RCP: Lovely Fall/Winter Salad

This salad has been the topic of much heated debate recently. Curiosity got the best of me and I made it. Much thanks goes to CMMiller for the inspiration.

1/4 cup Butternut Squash, diced 1/4"
1 Chestnut, roasted
2 Tbsp. Dried Cranberries
A heaping handful of Frissee.
Your favorite Dijon/Lemon Vinaigrette

Preheat oven to 375*.

Toss the diced squash with EVOO, S&P, and roast until done but not mushy, about 15 minutes. Roast the chestnut with the squash but be prepared to take it out before the squash are done.

Dress the frissee with the vinaigrette and then add the roasted squash and cranberries. Toss together. I like to go light on the dressing with most salads and this one is no exception. Compose the salad on a plate.

Cut the chestnut into quarters and arrange them on the edge of the plate. Enjoy!

Makes 1 salad.

Basic Dijon Vinaigrette:

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice (approx.)
1-2 tsp. Dijon Mustard (approx.)
EVOO
S&P

Mix together the lemon juice and mustard. Gradually add the EVOO until it emulsifies nicely. Season with S&P. Sometimes EVOO can be a little bitter so you may need to add a pinch of sugar. You decide.





rwj

I would never have pegged you as a vertical food guy.

I'm just full of surprises, aren't I?

rwj

[Jenise]

Similar wavelength, different result:

The same subject was gnawing at me, not avidly, just running around in the background of my head, something I'd think about in pauses. So I chose to make a cranberry-mustard vinaigrette to go with greens as a starter salad on Sunday night, which was a baked ham Christmas dinner for dear friends we couldn't really share Christmas with because of somebody's work schedule. Well, as things worked out, the salad course went south because another work schedule issue made a late arrival and realized it was going to be bad form to serve the main course at 9:00 to a guest who was usually going to bed about then, and then it turned out that the tips of the asparagus I'd planned to steam and serve with butter and lemon had gone to mush in the two days since I'd bought them. So I needed another dish, something with greens, and I had this cranberry-mustard vinaigrette I'd bought, so I improvised a Burgundian style warm potato salad on which I used the cranberry-mustard vinaigrette and tossed a bunch of arugula just before serving.

And, of course, that was the most popular dish on the table besides the ham. And how well did it go with our local Mt. Baker sangiovese? Incredibly well!