I love warm salads in the colder months, and this particular recipe combines the wonderful warming flavours of cinnamon and paprika, used to coat roasted squash and chickpeas. Honestly, your kitchen will smell INSANE when they’re cooking.
Coupled with kale, leeks, feta and pomegranate seeds, plus a dressing with my secret weapon ingredient: Urban Chutney (seriously, best chutney I’ve ever tasted), this autumnal/winter salad really hits the spot in terms of flavours, colour and substance!
Ingredients:
For the roasted squash & chickpeas
- ½ butternut squash
- ½ 400g can chickpeas in water
- 1 tbsp coconut oil (or any other oil)
- ½ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- Plenty of black pepper
For the salad
- 2 large handfuls of kale, washed and drained
- 1 small leek, sliced
- 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds
- 25g feta cheese, crumbled
For the dressing
- 1 tsp chilli oil
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tsp Urban Chutney (or any other chutney)
Get cooking!
- Firstly, chop the skin off the butternut squash and remove any seeds, then cut into small chunks. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C and place the coconut oil in a deep baking tray. Place in oven for a couple of minutes to melt, then tip in the squash cubes and sprinkle over the paprika, cinnamon and black pepper. Stir well and bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, tip in the chickpeas, stir to coat in the spiced oil and continue to bake for a further 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients and set aside.
- In a small non-stick pan, add a dash of water and cook the leek slices on a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add more water if necessary – you want to basically steam it without oil. Add plenty of mixed herbs and black pepper, a few more drops of water and stir in the kale. Stir quickly and cook for a few minutes, to heat through and wilt the kale slightly.
- Place the kale and leeks in a large bowl. Spoon over the roasted chickpeas and squash (totally up to you if you serve this still warm or cold!) then pour over the dressing evenly. Now top with the crumbled feta and sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds. Now tuck in!
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