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:
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
- 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.)
- Place the chopped butternut squash on the prepared baking sheet.
- 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.
- Bake for about 25 minutes or until fork tender.
- Meanwhile, cook the bacon then set it aside. You can cook the bacon however you like.
- 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.
- Top with the maple mustard vinaigrette.
Directions for Maple Mustard Vinaigrette:
- Add all of the vinaigrette ingredients into a food processor and process it until it’s smooth.
Slightly adapted from: All The things Healthy
