I enjoy eating salad, but being the sort of person that really likes flavor to knock you off your chair, a regular salad with bottled dressing and tomatoes doesn’t interest me remotely. Which is a pity for our health, being that raw veggies are so good for you! We have a revamped pro-salad initiative in our house, as a predicable recovery plan from the overindulgance of the holidays. So I am trying to come up with interesting, flavorful, hearty salads as a main course. This has so far been my favorite. It is highly adaptable, so I’ll just describe what I throw into it, and you can tinker with your own preferred combination!
- Washed, chopped romaine lettuce
- Roasted butternut squash (I buy the pre-diced package at Trader Joe’s, a bit pricey but totally worth it for time-saved. Toss in olive oil, sprinkle with cumin, chili powder, ground oregano, paprika, salt and pepper. Roast at 400 for about 20 min or til edges are brown and crispy.)
- Black beans (rinsed from can)
- Toasted pepitas (the large flat pumpkin seeds)
- Small-diced feta cheese
- Dressing (2 parts olive oil, 1 part vinegar – I like champagne vinegar – with 1 diced chipotle pepper and some extra adobo sauce, cumin, chili powder, ground oregano, paprika, salt and pepper.)
Bon Appetit!
