Vegan Warm Winter Salad
The warm salad - a perfect compromise between you and the brisk winds that linger outside of your window. Healthy, but filling. Warm, but light on the calories. Roasted butternut squash, sautéed carrots and kale, beets, apple, and pistachio. How good does that sound? Find your happy medium in this salad.
Click on the links below to skip to any part of the recipe:
Introduction
The great thing about a salad is that they’re an all year round food - suitable and welcomed in both summer and winter. But don’t put yourself through eating the same Caesar salad you made to go with the BBQ and coleslaw you prepared for your backyard cookout last July - for two reasons. Firstly, because Caesar salad frankly tastes horrible after 30 minutes in a 400°F oven. And secondly, because ingredients are seasonal. Some of the ones you get in the summer are going to be way better than the ones you get in the winter. Use winter veg this time of year for the best taste.
And no, you absolutely don’t have to (and shouldn’t) plate it like in the pictures - unless you’re on a third date, in which case, grab anything circular you can and get to work. In this recipe, I’m going to detail how to make this dish the way I would typically make it. Instead of cutting the carrots into hundreds of tiny pieces, we’re going to throw them into the oven with the butternut squash. I’ll put the technique for cutting said carrots into said hundreds of pieces in the Spruce it Up section should you be preparing this dish for a special occasion
The trick to this recipe is in the timing and evenness of the pieces. The carrots and the butternut squash should all be (around) the same size. That way, you know that when one piece is cooked, they’re all cooked. The carrots will go into the oven before the squash, and the beets will go into the water at the same time as the squash goes into the oven. It’ll be like you’re synchronizing an orchestra, but it’ll all work out in the end.
Check out the Spruce it Up section for ideas on how to take this recipe to the next level.
Before We Get Started
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 40 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour
Servings: 3-4 Salads
Ingredients
1 Butternut Squash
5-6 Carrots
1 Bunch of Kale
3 Beets
Bigger than a golf ball but smaller than a baseball/tennis ball.
1 Apple
Pistachios
1/2 tbsp. Garlic Powder
1/2 tbsp. Onion Powder
1 tsp. Curry Powder
Olive Oil
For dressing, optional.
Method
Set your oven to 400°F, and line a baking tray with aluminum foil.
Peel your carrots and butternut squash, then dice them into half-inch pieces.
Put your carrots into a medium-sized bowl and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and toss to coat. Place your carrots onto the baking tray, and throw them into the oven for 10 minutes once the oven has preheated.
Put a pot of water with the lid on onto max heat with a handful of salt.
You want it to be as salty as the sea. It may seem like a lot of salt - but it will dissolve in the water. Only a fraction of it will actually season the beets.
While your carrots are cooking, add your butternut squash to the bowl, hit them with a little bit more olive oil, as well as salt and pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and curry powder. Toss.
When the carrots have finished their first ten minutes, pull them out and add your butternut squash to the tray. Throw the tray back into the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes. Add your beets to the boiling water.
Despine your kale and roughly chop it.
Despining is a fancy cooking term for ripping the leaves from the stem in the middle.
Preheat a pan over medium-high heat, with oil. Once it has come to temperature, add your chopped kale to the pan, hit it with some salt, and saute it for about 3 minutes, or until it is a colour green colour, and a touch crispy. Remove from the pan, and set the pan to low heat.
Once the 20-minute timer has gone off, flip your carrots and butternut squash, and throw them back into the oven for another ten minutes.
Roughly chop a handful of pistachios, and throw them into the same pan you cooked your kale in. Toast them until they are fragrant and slightly darker.
Slice your apple thinly.
Take your veg out from the oven once the 10-minute timer has gone off.
Combine everything in a bowl, and toss.
Optionally, hit it with some olive oil.
Enjoy.
Spruce it Up
Dice up some avocado to add some creaminess.
If you like spice, hit your veg with some cayenne before throwing it into the oven.
To finely dice the carrots:
Cut each carrot into three even pieces (about 5 cm long).
Square off each piece by slicing down near the edge of the carrot. This should leave you with one flat side. Place the flat side down onto the cutting board. Do the same to the remaining edges until you have four flat sides. It should look like a rectangle.
Slice your rectangular into half cm slabs. Cut the slabs into half cm sticks. Cut the sticks into half cm cubes.
Repeat for the remaining carrots.
Yeah - it takes ages.