Roasted fall butternut squash salad is a hearty, savory, and fabulously easy dinner or side dish. When cooking vegetable-forward dishes or meals, I want them to be satiating and delicious. This salad maximizes flavors and textures from the ingredients by simply roasting or boiling the main ingredients. The roasted squash and onions have concentrated flavor and umami-packed browned bits while the cooked French lentils add a creamy and hearty bite. Dill + red wine/sherry vinegar give this salad a pop of brightness, and a generous drizzle of lovely olive oil adds some luxury and opulence. Serve this salad d’automne with some crusty sourdough bread for an easy and delicious fall meal.
Recipe Type: Vegan Meal or Side
Time: 1 hour
Servings: 4 as a side 2 as a main
Ingredients
Two cups of cubed butternut squash (1 small whole squash)
½ cup French lentils (lentilles du puy)
8 small onions (such as cippolini or spring onions if available) or 1 yellow onion
A handful of fresh dill and chives (sage can be a great substitute)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
Salt and pepper
Red wine or sherry vinegar
1 clove of garlic
Neutral oil (grapeseed or sunflower)
Olive oil
Equipment
2 Baking sheets
Y Vegetable peeler
Medium or small pot
Knife and cutting board
Fine Mesh Sieve
Parchment paper
One medium or large mixing bowl
Microplane
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400℉ or 205℃. Prepare the squash by cutting off the top and bottom of the squash, peel the squash with a sharp vegetable peeler, discard the peels, then cut the squash lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds (you can clean and roast them to snack on if you’d like), and dice the squash into ½ inch pieces.
Toss the diced squash in 2 tablespoons of neutral oil, a generous sprinkle of salt, and maple syrup. Place on an even layer on a parchment sheet lined baking sheet and set aside.
Clean the onions by removing the skins and trimming off the roots. Cut into halves or quarters if you have small onions or dice a large one into 1 inch cubes.
Toss in one tablespoon of neutral oil and a generous pinch of salt. Place on another parchment paper lined baking sheet cut side down.
Roast the squash and onion for about around 30-45 minutes until the squash becomes tender browns at the edges and the onions char on the edges. Give the squash and onions a stir in the middle of cooking to promote even roasting and change the position of the vegetables in the oven.
Bring a medium or small pot of water to boil. When boiling, add lentils and lower to a simmer. Cook gently until the lentils are tender (around 30-40 minutes). Taste them to test for doneness.
When they are cooked to your liking, drain the lentils in a sieve and add them to the mixing bowl.
While the vegetables are roasting and the lentils are cooking, wash the dill and chives and set aside. Reserve a few dill fronds for garnish.
Once the vegetables have roasted, place them into the mixing bowl with the lentils.
Chop the dill and chives and add to the mixing bowl.
Grate one clove of garlic with a microplane directly into the bowl (if you don’t have a microplane finely chop the garlic after chopping the herbs). Add two glugs of olive oil and about one tablespoon of red wine or sherry vinegar for acid. Add freshly ground pepper and season with salt to taste.
Garnish with dill fronds and serve warm or at room temperature with some crusty sourdough bread.