roasted butternut salad with arugula and pomegranate dressing

Oh, the beauty of roasted squashes! There's something about roasting that brings out the robust sweetness of the lovely fall squashes , as well as the beautiful colors reflecting the changing of the season outside.

I saw a picture of this salad in one of Jamie Oliver's cookbooks, and the photograph summed up all the celebration of October, don't you think?

Instead of a traditional red wine vinegar, I decided to try a pomegranate-juice based dressing. I reduced the pomegranate juice by half, and mixed it with the olive oil. Lovely! It brought a tang of sweet/sour to the roasted squash that tasted wonderful.

To make 2 -3 servings:

one half a butternut squash, peeled and seeded, cut into cubes

olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, peeled and cut into thick slivers

a few fresh cranberries ( optional)

a handful of arugula

a handful of green leaf lettuce

parmesan or Campo Montalban cheese, shaved with a cheese plane

a few leaves of sage

Preheat oven to 400F.

Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of a roasting pan. Add the squash, onion, and cranberries - and a few squash seeds for interest and flavor. Cut sage into slivers and toss half of them on top of the squash mixture. Roast at a high temperature until squash is tender and shows a bit of color. You can also saute the squash if you prefer. If you want more color, just run the squash under a broiler until it's tinged with charring.

Dressing:

1/2 cup pomegranate juice

3 T. olive oil

NO salt

Reduce the pomegranate juice by half, then mix quickly with the olive oil.

Drizzle on top of salad as wished

Place a handful of the lettuces in a bowl or on a plate. Spoon the squash, onion, and cranberry on top, then drizzle with the pomegranate dressing. Shave the cheese and add a few slices to each serving.

Enjoy the Autumn days!

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