Butternut squash, chickpeas, orange and lamb’s lettuce salad

If in winter I am very willing to consume hot and heavy dishes, I sometimes tell myself that a little vintage would not be too much.
I find it so easy to eat raw in the summer: the tomatoes, the cucumbers, the abundance of fruit and the urgent need to eat cold, all of this contributes greatly to easily preparing dishes that contain the best vegetables !
Winter or even fall is a different story. Between the almost total absence of vegetables to eat raw in a varied way, and the desire to warm up, we quickly forget our share of raw vegetables.
In this resolutely winter salad, I suggest you serve cooked vegetables and raw vegetables: a nice squash salad, with orange wedges, lamb’s lettuce and pecan nuts.
It is a simple, tasty, juicy, sweet and tangy mixture.

Winter squash and orange salad

This salad can be prepared in a rather light way, or thought of as a complete plate by adding chickpeas.
The orange is very pleasant to taste in sweet and savory salads, and allows you to vary a little and obtain a “juicy” result in a season when we are sorely lacking in fruit vegetables such as tomatoes.

In this recipe, I chose to cook the butternut squash in the oven: it takes longer than in water, but you get a caramelized finish that gives a little complexity, but also echoes the pecans. . They are expensive, I don’t use much of them, but they are always welcome in salads where they bring a pleasant chewiness.
If you don’t have any, you can also use hazelnuts, but remember to roast them: everything is better when roasted. Word of Tata Delia.
Of course, pumpkin seeds are also a good alternative, always toasted or baked.

When I miss a legume in a dish or salad, I also think about shape, size and texture.
A good salad is a salad where you never get tired of every bite, and where, despite a subtle interplay of shapes, colors and flavors, you discover a new pleasure with every bite.
I am very far from placing myself very high in the art of the salad, but on the other hand, I know that I quickly get tired of dishes composed in a way that is too linear. Too soft, too big pieces or conversely too small… You understand, it has to move!

The chew gives volume, color and brings its flavor and its slightly mucilaginous texture (the slightly sticky sensation on the tongue, without excess).
And the chickpeas, well, no need to explain their presence: they just bring all their good things, a slightly dry texture, but a dense chew.

It’s a salad that can be eaten totally cold but that I prefer to eat with chickpeas and hot diced squash.

Finally, to accompany, it seemed important to me to add a slight acidity: a vinaigrette with a little balsamic vinegar brings a discreet but appreciable touch that makes you salivate: because drool is a hell of an ingredient to start digesting and taste well.
It’s the highlight of the show!

After reading me this far, you’ll tell yourself that I take the subject of salads super seriously. You might not be completely wrong.

Finally, if you are a fan of this kind of dishes for the winter period, I suggest you take a look at the following:

• Warm sweet potato salad with arugula and bulgur
• Potato salad, smoked tofu bacon and lamb’s lettuce
• Lentil, squash and walnut salad