Squash & Vinaigrette Salad

Jamie cutting up the shallots, to be cooked down with the shitake mushrooms.

Jamie sautéing the shallots with the shitake mushrooms.

Adding the roasted acorn squash and toasted pecans together.

Next, add in the sautéed shallots and shitake mushrooms.

Finally, drizzle the entire dish with pumpkin vinaigrette, and stir well to combine.

The finished product! Sweet, umami, tangy, and crunchy!

This is a Pimento & Prose original recipe from scratch! We needed a dish to take with us to a small get together, and were inspired by a new pumpkin vinaigrette we had recently purchased from the Oil & Vinegar store in downtown Greenville. This Squash & Vinaigrette Salad is simple side dish, and is the perfect mix of sweet, tangy, umami, soft, and crunchy! Less than ten ingredients, and ready in under an hour.

Squash & Vinaigrette Salad

Servings 6 people

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Ingredients

• 4 Acorn squash
• 3 tbsp Avocado oil
• 2 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Pepper
• ¼ cup Olive oil
• ¼ cup Pecans
• 2 Shallots
• 4 oz Package of shitake mushrooms
• 2 tbsp Avocado Oil
• 4 tsp Salt & Pepper Or other seasonings of choice!
• 4 floz Pumpkin vinegar Or other sweeter/fruit-based vinegar. We love our local Oil & Vinegar Store for buying these!
• 8 floz Olive Oil To make the vinaigrette!

Instructions

• Start by preheating your oven to 350*F.
• Wash and chop the acorn squash in half lengthways, scooping out the middle part with the seeds and composting or discarding that. Rub the squash halves with avocado oil, salt, and pepper, before placing face-down on a baking tray. Bake for 35 minutes or until a knife run through a squash is soft, but not mushy (think almost al dente consistency, some resistance but mostly soft).
• Once the squash has cooled down slightly (about 5-10 mins, until it's cool enough to touch), use a sharp paring knife to carefully remove the skins and stems from the outside of the squash. Chop into a medium sized dice and place in a large bowl. If you’d like, lightly toast the roughly chopped pecans in a dry pan for 2-3 minutes before combining. If not, add in your roughly chopped pecans now.
• Next, wash and finely chop the shallots and mushrooms, sautéing in a pan with a drizzle of avocado oil, salt, and pepper (or other seasonings of choice) on medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the mushrooms are soft and the shallots are fragrant. Add directly to the bowl with squash and pecans.
• To finish off the dish, create the vinaigrette! Combine 8 fl. oz. of high-quality EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil) with about 4 fl. oz. of the pumpkin vinegar (or another of your favorite fruit-based vinaigrettes) and shake together with a dash of water in a glass jar or bottle. We're using a 2-to-1 oil-to-vinegar ratio, but you can add more oil (about 2 fl. oz.) if you prefer a less punchy dressing.
• Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and stir to coat all ingredients. Taste it after stirring to decide if it needs more dressing, seasonings, etc. This side dish can immediately be served warm or cold, and keeps well in a ziplock bag or Tupperware in the fridge for up to 5-7 days.

Course: Soups, Sides, & Breads