Warm Squash and Chard Salad

 

A warm salad is so nice for fall and winter! Instead of raw, tender greens, we utilize cooked, dark leafy greens and combine them with other hearty ingredients, like squash, farro, and chickpeas.

Warm Squash and Chard Salad

serves 4-6

  • 1 large delicata squash, halved, seeded, and sliced into half-moons

  • 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling the delicata

  • sea salt

  • freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 large shallot, half minced, half sliced

  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

  • 1 bunch rainbow or red chard, stemmed, greens torn, stems sliced diagonally into 1-inch pieces (see note)

  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

  • 1/8 teaspoon turmeric

  • 1 1/2 cups (one 15 oz /425 g can) cooked chickpeas

  • 2 cups cooked farro or wheatberries

  • 1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

  • 1/4 heaping cup pomegranate seeds (see note) or dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200° C). Put the delicata squash on a parchment paper covered baking sheet, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix to coat. Arrange the slices in a single layer and roast for 15 minutes. Flip the squash slices and roast for another 10-15 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned.

In a large salad bowl, combine the minced half of the shallot, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper to taste, mix with a whisk. Slowly stream in the 1/4 cup of olive oil while whisking, until all the oil is emulsified. Set aside for now.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chard stems and a splash of water, cover the skillet and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, let the chard stems steam for 5-7 minutes, until they’re just beginning to soften. If there’s any steaming water remaining, let it cook off with the skillet uncovered. Use your spatula to move the chard stems to one side of the skillet and add olive oil to the open side of the skillet, enough to lightly coat the bottom. Add the sliced half of the shallot and a pinch of salt, saute the stems and shallot for another 5 minutes, until the shallot is soft and translucent. Add the smoked paprika, cayenne, and turmeric, stir to incorporate and bloom the spices for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the chickpeas and farro/wheatberries. Mix to combine and cook for another 5 minutes, for all the flavors to meld.

Add the chard greens right on top of all the ingredients without mixing them in. Cover the skillet and let the greens steam for 5-7 minutes, until bright green and reduced in volume. Mix to incorporate the chard greens in the warm salad mixture. Add the contents of the skillet and the roasted delicata squash to the salad bowl with the dressing, mix well to coat everything in the dressing. Taste for salt and adjust if needed. Garnish the salad with pumpkin seeds and pomegranate seeds/dried cranberries, if using. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

When washing the chard stems/greens, don’t worry about drying them. Any water that’s clinging to them will help them steam later in the recipe.

I demonstrated how to seed a pomegranate in this video.

Intuitive Cooking Takeaways

You can take this warm salad format and play around with it endlessly.

Feel free to experiment with the kind of squash and greens you use for this salad. For the squash, you can pretty much use any winter squash (or even sweet potatoes!), just make sure to peel the ones with tougher skin. For the greens, think hearty, dark leafy greens like kale and collards.

So many toasted nuts/seeds would work in place of the pumpkin seeds here, think walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds.

 
all, recipeMasha DavydovaComment