Jump to Recipe
January 8, 2015
I cannot stop eating this salad. It’s fortifying. It’s nourishing. It’s creamy. It’s dense. It’s flavorful. It’s bright. It’s sweet. It’s savory. Is there anything this salad is not? It may very well be the holy grail of fall and winter salads.
Ingredients
roasted kabocha
- ½ slices kabocha squash deseeded and cut into ¼"
- 1 Tbsp . olive oil
- 1 tsp . ground cumin
- 1 tsp . fennel seeds
- mild smoked salt like Maldon, to taste
salad
- 8-10 leaves lacinato kale washed, destemmed, and cut into small strips
- 2 tsp . red wine vinegar
- ¼ tsp . sea salt
- 1 tsp . olive oil
- ¼ cup crumbled feta
- 1 Tbsp . salted tahini
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange kabocha slices on baking sheet. Using a mortar and pestle, grind fennel seeds and cumin. Drizzle kabocha with olive oil, using fingers to coat both sides. Sprinkle with cumin and fennel mix and smoked salt. Turn slightly.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then check for tenderness and browning. Turn slices over if one side seems to be cooking much faster than the other. Remove from oven within the next few minutes, as slices brown. Don’t burn!
- Set aside.
- Place chopped kale in a large bowl and massage with vinegar, olive oil, and ¼ tsp. sea salt. After a minute or two of gentle massaging to break down some of the tough kale cell walls, leave in bowl or arrange on a plate. Top with warm kabocha squash, crumbled feta, and drizzle with tahini.
- Yes, please, forever, thank you.