It's All Delicious

This salad was a big hit.  The peppery arugula was a nice compliment to the sweet roasted squash and cranberries.  The crunch of walnuts was a nice touch too.  The original recipe called for Parmesan cheese, but I omitted it here and the second time I made it.  It wasn’t  much of a miss except for the calories.  The salad was nice warm, and equally nice cold.  It made a nice light lunch.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

1 butternut squash

½ cup olive oil plus a few more tablespoons

1-tablespoon maple syrup

Salt and pepper

3 tablespoons dried cranberries

¾ cup apple cider or apple juice

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 tablespoons minced shallots

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

5 oz bag of arugula – washed and dried

½ cup toasted walnut halves

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Peel and seed squash.  Cut into 1-inch dice.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Toss squash with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper.  Roast for 15 minutes until tender.  Turn once with spatula.  Add cranberries five minutes before squash is done.  Remove and set aside.

Combine the apple cider, vinegar and shallots in a small saucepan.  Bring to boil over medium heat and cook for 6-8 minutes and mixture is reduced to ¼ cup.  Off the heat, whisk in mustard and ½ cup of olive oil, 1-teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.

Place arugula in a large bowl add roasted squash and cranberries.  Toss in the walnuts and dress the salad sparingly with vinaigrette.  Serve immediately.

*Adapted from Ina Garten’s The Barefoot Contessa – Back to Basics.  Her newest cookbook