Harvest Salad

Fall is my favorite season, and this salad is a great way to celebrate with fall ingredients.  I love roasting chunks of butternut squash until they caramelize, which is how I do it in this recipe.  You can always roast the butternut squash the day before you prepare this salad.

Main ingredients:
Serves 6-8
1 head of Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
1 apple, sliced thinly
1 butternut squash
1/4 cup olive oil for drizzling over squash
1 pomegranate
3 ounces goat cheese
1/2 cup toasted pecans
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Slice butternut squash in half lengthwise.  Peel both halves ad remove seeds and membrane with a spoon and knife.  Slice squash thinly into 1” pieces.  Place pieces on baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for 35-40 minutes, or until golden and starting to crisp.  Let cool.  

Squeeze pomegranate, pierce with skewer and allow juice to fall into a glass (Drink the juice, it’s good for you).  Slice pomegranate in half.  Using a wooden spoon, hammer the outside of each half, allowing seeds to fall into a bowl.  I prefer to do this in the sink to prevent and huge mess.  Reserve 1/2 cup of seeds. 

For dressing:  combine olive oil, maple syrup, cider vinegar, and 1/4 tsp. each of salt and pepper.  Shake to combine. 

In 1 large bowl, add lettuce, apple, pom seeds, 1 cup of squash slices, pecans and torn pieces of goat cheese.  Add dressing and toss.