And the winner of last weeks poll was this Roasted Butternut Squash Salad. This is one of those recipes that I saw on Pinterest and thought looked rather yummy. In my usual fashion, I’ve made quite a few changes to it and have taste-tested this on my very willing coworkers. They believe I’ve perfected this and always hope I will bring some leftovers into the office for them.

This salad is excellent as a side dish or even as a main course. My preference is as a side dish with a good serving of protein (chicken breast, pork loin, steak) to go with it. As always, make changes to this to suit your own tastes, but try it my way first just in case I got it right for you too!

Dressing

• 4 T apple cider vinegar
• 4 T extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 T honey
• 1 T dijon mustard (or your favorite mustard, just not yellow mustard)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper

Salad

• 1 butternut squash (between 1.5-2 lbs) peeled, de-seeded and cubed into 1/2″ pieces (Costco usually has a nice peeled, cut butternut squash you can purchase, but like today, not always)
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• Flavored pearled couscous (my favorite is Basil and Herb) – follow cooking directions on the box and add 1 tsp of Lawry’s seasoning salt to it when you add the spice mix
• 1/2 large sweet onion, diced
• 5 oz (or as I use, 2 large handfuls) of kale or mixed greens, washed, de-stemmed and finely chopped
• 1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas/garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

Instructions

• Whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Toss the cubed squash in a ziplock bag with the olive oil (less is more on the oil – I use less than the 2T above). Spread the squash in a single layer on an aluminum foil covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the squash until tender and golden about 20 minutes. Toss halfway through. Cool.
• Cook the couscous per directions on the box. Remove from heat and cool.
• Put the onion in a small bowl and cook on high in the microwave for 30 seconds. This is just enough to make the onion a bit “milder” but not too long that the onion will lose its crunch. 

• Start adding ingredients to a large bowl. My usual order is:
  1. Add onions
  2. Add couscous, mix
  3. Add garbanzo beans, mix
  4. Add kale/greens, mix
  5. Add squash and dressing, mix

You can serve this now, if you want. I prefer to make this the night before I plan to eat it as I like it cool from the refrigerator. It can keep in the frig up to 2 days.

Ideas

• When picking a butternut squash, choose one just over 2 lbs. Better to have more than less. And really, roasted butternut squash is super delicious (and healthy), so why not have a bit more in your salad?
• You can use whichever greens you prefer. Kale is recommended, but I love the Power Greens Blend from Costco.
• Also, if you are missing any of these ingredients, the one I’d miss the least is the greens. Had to make it without then once and the salad was just as delicious, just not as colorful.