Dinner Salad: roasted butternut squash, chicken, and toasted walnuts

 

I like dinner salads to be substantial, with the lettuce being just one of many ingredients, not the whole of it.  This salad is perfect for that and covers all the bases:  equal parts protein, cheese, dried fruit, chewy grain, roasted vegetable, toasted nuts, and lettuce—any combination of your favorites will do.  Sometimes I use chicken and squash, other times flaky tuna and tomatoes, or beef and asparagus.  Sometimes Arugula, other times Kale or romaine.  Use what you like and switch it up, you can’t go wrong 😊

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

 

The amount of ingredients depends on how big you want your salad, you decide

This is a quick, weeknight meal if you let the grocery store help you:

 

cubed butternut squash (I buy it already cut up in the produce section)

½ cup (when dried) cooked barley (would also be good with couscous, quinoa, or farro)

walnuts

dried cranberries 

cooked chicken, shredded (a rotisserie chicken from the deli is perfect here)

arugula (I buy it triple washed and ready to use)

swiss cheese, cubed

vinaigrette

olive oil

red wine vinegar

(maybe) 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

salt/pepper

• Cook your barley according to package directions and set aside to cool slightly.
• Make your vinaigrette:  I like ¼ cup vinegar, 1/8 cup oil, and a teaspoon of mustard.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper and mix.  

When the barley is cooling, add a few teaspoons of the vinaigrette and mix, so it soaks up some of the flavor.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lay out your squash on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Mix with hands to coat and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast in oven.  In the last 7 minutes of cooking, add the walnuts to the pan to toast.

 Let squash and nuts cool slightly; if walnuts are whole, chop them roughly and assemble your salad:

 Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Dress with some (or all) of the vinaigrette.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.