Roasted Butternut Squash, Pomegranate and Chickpea Salad
Roasted Butternut Squash, Pomegranate and Chickpea Salad

Roasted Butternut Squash, Pomegranate and Chickpea Salad

  • Prep time:

  • Cook time:

  • Total time:

  • Portion/Yield:

    Serves 4-6

  • Difficulty:

    Easy

With the darker days looming and the seasonal colours bursting into shades of burnt orange and gold, this dish is the perfect recipe to conquer the gloomy days of Autumn turning into Winter..

Pomegranates are coming into season and butternut squashes are perfect for harvesting and cooking. This dish is perfect at this time of year and can be tossed together simply and quickly. It’s a delicious recipe to pull out of the drawer on a miserable day, and brings a real splash of colour to dull wintry weather.

Autumn and Winter is not only about hearty stews and boiling hot soups but the occasional salad served either warm or cold is a refreshing break. We regularly enjoy meals without meat or fish and this dish is that all in one nutritious meal without the meat. Saying that it’s also perfect to be served as a side dish with whole baked wild sea bass or a joint of roasted shoulder of pork.

This really is an ideal one tray wonder recipe. If you like the “family style” presentation of food then it’s one of those pretty numbers to serve up in the same roasting tray that you used to roast the squash in. It’s a great idea, looks rustic and seriously home-made, and best of all is it saves time. Less washing up is always a preferred option!

I drizzled a wonderful and tasty yoghurt dressing over this salad. I used an interesting ingredient called tahini that is mixed in with the Greek yoghurt and the zest and juice of one lemon. Tahini is sesame paste and one of the main ingredients for making hummus. You can purchase tahini from most high street or middle eastern supermarkets.photo of Roasted Butternut Squash, Pomegranate and Chickpea Saladphoto of Roasted Butternut Squash, Pomegranate and Chickpea Saladphoto of Roasted Butternut Squash, Pomegranate and Chickpea Saladphoto of Roasted Butternut Squash, Pomegranate and Chickpea Salad

Ingredients & Method

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad

  • 2 small butternut squashes
  • 1tsp ras-el-hanout
  • 80ml olive oil
  • 1 bulb of fennel
  • 330g cooked chickpeas
  • 20g fresh coriander, chopped
  • 1 pomegranate, seeds removed
  • 2tbs pomegranate molasses
  • Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
  • 3 salad onions, finely sliced
  • 2 hands full of mixed salad leaves such as mizuna and baby red chard

Tahini Lemon Yoghurt

  • 100ml Greek yoghurt
  • 1tbs tahini
  • Zest and juice of one lemon

Preheat the oven to 200°C and lightly grease a large oven roasting tray.

Wash the butternut skin and pat dry, cut the butternut in half and remove the seeds.

Cut the butternut in even size slices and or wedges and arrange them on the roasting tray, drizzle over the olive oil, season and sprinkle over the ras-el-hanout.

Roast them in the preheated oven for approximately 25 minutes or until tender when you stick a sharp knife into the flesh.

In the meantime make the tahini lemon yoghurt. In a small bowl mix the yoghurt, tahini, lemon juice and zest. Season to taste and if the dressing is a touch too thick add a few drops of cold water to thin it down to a dripping consistency.

 

Once the squash is cooked remove the tray form the oven and drizzle over the pomegranate molasses and let the butternut cool in the tray for 10 minutes.

Once cooled, wash and shave the fennel using a sharp mandolin, scatter it over the roasted squash, scatter the drained chickpeas, pomegranate seeds, chopped coriander leaves, sliced salad onions and salad leaves.

Drizzle the tahini lemon yoghurt and serve.