Add recipe to favorites | Add a comment

Spicy Squash Salad with Lentils and Goat Cheese
Adapted from Bon Appetit

If you’d like to toast the seeds, simply clean them off, rinse and pat them dry and toast them in the oven on an oiled baking sheet, sprinkled with salt. But this comes with a warning: they like to pop, seemingly more than regular pumpkin seeds do, or maybe it’s just my bad luck. I suspect if you let them dry out for a day first, they wouldn’t, but who has that kind of patience?

Serves 6 as an appetizer, 3 as a main

3/4 cup black or green lentils

6 cups peeled, seeded and cubed butternut squash or sugar pumpkin

    (1-inch cubes) (from about a 2-pound squash)

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon hot smoked Spanish paprika*

   (or ground chipotle powder or another smoky spice, and then a pinch of           cayenne for extra heat)

4 cups baby arugula

1 cup soft crumbled goat cheese

1/4 cup thinly sliced mint leaves

1-2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Roasted seeds (about 1/2 cup) from your butternut squash 

Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss squash or pumpkin cubes with 2 tablespoons oil, cumin, paprika and salt. Arrange in a single layer on baking sheet and roast 20 minutes. Flip pieces and roast for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until tender. Cool.

Meanwhile, soak lentils for 10 minutes in a small bowl, then drain. Cook lentils in boiling salted water until tender but firm, about 30 minutes. Rinse with cold water, then drain and cool.

Combine lentils, pumpkin, arugula, goat cheese, mint, vinegar, and 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper and extra vinegar, if desired.

 

Added by: Alissa Matthews on 10/14/2011 11:26am


Featured product(s): Goat Cheese, Butternut Squash,
Background ingredients: Arugula,