Fresh Veggie Mix for the Crisp Season: Autumn Salad
Prepare for a celebration of fall flavors with our featured salad, the Autumn Salad. This dish is a symphony of textures and tastes, from the crisp apples to the buttery pecans, the soft, earthy beets and butternut squash, and the slightly bitter curly kale.
The Ingredients
To create this masterpiece, you'll need the following ingredients:
- 3 beets, chopped into 1/4-inch dice
- 2 bunches of curly kale, torn into pieces
- 3 apples, cored and thinly sliced
- 1 small butternut squash, with the top part peeled and chopped into 1/4-inch dice (reserve the bulbous bottom for another use)
- 1/4 cup of dried unsweetened cranberries
- 1/4 cup of sultanas
- 1 cup of pecan halves
- 2 tablespoons of fresh mint, thinly sliced
The Vinaigrette
The salad is served with a sweet and sour vinaigrette that provides a balance of sweetness and acidity to complement the flavors of the salad. The vinaigrette is made from 1/4 cup of prepared kombucha tea, 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoon of Dijon-style mustard, 1 minced shallot, and 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil.
Additional Fall Salad Recipes
If you're looking for more ways to enjoy the flavors of apples, beets, and butternut squash, here are some additional fall salad recipes to inspire you:
- Roasted Pumpkin and Beetroot Salad: This vegan, gluten-free recipe uses caramelized squash (you can substitute butternut squash), tender beets, fresh greens, and a tangy mustard-lemon vinaigrette.
- Butternut Squash Apple Bake: While more of a warm side dish than a salad, it combines butternut squash, apples, raisins or cranberries, and walnuts or pecans.
- Autumn Harvest Honeycrisp Apple and Feta Salad: This vibrant fall salad features crisp apples along with nuts and greens, often complemented by other roasted vegetables like squash or beets.
- Loaded Fall Salad with Beets and Delicata Squash: This salad features caramelized fennel and Brussels sprouts, tossed with pearl couscous and a tangy apple cider vinaigrette.
- Holiday Squash Salad: This salad with butternut squash, kale, cabbage, olive oil, and lemon juice can be expanded by adding sliced apples and roasted beets for seasonal sweetness and color.
Enjoying the Autumn Salad
Fresh apples, beets, and butternut squash are tossed over kale in the salad. The recipe requires 1 cup of pecan halves. Eaten raw, these vegetables are milder and softer in flavor, almost delicate.
The salad is light enough for hot days but can be made more substantial with the addition of crisp pastured bacon or fresh goat cheese. Olive oil is a natural pairing for the vegetables in the salad.
As autumn arrives in the mountains, with aspens turning from green to gold, enjoy this salad as a delightful reminder of the season's bounty.
This harmonious Autumn Salad is not just a meal, but a celebration of fall flavors that is prepared with various ingredients such as cooking delights like beets, kale, apples, butternut squash, dried cranberries, sultanas, pecan halves, and fresh mint. To complete the meal, you can opt for additional food-and-drink options related to home-and-garden elements, including recipes like Roasted Pumpkin and Beetroot Salad, Butternut Squash Apple Bake, Autumn Harvest Honeycrisp Apple and Feta Salad, Loaded Fall Salad with Beets and Delicata Squash, or Holiday Squash Salad. These recipes provide further ways to enjoy the lovely tastes of apples, beets, and butternut squash in your lifestyle.
