Maple Roasted Acorn Squash Salad

This festive salad is begging to be part of your holiday spread! Acorn squash slices are drizzled with maple syrup, slow roasted and arranged atop a bed of mixed greens. I like to dress this salad up with candied pecans, goat cheese crumbles and pomegranate arils. If you aren’t a fan of pomegranate, this salad would be equally delicious adorned with dried cranberries or cherries. I love to lightly dress this salad with my favorite maple balsamic dressing.

ingredients:

2 acorn squash

1 tbs olive oil

2 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp brown sugar

salt & pepper

1 package mixed greens (I used 1/2 spring mix, 1/2 baby spinach)

1/2 cup candied pecans

1/2 cup goat cheese (I used a honey infused variety)

1/4 cup pomegranate arils

balsamic dressing of your choice (this maple balsamic dressing tastes amazing on this salad)

directions:

Preheat oven to 350°

Cut acorn squash in half (top to bottom). Remove seeds from center of squash using a spoon. Turn the squash halves flat side down and slice into roughly 1/2 inch slices.

Place unpeeled squash slices on a baking sheet lightly greased with olive oil. Drizzle the slices with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes and turn each slice of squash over. Sprinkle each slice with salt & pepper. Drizzle each slice with maple syrup and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Place back in the oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the squash is softened.

To a large salad bowl add greens. Combine with candied pecans, crumbled goat cheese and pomegranate arils. Top salad with neatly arranged roasted squash slices and drizzle with maple balsamic dressing when ready to serve.

Recipe notes:

I chose to leave my squash slices with the peel on for presentation purposes. If you prefer, the peel can be easily removed after baking and prior to assembling your salad.