Roasted Butternut Squash Pomegranate Salad with Tahini Dressing is a beautiful salad for the holidays!
When it comes to starchy veggies, I love them all.
I could eat them every day.
Unfortunately my waist line and my cravings increase when I do. Reducing my intake of starchy veggies makes me appreciate them more when I do in fact indulge in some.
Such is the case in this delicious recipe.
Roasting the butternut squash instead of boiling or steaming makes for a flavor that is unmatched.
This simple act of roasting is what makes this pretty salad come to life in flavor.
Perfect for your holiday table as a colorful side dish, but simple enough for a weekday lunch or light dinner. Add some protein to call it a meal and your done.
This can obviously be customized to your tastes.
Not a fan of pecans? Try walnuts
Not a fan of pomegranates? Try dried cranberries.
Here's my simple steps in de-seeding a pomegranate. While it might not be the fastest method, since I don't like to wack it into a mess, it is effective and not messy in the least.
Once the butternut squash is roasted, your work is done. The salad comes together in under 10 minutes.
Make sure to allow the squash to cool before adding the rest of the ingredients. Who likes warm lettuce? Me neither. 🙂
Brenda's Notes:
- Tahini paste is made from sesame seeds and looks like peanut butter in texture. Nothing is usually added to it. If you need seasonings in your dressing just taste and adjust with salt and pepper. If you don't have tahini, you can also sub some natural no added sugar peanut butter in it's place.
- Don't like pomegranates? Change them out for some dried cranberries.
- Not a fan of pecans, try walnuts.
Roasted Butternut Squash Pomegranate Salad with Tahini Dressing
Ingredients
- 12 ounces butternut squash peeled, diced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 5 ounces romaine
- 2 tablespoons chopped raw pecans
- ⅓ cup pomegranate arils
Tahini Dressing
- 1 tablespoon tahini paste
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Place the butternut squash on a rimmed baking pan and toss with oil. Stir to coat well.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon, salt and pepper.
- Bake for 15 minutes then toss.
- Return to oven to finish baking another 10 minutes or until fork tender.
- Allow to cool.
- Place lettuce in a serving bowl. Add pecans and pomegranates.
- Pour in cooled butternut squash.
- Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and toss over salad.
- Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
- Enjoy immediately or refrigerate.
Notes
Nutrition
About Brenda
Brenda Bennett is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified Sugar Detox Coach, certified Keto Coach and certified Life Coach. She has been Sugar Free & Refined carb free for 17 years and has written 2 cookbooks, Sugar-Free Mom, and Naturally Keto and her 3rd book The 30-Day Sugar Elimination Diet, is a four part program to help you detox from sugar, eliminate cravings, balance blood sugar and lose weight all while eating a delicious, nutrient dense whole foods. Meal plan offers two tracks to follow, low carb or keto. She is the founder of the Sugar Free Fresh Start course and Sugar Free Tribe weight loss membership. Learn more.
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