Tired of serving the same old salad over and over again? Do you want to impress your guests or loved ones with an exciting new dish!? Take a bite into Fall and satisfy your cravings with this delicious, yet healthy salad!

I try to make the salads we eat at home as diverse as possible. Growing up, my mom made the usual, “Tomato, Cucumber, Red Onion and Lettuce” salad with the most ever famous yet satisfying, lemon and olive oil dressing with salt and pepper. Yup, that was basically the go-to salad for everything.

Stepping away from that, I realized that you can put anything in a salad and make it however you want. Therefore, I began to explore the world of salads, yes, the World of Salads. So many different types and so many different kinds of dressings. I thought I was actually cheating on my mom’s salad after I started to make different kinds. Salads with fresh fruit, vegetables, beans, nuts, deli meats, cheese… you name it, I have made it into a salad!

With all that said, as I was “exploring,” I came up with this Roast Butternut Squash Salad with peppery arugula and tangy goat cheese. So light and refreshing, you will forget about the second course! Just remember that you will have to share this salad with others, so try to control your servings! 🙂

Roast Butternut Squash Salad

1 Bag Fresh Organic Arugula
2 Cups Roast Butternut Squash, cooled
1/4 Cup Pine Nuts, toasted
2 Tbsp Fresh Parsley, chopped
1/3 Cup Dried Cranberries
Goat Cheese, crumbled, as much as you like
1 Tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
Olive Oil
Trader Joe’s Balsamic Glaze Or Balsamic Vinegar

1. Layer arugula on a flat platter or in a salad bowl, evenly top with some roast butternut squash, pine nuts, parsley, cranberries and crumbled goat cheese.
2. Season with 1 tsp of salt and ½ tsp pepper.
3. Finish it off with drizzling some olive oil and balsamic glaze on top, as much as you prefer.*
4. Serve.

*Instead of olive oil and balsamic glaze, you can use a balsamic vinaigrette.

Chef Alina
Los Angeles, CA