By Angie McGowan
When the weather turns cooler, I don’t forget about my salads. I just change the types of vegetables that go in them to match the season. For this salad, I used sweet butternut squash paired with a slightly bitter curly leaf escarole and spicy watercress. If you want a milder flavor, just use romaine lettuce instead. I roasted my butternut squash instead of steaming or boiling it to bring out even more of it’s flavor and make it even sweeter. Pairing the sweet squash with the full flavor greens made a wonderful tasty salad.
For the dressing, I learned a quick tip to just add all the ingredients to a small jelly jar. Then just shake, or give it to your kid to shake. It’s alot easier than whisking in a bowl.
Butternut Squash Salad with Escarole
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium – large butternut squash, peeled and diced
- olive oil
- kosher salt
- 1 medium head of curly escarole, chopped
- 1 small bunch watercress
- 1 medium shallot, very thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries (optional)
- 1/4 cup nuts (walnuts, pine nuts, pecans)
Dressing
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon molasses
Method
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine diced butternut squash with olive oil and a little kosher salt. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast until tender, about 20 – 30 minutes, depending on the size of your squash chunks.
- Combine all ingredients for dressing in a jar and shake well. Or combine all ingredients, except oil, in a bowl and whisk well. Then stream in olive oil and whisk to combine.
- Add escarole, watercress and shallot to salad bowl. Top with butternut squash and cranberries or nuts if using. Top with salad dressing. Serve with warm bread and enjoy!
