I did it! I took the grilled romaine hearts that I made earlier in the week, and turned them into a salad. The grilled romaine hearts are delicious as a side dish, but I really wanted to see how they could be used in a salad. After all, that’s what lettuce is usually used for, right?
I remember making a salad years ago that had butternut squash on it, and how delicious it was. It seemed like the perfect companion to grilled romaine hearts. Who says salad has to be cold?
Ingredients
- One butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1″ pieces
- Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil for dressing plus 2 tbs for butternut squash
- 1 cup apple juice
- 1/2 tbs brown sugar
- 2 tbs apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbs dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- Grilled Romaine Hearts (recipe here), or substitute your favorite lettuce
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place diced squash on a large baking sheet with salt and pepper, and 2 tbs olive oil. Toss with hands until squash is evenly covered by oil. Place in oven for 25-30 minutes or until fork tender.
After the squash goes in the oven, heat apple juice in a small sauce pan. Boil and allow to reduce by about a quarter. Add brown sugar and apple cider vinegar to apple juice and stir. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, and then whisk in olive oil and dijon mustard. Remove from the heat.
Place lettuce on a plate or bowl and top with warm butternut squash, slivered almonds, and dressing.
Serves 4
