friend, Jeannette Marchand, who had just come from a Whole Foods' class and had to share. She said she not only had it for lunch but also dinner. She and her husband could not stop eating it. So of course, I had to give it a try.

The original recipe is here on the Whole Foods website but I did adapt it a little so I will share my version here.

Kale Waldorf Salad

Ingredients:

4 cups raw kale, chopped finely ( I used a whole head)

1 large red apple, I used a Fuji, cored and chopped

1 cup chopped celery (about 2 ribs)

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Cran-raisins or raisins

1- 2 Tablespoons of Dijon Mustard

2 tablespoons of water, or more if needed

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/8 tsp sea salt  I do not use salt but if you must...

Tear away bigger leaves from the stems (optional but the stems are a little bitter), roll up the leaves and chop finely and place in a bowl. Add the juice of 1/2 a lemon and squeeze the rest of the lemon in a big glass of drinking water to refresh yourself- just a suggestion. Now with your hands, massage the lemon juice into the leaves. This helps to tenderize the leaves and you will visually see the leaf pile get smaller. Set aside while you make the rest of the salad.

To chop the apple, I decided to try out this onion chopper to see if I could get a fine and even apple dice. I just had to first slice the apple into the thickness I wanted the apple dice to be. It worked. Did I save time? That's debatable but I always forget I even have this thing. It does help keep the crying with onions to a minimum though.

For the Dressing:

Blend half the apple, 1/4 cup of the walnuts, 2 tablespoons of the Cran-raisins, the mustard, the water, and the vinegar until well combined. Add water to thin if needed but you want it like a mayonnaise consistency. Warning: It will be pinkish in color if using Cran-raisins.

Add the remaining ingredients to the kale and top with the dressing. Toss.

Ta da! 

You may want to double this recipe. It will keep in the fridge covered for a few days, if it lasts that long. 

Looking at this picture, you can see why I chose Cran-raisins- color. The designer in me will always go with color. Plus the more color in your food, the more antioxidants in your body.

Big thanks to Jeannette for sharing this one!

Have you stumbled across a low fat vegan recipe you think I should try, hit me up in an email either here or through the Purely Nourished Facebook page. I love to learn of new recipes and will share it here if I use it.

This was my first submission for Healthy Vegan Fridays Blog Party. You can check it out here.

Until next time…

Keep eating those veggies!

Ps: Tomorrow is already Sunday so the Super Soup Sunday post will be fast on the heels of this one. Double Post weekend!

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