Spinach Salad with Roasted Squash, Toasted Walnuts, Watermelon Radish, and Pomegranate Seeds

I have this weird thing about salads. I eat them for lunch practically every day at work, but I can’t seem to find one worthy of serving to guests. My weekday salads may be Greek or Asian-influenced, Italian-esque with Emilio’s dressing or Caesar; all perfectly good and satisfying, but rather run-of-the-mill and in my eyes, not special enough for a dinner party.

So when my wife volunteered us to bring the salad to a friend’s Sunday lunch a few weeks ago I was mildly perturbed. I knew the task of preparing it would fall to me, and I didn’t have a recipe that would do the trick. Plus, the lettuce in my garden was turning bitter, no longer acceptable for a potluck.

Because I was annoyed, I told my wife she was responsible for preparing the dish. She said “okay,” ready to whip up a perfectly fine, but likely standard salad.

Maybe it was the basket of a half dozen or more home-grown butternut squash curing on the kitchen counter, or perhaps the spinach growing in my raised beds as the nights get colder (or it could have been my wife suggesting it), but that night I woke with the idea of combining the two. They would make a perfect fall salad, one we would enjoy with our friends as we dined outside by a roaring fire. Toasted walnuts and fall pomegranate seeds would add both to the texture and flavor, and a last minute addition of thinly sliced watermelon radish (definitely my wife’s idea) would make it stunning on the plate. With a sweet-tart dressing highlighting pomegranate molasses, this salad is dinner party worthy and could even stand on its own as a delicious and substantial autumn lunch.

Spinach Salad with Roasted Squash, Toasted Walnuts, Watermelon Radish, and Pomegranate Seeds

This salad can be eaten as a light meal, or it could make a perfect side dish at a dinner party or autumn celebration.

Serves 2 to 4 as a main course, 8 as a side dish, about 1 hour

1 medium butternut squash, about 3 lbs.

3 Tbsp. olive oil

½ tsp. kosher salt

11 oz. baby spinach

1 medium watermelon radish, peeled and very thinly sliced

¾ cup walnuts, toasted

Seeds from one medium pomegranate

For the dressing:

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

¼ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. fresh ground pepper

1½ Tbsp. honey

2 Tbsp. pomegranate molasses

2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar

¾ cup good quality olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 ^oF and place a sheet pan inside to heat up.
2. Peel and seed butternut squash and slice into half-inch thick half-moons or other bite size pieces. Place in a bowl, add olive oil, and toss to coat squash. Remove the hot sheet pan from the oven and cover with squash in a single layer. Sprinkle with kosher salt and roast in oven until bottom of squash is just beginning to turn brown and caramelize, about 15 minutes. Flip squash in sheet pan and return to oven to cook the other side until it starts to caramelize, an additional 15 minutes. Periodically test squash to gauge doneness. It should be easily pierced by a sharp knife, but still firm enough that it will not fall apart on the salad. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
3. While the squash is cooking and cooling, prepare the rest of the salad. Toast walnuts on a sheet pan in the hot oven, checking and stirring frequently, about 7 to 10 minutes. Peel and slice the watermelon radish. Liberate the seeds from the pomegranate. Set all salad components aside individually.
4. Whisk together salad dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
5. Assemble salads on individual plates or a large serving platter and serve with dressing.

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