By Nat Levin
I think salad should either be extremely plain, just greens and vinaigrette, or full of all the accoutrement you can think of. This is definitely the latter. In my ongoing quest to actually like winter squash, I roasted it with Baharat, a warm and flavorful Lebanese spice blend, and then wondered what else I could add that would combat what I perceive as the fruit’s excessive sweetness. Radicchio’s vibrant color and robust bitterness made it the perfect candidate, and it’s good for you to boot – bitter greens stimulate stomach enzymes that can improve digestion, and radicchio in particular is rich in beneficial antioxidants. If you are not a fan of maximalist salads, you could leave it at just roasted squash and radicchio, but the fruit, pickles, cheese, nuts, and crispy alliums take it from something rather mundane to a dinner-party-worthy showpiece.
For the salad:
1 two-pound butternut squash
1 teaspoon Baharat (sub favorite spice mix i.e. garam masala)
1 small radicchio, shredded (bitter greens haters, sub kale or romaine)
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
½ cup sliced pepperoncini
4 pitted dates, thinly sliced
½ cup sliced almonds, toasted (sub walnuts)
1 cup shaved parmesan or crumbled feta
2 apples or pears, sliced into wedges right before serving
½ cup fried shallots
For the croutons:
2 cups torn bread
2 garlic cloves, minced
For the vinaigrette:
¼ cup sherry vinegar
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/3 cup olive oil
Pre-heat the oven to 400 and move a rack into the top third of the oven. Cut the squash into one inch wedges, then peel, cut in half, and remove seeds where needed. Put onto parchment lined baking sheet, drizzle with a big glug of olive oil (two tablespoons if you feel like measuring), and sprinkle one teaspoon Baharat and a big pinch of salt over the squash. Roast at 400 for 30 minutes, or until the squash is tender and starting to brown at the edges.
While the squash is roasting, prepare the croutons. Put a generous amount of olive oil into a cast iron pan, enough to coat the bottom, and add the torn bread in an even layer, then the garlic, stirring to combine. Put the pan in the oven along with the squash, on the top rack if there’s room, and check occasionally to make sure the bread isn’t burning. Depending on your oven and the texture of the bread, the squash and the croutons should finish cooking at the same time. Keep the croutons in longer if needed.
After the croutons are in the oven, slice the shallot thinly and put in a small bowl. Cover with ¼ cup sherry vinegar, ¼ cup water, and 1 teaspoon of runny honey. Let the shallot marinate while the bread and squash are cooking.
Right before you’re ready to serve, fish the shallot out of the sherry vinegar bath and transfer to the bottom of a large salad bowl. To make the vinaigrette, add two teaspoons of Dijon mustard and 1/3 cup of olive oil to the shallot-infused sherry vinegar and whisk to emulsify. Add the rest of the salad ingredients to the bowl, then toss with the vinaigrette. Serves 6-8 as a side.
