ROASTED SQUASH, APPLE AND CAVOLO NERO SALAD
“Eating seasonally intertwines our eating habits with the rhythms of nature and inspires us to explore the full diversity of ingredients a farm has to offer, increasing the number of plant species we consume.”
Chef Tom Hunt
This month we encourage you to base your weekly shop on seasonal fruit and vegetables first (seasonal vegetables tend to be cheaper - as they require less intensive agricultural practices and more likely to have been produced locally and therefore less transport costs). A great way of doing this is visiting local farm shops and trying a local vegetable delivery service (those on the Isle of Wight we can recommend Living Larder, nationally we can recommend Boxx Fresh).
This salad features roasted crown prince squash, with its steel blue skin, bright orange flesh and sweet nutty flavour, crisp tart apples chunks, and rich, nutrients dense, cavolo nero. It is a hearty salad with a fresh dressing that can be served hot or cold. This makes it a perfect working from home lunch option, which can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Ingredients
Salad
400g crown prince squash (or butternut squash) - leave the skin on and cut into approx. 2cm x 2cm cubes
1/2 red onion sliced into wedges
1 apple sliced into chunks
40g of cavolo nero (torn in approx 6cm pieces)
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
120g cooked couscous
Handful of crushed walnuts
Dressing
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp of honey
1/2 tsp of mustard
Method
Preheat the oven to 220˚C, gas mark 7. Toss the squash, apple and red onion with 1 tbsp oil and spread over a parchment- lined baking tray. Season and roast for 20 minutes. Meanwhile place the cavolo nero in a bowl and massage in 1/2 tbsp oil. After 20 minutes, take the toasted vegetable out of the oven, toss and add in the cavolo nero. Roast for a further 5 minutes.
Whilst the vegetables and apple are roasted add the dressing ingredients into a bowl and stir until well combined.
Distribute the couscous between two bowl and arrange the roasted vegetables. Spoon over the dressing and top with crushed walnuts.
Enjoy!
