Roasted Pumpkin, Beet, Onion and Wild Rice Salad

Roasted Pumpkin Salad Recipe

*This is a greatly modified formula which I read about on 101 Cookbooks, a blog I featured last Friday. I added beets and a few other ingredients as well as increasing the amounts and restructuring the dressing.

Salad:

3 cups of pumpkin (or other winter squash), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
extra-virgin olive oil
fine grain sea salt (I use smoked sea salt that I make)

2 heads of garlic with the tops cut off

4 beets peeled and quartered

A hand full of fresh rosemeary, peeled from the stems

12 tiny red onions or shallots, peeled (OR 3 medium red onions peeled and quartered)

2 cups cooked wild rice or wild rice blend ( I use Lindeman’s wild and brown rice blend) cooked in chicken broth

Dressing:

1/3 cup each sunflower seeds & pumpkin seeds
1 cup olive oil divided
Juice and zest of 4 meyer lemons (or 3 regular lemons and one orange)
1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Freshly ground black pepper to taste (I like lots)
4 tablespoons honey
2-4 tablespoons warm water
1 cup cilantro, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 375.
Toss the pumpkin in a generous splash of olive oil along with a couple pinches of salt & the rosemary and turn out onto a baking sheet. Do the same with beets and onions on a separate baking sheet. Roast all for 45 minutes to one hour, or until squash, beets and onions are caramelized. The onions will probably be finished first. They should be deeply colored, caramelized, and soft throughout by the time they are done roasting. You'll need to flip both the squash and onion pieces once or twice along the way - so it's not just one side that is browning.

In the meantime, make the dressing. In a food processor puree the sunflower & pumpkin seeds, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and honey until creamy. You may need to add a few tablespoons of warm water to thin the dressing a bit. Stir in the cilantro, saving just a bit to garnish the final plate later. Taste and adjust seasonings.

In a large bowl, toss the wild rice with a few large dollops of the dressing. Add the onions, gently toss just once or twice. Turn the rice and onions out onto a platter and top with the roasted squash & beets (I'll very gently toss with my hands here to disperse the pumpkin & beets a bit). Finish with another drizzle of dressing and any remaining chopped cilantro. Top with toasted pumpkin seeds.

Serves 8-10

* I use a rice cooker to cook my rice, or you can do it on the stove top. Using chicken or beef stock is my choice, but this recipe can also be vegan if you use veg stock for cooking your rice.