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September 12, 2016
Roasted Carnival Squash Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing
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It’s the new year, you are all excited to exercise and eat right, and then the next thing you know you are bored of eating salad everyday (and maybe still a little hungry too), can I get an amen? So, I thought: a new year needs a new salad. I created this salad to fill you up, excite your taste buds, pack in the nutrients, and help keep you on track. Also, my mom says I have been posting too many tacos (as if there is such a thing as too many tacos), so here is a salad instead.
Loaded up with rice, beans, and roasted carnival squash, this salad is hearty enough to call a meal.
The idea for this recipe came from the Oh, She Glows Cookbook by Angela Lidden. I “doctored” it up to make it my own, but she deserves a shout out for the inspiration. As you are learning to cook whole food plant based meals I really do recommend looking at recipes for inspiration, but changing them to suit your tastes or the ingredients that you have available to you.
Also, try to keep an open mind about what makes up a meal. If you are coming from a meat-eating mindset you are probably used to having a hunk of meat as the star of your plate, surrounded by side dishes of veggies and grains. When you eat a WFPB diet your whole meal is veges and grains so there are a lot of one dish meals, soups, stews, bowls, tacos (obviously), etc. This is a new way of eating and a new way of thinking about food. Go with it, embrace the change. That said…
Here is what we are making:
If you are looking to make this a quick weeknight meal, no problem. The rice and squash can be prepared in advance and reheated on the day you are assembling the salad. Even better, if you prepare extra rice and freeze it (like I keep reminding you to do) you can skip that step on your meal prep day. BTW the dressing will keep in the fridge for 5-7 days as well.
Happy eating and best health,
Dr. G
Notes
I like to make my own dressings and salsas and things. If you don't, buy them!
Ingredients
Salad:
- 4 cups of salad greens (spring mix and baby spinach used here)
- 1 cup of quartered artichoke hearts
- 1 medium cucumber, halved and sliced
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 can of beans (red beans used here)
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1/2 medium purple onion chopped
Squash:
- 1 carnival squash (acorn squash will work too), cut into half moon shaped pieces that are 1/2 inch thick
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- a pinch of salt
Lemon Tahini Dressing:
- 1.5 tablespoons tahini (or almond or cashew butter)
- 1 shallot
- 1 clove of garlic
- juice of 2 lemons
- handful of parsley
- pinch of salt
Instructions
Squash:
- Drizzle squash pieces with olive oil
- Sprinkle with salt
- Lay them flat in a single layer on a baking sheet.
- Put them into a 400 degree F oven for 30-40 minutes to cook through and brown up a little. Flip them half way through cooking.
Dressing:
- Put everything into the blender and blend until smooth.
Salad:
- Put all salad ingredients into a large bowl and toss them together...you know, make salad
- Place the squash on top
- Pour on dressing to taste
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