Fall Bliss Salad

I saw this recipe on Facebook the other day, and thought it might be a good use for some pomegranates that I might swipe from neighbors’ trees on my morning walk. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that they had harvested their trees and there was nothing for me to swipe! Oh well, I went ahead and bought one, along with some already cubed butternut squash, and I went for it. Mistakes were made. For one, I overdressed my salad. The dressing is brown and kind of thick, so my picture isn’t nearly as pretty as the original. Second, I think I cut my squash a tiny bit too thick, and I used too much oil, and crowded my pan. It didn’t brown or get crisp, it steamed. Looking at her recipe, maybe it never would have gotten crisp, maybe squash doesn’t do that? But it didn’t brown. Third, I think my dressing could have used more salt. I went easy on the salt because the squash and pepitas were already salted. It was lacking a bit. Also, I thought I had sherry vinegar, but I didn’t. I used golden balsamic, which was nice, but I would like to try it with sherry vinegar. I used baby kale. I will try this recipe again and see if I can correct these issues, because while it wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be, it was still pretty good.

Here’s the recipe and gorgeous photo from Smitten Kitchen. All notes are hers.

Fall Bliss Salad – Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1-pound (455 grams) honeynut squash, peeled, seeded, and sliced thin (¼-inch)
• 2 medium (4 ounces) shallots, halved lengthwise and peeled
• 8 ounces (225 grams) kale or spinach leaves, torn or chopped into bit-sized pieces
• 3 tablespoons (45 grams) sherry vinegar or balsamic vinegar, plus more to taste
• 3/4 teaspoon smooth dijon mustard
• 1 to 2 tablespoons water, as needed
• 1/4 cup pomegranate arils
• 2 ounces (55 grams) soft goat cheese (chèvre), crumbled
• 1/2 cup (60 grams) toasted, salted pepitas (see Note)

Instructions

Prepare the squash and shallots
Heat oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Drizzle or brush parchment lightly with olive oil and sprinkle the oil with salt and pepper. Arrange winter squash slices in one layer on parchment. Coat lightly with more oil, salt, and pepper.

Place shallot halves on a square of foil and drizzle lightly with olive oil and kosher salt. Tightly seal foil around them into a little packet and place on the baking sheet with squash.

Roast squash and shallots for 15 minutes, until the squash is lightly brown underneath. Flip the squash pieces and carefully open the foil packet with the shallots. Return the tray to the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the squash is evenly brown. The shallot will not be brown or look caramelized, but will be tender, which is all we need. If you’d like, you can return the open foil packet to the oven for another 10 minutes for more color and flavor, but I rarely bother.

Make the dressing
In a blender or food processor, whiz warm shallots with 4 tablespoons olive oil until smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed. With the machine running, add dijon mustard and 3 tablespoons vinegar, blending until smooth. Season well with salt and pepper, blending again. Taste and adjust with more vinegar, salt, and pepper as needed. If the dressing is very thick, you can thin it with 1 to 2 tablespoons water.

Do ahead
The recipe can be paused here until needed. The squash and dressing are perfectly delicious at room temperature.

To serve
In a large wide bowl or salad plate, toss greens with half the dressing and season with additional salt and pepper. Arrange roasted squash over the greens, fanning out slices if you wish. Sprinkle salad with pomegranate, goat cheese, and pepitas and drizzle some of the remaining dressing over, to taste. Serve right away, with extra dressing on the side.

Notes:

Pepitas: Sometimes I buy pepitas that are crackly-crisp and wonderful, sometimes, even when labeled roasted, they seem flat and almost stale. When the latter happens, I warm them in a small skillet with 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon butter, salt and red pepper flakes to taste over medium heat, stirring frequently, until they’re a shade darker and smell nutty. Set aside until you’re ready to use them.

Preparing butternut/honeynut squash: I’ve got a TikTok demo here.

Lettuce: I love kale or spinach here, but used what I had: a 4-ounce package of baby kale, a few ounces of red endive, thinly sliced, and a handful of green oak leaf lettuce. Sturdier lettuces hold up better if the salad needs to rest.