I never realized how much I love putting salads together until recently. I’ve made salads before – no big deal but it wasn’t until recently I began to really develop a love for constructing them. I’m sure I’m not the only person who gets some joy from creating salads, right? As I cook through Hungry for More, I wasn’t that excited about the salad section but I love Chrissy so I was down to try. It wasn’t that I didn’t like salads, I just wasn’t convinced we (me and Chrissy) were going to make some monumentally delicious salad. I can admit when I’m wrong, though. The Hungry for More salads section was a good one and it shouldn’t be overlooked.

In case you’re new here (hi – welcome), let me quickly tell you what I’m up to. Chrissy Teigen and I are friends and we hang out all of the time.

OK, I’m lying but I love her. I was a huge fan of her first cookbook which means I was extra excited about her new one. I’m not cooking every recipe from her new cookbook but I am exploring all of the sections and picking two or three recipes to try. I’m also letting John pick a recipe from each section. There are lots of recipes in this book and honestly, I do not have time to attempt to make ALL THE RECIPES. Doing it this way is giving me (and hopefully you) some insight into what you’ll find in the book.

Hungry for More salads!

If you want to follow my Hungry for More ramblings on Instagram, I have a highlight dedicated to it called: Hungry for Moore.

Alright so in the salad section, you’ll find recipes like:

• Asian pear & avocado salad
• Goat cheese niçoise
• Roasted carrot & avocado salad

I decided to try my hand at the Cool Ranch taco salad (because why not) and the roasted butternut squash + pomegranate salad. Let me just quickly say this about making your own salads: think outside of the boring box you’ve probably already put yourself in when it comes to salads. Salads don’t always have to be boring mixed greens with a slice of cucumber and some nasty ranch dressing (sorry if you like ranch – I don’t).

Get creative! Throw some roasted veggies in there and consider making your own vinaigrette – the sky is the limit. OK moving on…

I loved both of these salads but I think my absolute favorite was the butternut squash one. Ooooh it was good. Salads are always made better when the vinaigrette is equally as delicious. And I’ve said here before so I’ll say it again: make your own damn vinaigrette, people. It’s so easy and it tastes better.

The cool ranch salad was delicious and indulgent. I did use spicy nacho Doritos instead of cool ranch because I hadn’t had spicy nacho Doritos in YEARS and this salad seemed like a great excuse to eat some. Probably the cool ranch would be a better choice because of the flavor profile but do yo thang. My only note with the cool ranch salad was that the vinaigrette needed some adjustments (in my opinion).

The vinaigrette called for vegetable oil so that’s I did and I thought it was disgusting. I made it again with olive oil and it was much, much better after it sat in the fridge for a bit. Alternatively, Chrissy suggests just buying Catalina dressing. I don’t disagree with that.

Roasted butternut squash & pomegranate salad

January 16, 2019

by Shawanda | Eat. Drink. Frolic.

Category Appetizers

Notes

*The original recipe called for toasted pumpkin seeds but I didn't have any so I improvised with sunflower seeds. Additionally, Chrissy also used sliced red onions in this salad which I opted to leave out.

Ingredients

For the squash

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cups 1/2-inch cubes, peeled butternut squash
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, to taste

For the dressing

• 2 tbsp white wine or apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp olive oil

For the salad

• 5 cups of arugula
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, lightly toasted*
• 1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
• Black pepper

Instructions

Roast the squash

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil; pour 2 tablespoons of oil on the aluminum foil. Place the pan, without anything on it, in the oven and heat for about 8 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss the squash with the remaining (1tbsp) of olive oil, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Remove the pan from the oven and pour the squash on it (it might sizzle). Roast the squash about 15 minutes; remove from oven and shake the pan a bit. Roast for 10-15 minutes more and let it cool to room temperature.

Make the dressing

1. Pour all of the ingredients in a jar and shake until it's nice and creamy.

Arrange the salad

1. Arrange the arugula on a platter or salad bowl. Top with squash, pomegranate seeds, sunflower (or pumpkin seeds), and goat cheese.
2. Drizzle with dressing and season with pepper.

Tags

cookbook,

recipes,

salad

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