Fall Harvest Salad With Maple Mustard Vinaigrette

It’s that time of the year where many of us are in a frenzy with Thanksgiving foods.

If you are looking for recipe ideas then check out my holiday meal post for some great ideas. My husband and I will be visiting with family on Thanksgiving day and I’ll be bringing pumpkin pie. I’ve made it every year for the past 10 years or so and it’s my #1 must have every year. Anyway, I digress. I’ve got pie on the brain. Can you blame me? 😉

This salad is Autumn on a plate. I guess it’s really the butternut squash that makes it autumnal, but let’s just go with it. The combo of these ingredients are fan-tabulous… the bacon flavor, the tart apple, the spicy radish, the tangy feta cheese, and the sweet mustard dressing. I don’t like mustard but this vinaigrette is not mustard-y. That’s because we’re using whole grain mustard, which tastes completely different than traditional yellow mustard.

This is great as an appetizer or side dish at a holiday meal. I love it as a main course, like for lunch. I welcome salads like this, especially this time of the year, to help balance all the heavier foods.

Fall Harvest Salad with Maple Mustard Vinaigrette Recipe
(Makes 4 to 6 servings)

Ingredients for Fall Harvest Salad:

  • 1 small or medium butternut squash
  • 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • sprinkling of salt
  • 4 strips of bacon
  • a few handfuls of lettuce (I used fresh spinach but I think anything you like will work.)
  • 1 green apple, sliced
  • a few radishes, sliced
  • sprinkling of feta cheese

Ingredients for Maple Mustard Vinaigrette:

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
  • 1 and 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions for Fall Harvest Salad:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
  3. Peel, remove the seeds. and chop the butternut squash into 1 inch chunks.  (Simply Recipes has an awesome tutorial on this step if you need assistance.)
  4. Place the chopped butternut squash on the prepared baking sheet.
  5. Pour the olive over the squash and then sprinkle the salt on top.  Mix everything together and make sure all of the squash pieces are coated and in a single layer on the baking sheet.
  6. Bake for about 25 minutes or until fork tender.
  7. Meanwhile, cook the bacon then set it aside. You can cook the bacon however you like.
  8. To plate each serving (or if you’re serving in one big bowl), add the lettuce, chopped butternut squash, sliced bacon sliced apple, sliced radishes, and feta cheese.
  9. Top with the maple mustard vinaigrette.

Directions for Maple Mustard Vinaigrette:

  1. Add all of the vinaigrette ingredients into a food processor and process it until it’s smooth.

Slightly adapted from: All The things Healthy

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