Poppy Seed-Crusted Butternut Squash Salad

Featured Recipe: by Amy Yazdian,  The Crunchy Carrot

    Serves 4-6

The Crunchy Carrot

    Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash 
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced 
• 1 tablespoon canola oil 
• 3 tablespoons poppy seeds 
• a few sprinkles of sea salt
• 
  
• 3 cups packed shredded/roughly chopped kale 
• Juice of ½ lemon 
• pinch of sea salt 
• ½ pear, cored, halved and thinly sliced 
• 1 pomegranate, de-seeded

Sweet White Wine Vinaigrette:

• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar 
• ½ teaspoon agave 
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 
• sea salt pepper 
• 1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

What you’ll need… baking sheet, a wooden spoon and a bowl of water

Preparation:    Preheat the oven to 400F degrees.
Peel squash and cut in half (lengthwise), scoop out the seeds and cut into cubes. Toss with oil, minced garlic, poppy seeds and sea salt until evenly coated. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast until fork tender (but not mushy), about 35 minutes (30-40 minutes).
While the squash is roasting, shred the kale by slicing it into very thin strips (you can also use the regular curly kale instead of dino kale), add the juice half of lemon and some salt and massage into the kale allowing it to wilt. Set aside while you make the dressing.
Sweet White Wine Vinaigrette:

Mix all ingredients together except the olive oil. Then while whisking vigorously, slowly drizzle the olive oil in to emulsify. Pour over wilted kale and toss to coat.

Remove the seeds from the pomegranate by first quartering it and then hitting the skin with the back of a wooden spoon over a bowl of water, allowing the seeds to drop into the water. You will notice that the white pith will float to the top and the good seeds will sink to the bottom. Pick out all of the white pith before draining and drying the pomegranate seeds.
Once the butternut squash is finished, cool for 5-10 minutes before adding it to the kale. Toss with the pear and pomegranate seeds.
      ~Garnish with lemon zest!~

Nutrition Information: Each serving is 175 calories, 8 g of fat, 4 g of protein,

 28 g of carbohydrates and 7 g of fiber.
 Amy Yazdian received a Masters in Nutrition at Columbia University's Institute of Human Nutrition in New York, and currently writes for dietitians and nutrition publications. She is passionate about creating delicious, healthy recipes.

Amy is also a member of the Healthy Cooking Community on Wellsphere.