Do you remember what I did last year? I made a Butternut Squash Sweet Potato Casserole (yes, a hot dish) for Thanksgiving. And? It was amazing! My aunts even made it at my grandma’s house for the big day! The Midwesterner in me was so proud. I wanted to incorporate squash and sweet potatoes again this year, because, carbs. But I wanted to simplify and class things up a bit. Hence, a salad (made of mostly carbs)! Shall we? The base of this 9-ingredient dish is roasted butternut squash and (or) sweet potatoes. Roast with coconut oil, spices, and a little maple syrup and coconut sugar until golden and tender. It’s so delicious you’ll eat half before it’s ever assembled (according to a friend of mine – not me, of course). While the squash is roasting, toast up some pecans and then – right on the pan – toss them with coconut oil, coconut sugar, maple syrup and spices and roast 5 minutes more until golden brown and crispy and SO DELICIOUS. Again, my friend said she ate like half of them before serving. I can’t believe her. Such a lack of self-control. For the dressing, I was hemming and hawing between savory, sweet, or tangy, until I remembered pomegranate molasses existed! Have you ever tried it? It’s tangy and slightly sweet and so flavorful. I use it in my Fesenjan recipe (find the vegan version in our Cookbook!) and it makes the dish. You can either buy pomegranate molasses or make it at home by cooking down pomegranate juice into a semi-glaze consistency (like you would balsamic vinegar). It only takes about 20 minutes and you’re left with a 1-ingredient dressing that complements this “salad” beautifully. For serving, I opted for a bed of arugula and red onion. But to be honest, it was just for color. You can definitely just serve the squash with pecans and pomegranate molasses and this would be a show stopper. But it never hurts to sneak in more greens when you can (so they say). I hope you all love this dish! It’s: FestiveHeartySavory-sweetVegetable-packedNutrient-rich& So delicious I’m envisioning this being the “I can’t keep my hands off it” side dish this Thanksgiving (and all fall + winter long for that matter). If you’re more of a traditionalist, give my Butternut Squash Sweet Potato Casserole a try! If you try this dish, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag a photo #minimalistbaker on Instagram! We’d love to see what you come up with. Cheers, friends!
