Maple Roasted Butternut Squash & Pomegranate Harvest Salad makes a colorful and delicious presentation during the drab of winter! Golden roasted butternut squash sits atop a bed of leafy greens. Add pecans, gorgonzola and pomegranate seeds, then drizzle with a zippy blender dressing!

Today I’m sharing the recipe for a beautiful and delicious salad: Maple Roasted Butternut Squash & Pomegranate Harvest Salad. I’ve been hankering to roast butternut squash all season long and have procrastinated. I’ll tell you why. I’ve got flexor tendonitis in my right wrist. And the thought of peeling and chopping the butternut squash makes me cringe.

So I was out grocery shopping for the week the other day and came upon already-peeled butternut squash in the produce section. Well, that did it for me. I bought it then and there and the rest is history.

First, roast the butternut squash in the oven at 400°

When I work on a lot of baking recipes during the holidays especially I find myself craving greens. It’s easy to miss out on the greens during the winter months when salads get upstaged by heavier fare. But after I roasted the butternut squash with maple syrup and it was so beautifully golden, I knew it was the perfect salad topper. Such a wonderful aroma in my kitchen!

This Maple Roasted Butternut Squash & Pomegranate Harvest Salad is a nice change-up for the fall and winter menu, with vibrant colors and textures. Caramelized maple roasted butternut squash. Crunchy toasted (or try sugared!) pecans. Juicy pomegranate seeds. Leafy greens. Gorgonzola cheese. All drizzled with a zippy homemade pomegranate blender dressing. This salad is perfect on its own or with a steaming cup of soup.

While the squash roasts in the oven, whip up the homemade pomegranate dressing in the blender.

Toast the pecans or use my easy recipe for Sugared Pecans, a real treat on this salad. I used sugared pecans because that’s what I had on hand. And also what I wanted. Ha. Hope you enjoy this harvest salad!

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Maple Roasted Butternut Squash & Pomegranate Harvest Salad

Course Salad

Servings 2

Author Allie Taylor

Ingredients

Maple Roasted Butternut Squash:

• 1/2 butternut squash peeled and cubed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Pomegranate Dressing

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 1 large garlic clove minced
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 pinches salt

Salad:

• 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
• 5 cups spring mix greens washed
• 1/2 cup toasted or sugared pecan halves
• 1/4 cup gorgonzola cheese

Instructions

Maple Roasted Butternut Squash

• Preheat oven to 400°.
• In a mixing bowl, combine olive oil, maple syrup and cubed butternut squash.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
• Bake on parchment-lined, foil covered baking sheet for 20 minutes.
• Remove foil and bake 20 more minutes 'til squash is tender and beginning to brown on the bottom.
• Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.

Pomegranate Dressing

• Add all ingredients in blender and process 'til smooth.

Assemble Salad

• Place greens onto plates.
• Layer with maple roasted butternut squash, gorgonzola cheese, toasted or sugared pecans, and pomegranate seeds.
• Drizzle with homemade Pomegranate Dressing just before serving.

This salad is perfect with a steaming cup of New England Bacon Corn Chowder

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