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Roasted Butternut Squash and Arugula Salad, with pomegranate, tahini, and crispy chickpeas and shallots.

Hearty winter salad
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Main Course, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine Mediterranean
Servings 37

Equipment

  • 2 Sheet Pans
  • 1 Salad Bowl

Ingredients
  

  • ½ C avocado oil
  • ¼ Cup olive oil
  • ¼ Cup Tahini
  • 1 Tbs pomegranate molasses
  • 1 juicy lemon
  • ½ of a large or a whole small butternut squash
  • 4 oz arugula
  • ½ Cup Kalamata Olives or so
  • ½ Cup dried chick peas or 1 Cup cooked chickpeas
  • ¼ Cup Tahini
  • 2-5 cloves garlic
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 shallots
  • 2 Tbs freshly chopped mint or oregano
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika

Instructions
 

Roast Squash, Shallots, and Chickpeas

  • Preheat Oven to 450
  • Slice squash into ¾ inch slices.
  • Thinly slice shallots.
  • Pour ¼ Cup avocado oil on sheet pan and place squash in a single layer on pan, add shallots in a corner. Sprinkle with salt.
  • Roast, stirring shallots occasionally, and turning squash when deep golden brown, a total of about 30 minutes (remove shallots from pan when they crisp)
  • For Chickpeas – cook until tender or if using cooked/canned drain on paper towels. Microwave covered 5-10 minutes until some have burst. Toss with cumin, paprika, salt and remaining avocado oil and bake in a layer on a sheet pan about 15 minutes stirring often,

Prep the Salad

  • Meanwhile in a salad bowl mix pomegranate molasses, juice of ½ a lemon, olive oil and salt. Toss with arugula.
  • Chop olives and mint or oregano.
  • I like to top the greens in serving bowls with squash then shallots, olives, chickpeas, tahini, then mint/oregano.

Make Tahini Sauce

  • Mix tahini, garlic (I usually have mild pre-peeled garlic so 5 cloves isn’t bad but you do you), lemon juice, and salt.
  • Tahini will seize up but don’t panic – slowly mix in water until a pleasant sauce forms.

Compose Salad

  • I like to top the greens in serving bowls with squash then shallots, olives, chickpeas, tahini, then mint/oregano.  

Notes

Sometimes I am lazy and throw on some pine nuts instead of the roasted chickpeas.  
Keyword Gluten Free, Hearty, Pomegranate, Roasted, Squash, Vegan