Greetings! I hope that you had a joy-filled Thanksgiving holiday. Mine was great seeing family and friends and sharing delicious meals over the long weekend. I am thankful for many things, including today’s quiet day to reflect on all the nice events that took place during the week. One of the many things I feel appreciative about is the fact that all of the side dishes I prepared for the Thanksgiving meal were delicious. And I am thankful that SensitiveHusband is such an excellent vegetable chopper! Here’s why…
About two weeks ago, MIL and I were talking about the Thanksgiving menu. MIL and FIL planned to host the holiday meal at their house and cook the turkey and mashed potatoes, among other things. Others coming would prepare additional side dishes. Would I want to try a new recipe that MIL found in her most recent magazine? The recipe was for Roasted Acorn Squash and Beet Salad. As luck would have it, I had just been to the grocery store and had purchased both acorn squash and golden beets, which are the headline ingredients in this recipe. Sure, I would try a new recipe! I just needed to remove the mustard from the ingredient list and adjust the quantity of a few things to suit my taste, and the rest seemed straight-forward.
Now that I have prepared this recipe once, I definitely recommend adding an important preparation technique: a buddy who can chop, peel and seed the acorn squash as you look on in an encouraging way. SensitiveHusband agreed to do this part for me – it took about one hour of focused attention and a really sharp knife to prepare the two acorn squash. I tried to keep SensitiveHusband’s spirits up by cheering him on, but in his effort to only chop the squash and not his fingers, my happy words did not receive much of a response. However, the resulting acorn slices really were works of art! Thanks again, SensitiveHusband!
If you would rather not use a buddy system in preparing this recipe, I suggest purchasing butternut squash that is already peeled, seeded and cubed instead of the acorn squash.
However you decide to prepare this recipe, know that it will be delicious and look beautiful alongside your other side dishes. Thanks!
Roasted Acorn Squash and Beet Salad (inspired by Better Homes and Gardens, November 2012 recipe) Ingredients:
1 lb. small yellow and/or red beets
1 acorn squash (1 1/4 lb.), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/3 cup olive oil
3 cups baby romaine or leaf lettuces
1/3 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Tightly wrap beets, separated by color, in aluminum foil bundles. Roast 1 hour, or until tender when tested with a sharp knife. Remove from oven; cool slightly. Peel beets and set aside.
2. Place squash slices on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss with salt, pepper, and 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Roast 15 minutes. Drizzle 1/3 cup maple syrup over squash, and roast another 10 minutes, or until tender; cool.
3. To make dressing, in a small bowl whisk the lemon juice and 1 Tbsp. maple syrup together. Add the 1/3 cup olive oil and whisk till smooth.
4. To assemble, place lettuces in middle of a large plate. Pour half of dressing over salad and toss. Arrange beets and squash on lettuce. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds. Pass remaining dressing.
I am sharing this recipe with Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.
SensitiveEconomist 