Fall Salad Bowl with Roasted Butternut Squash

If you’ve been around Pinterest or Instagram for any length of time, you have likely seen a number of bowl recipes. They’re known by many different names, such as buddha bowl, power bowl, noodle bowl, quinoa bowl, lunch bowl, breakfast bowl, salad bowl, and the list goes on and on.

Whatever you call them, these bowls can be a nourishing addition to your menu. They’re filling and delicious, versatile and easy to make – especially if you’ve pre-prepped your ingredients. If you add them to your menu, try cleaning and chopping produce the night before (or earlier), and cooking your grains or noodles the night before as well.

When I make any kind of bowl, especially a salad bowl, I like to start with a base of greens. For my family, that’s frequently romaine lettuce and spinach; but you can use any kind of greens that you want, like kale, collard greens, or arugula.

After the greens, comes a layer of grains, noodles, or rice. For today’s salad bowl recipe I used freekeh. Freekeh is basically wheat that’s harvested when it’s still young and green, and then roasted and cracked. It’s considered an ancient grain as well as a whole grain and is filled with fiber, protein, B vitamins, and several minerals. If you can’t find freekeh, feel free to use any other type of grain, such as bulgur, farro, or rice.

Every salad bowl needs a fair share of produce. Mix and match your favorite veggies and fruit to suit your own tastes. I tend to use whatever I have on hand and this time of  year that includes butternut squash and apples. After the produce, add a source of protein, like grilled chicken or diced cheese. For a finishing touch, drizzle on a homemade vinaigrette and top with something crunchy like pepitas or sunflower seeds.

Leave a comment below and tell us what are your favorite ingredients to add to a salad bowl.

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Print Recipe

Fall Salad Bowl with Roasted Butternut Squash

Fall Salad Bowl with Roast Butternut Squash is a delight to the palette. Filled with nourishing veggies, chicken, freekeh, and butternut squash, it’s a taste of fall for a meal.

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bowl, butternut squash, fall recipe

Servings: 1

Author: Marie

Ingredients

For the roasted butternut squash:

• 2 c. butternut squash cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 2 mandarin oranges cut in half horizontally

For each salad bowl:

• 1 c. fresh greens
• 1/3 c. cooked freekeh
• 1/4 c. each sliced fresh peppers diced carrots, diced cucumbers, and halved grape tomatoes
• 1/4 c. cored peeled, and diced apple
• 1 1/2 oz. diced grilled chicken
• 1/2 oz. diced fontina cheese
• 1/2 Tbsp. peppitas

For the vinaigrette:

• 2 Tbsp. mandarin orange juice juice of 1 mandarin orange
• 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp. ginger
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400°F and line a rimmed cookie sheet with foil.
• To roast the squash place the cubed squash in a medium bowl. Add olive oil, cinnamon, and ginger and toss together until oil and spices are distributed evenly over the squash cubes.
• Pour the prepared squash cubes onto the foil-lined pan. Place the four mandarin orange halves among the squash cubes. Put pan in the oven and roast for 20 minutes.
• While the squash is roasting, assemble the salad bowls with the fresh greens as the base, then adding the freekeh, peppers, carrots, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, and diced apple. Top with the grilled chicken and fontina cheese. Sprinkle peppitas on top.
• When the butternut squash is done (easily pierced with a fork), remove from oven and top each bowl with 1/3 c. of the squash and one of the roasted mandarin halves.
• Mix together the vinaigrette ingredients (mandarin orange juice, Dijon mustard, ginger, honey, salt, and oil). Drizzle on top of the salad bowls and serve immediately.

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