Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Sriracha Lime Dressing Recipe

Name: Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Sriracha Lime Dressing Recipe
Prep time: 2019-01-21T00:00:00+00:00
Total time: 2019-01-21T00:00:00+00:00
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: The dressing::; 2 tbsp fresh lime juice; 1 tsp sriracha; 1/2 tsp agave nectar or honey; Pinch of salt; 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil; The salad::; 1 lb. peeled & cubed butternut squash; 1 1/2 tsp olive oil; 1/2 tsp ground cumin; 1/4 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp ground pepper; 4 cups arugula; 3/4 cups black beans (drained & rinsed); 1/4 cup pepitas

Nov 2, 2014 by Dara 46 Comments

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Treat yourself to this colorful, healthy and vegan roasted butternut squash salad. The sriracha lime dressing adds a great kick!

If you’re anything like me (and by that I mean wallowing in a post-Halloween stupor), you’re likely craving a huge salad right now. Lots of greens, brightly colored veggies, lean protein…you know, the works!

A butternut squash has been sitting in our pantry for the last week, challenging me to cook with it. I thought of pureeing it into our favorite Winter Vegetable Soup or making a triple batch (seriously, it’s that good) of my Hearty Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash & Quinoa. Both good options but, really, I couldn’t silence the call of a great salad with lots of “shtuff” in it.

I can never resist the juxtaposition of sweet with salty, tangy or spicy flavors. The flavors dance from one part of my tongue to another, curbing cravings for candy and chips all at the same time. The sweetness of the butternut squash was begging for a dose of heat and tang. That’s where the sriracha chili sauce and lime juice comes in.

The 5-ingredient dressing can be whisked up while the butternut squash is roasting. Also take advantage of that time to toss the arugula, black beans and raw pepitas in a serving bowl.

It will all be ready to go once the cumin-spiced butternut squash is perfectly tender.

(By the way, if anybody is interested in the plates that you see in the photos, they are from QSquared NYC, a company that I recently discovered. I’m making a Chrstimas wish list of some of the amazing dishes on their site!)

A Helping of Healthy

These fall veggies are powerhouses! In my Sweet Potato Hash with Baked Eggs post, I talked about the many health benefits of sweet potatoes. It turns out that butternut squash are keeping up with their fall veggie friends, stride by stride.

Butternut squash is a fantastic source of carotenoids, which are shown to protect against heart disease. Specifically, it boasts high levels of beta-carotene, which is a carotenoid that turns itself into Vitamin A in the body. Good for the eyes and for helping with breast cancer prevention.
With 2.8 grams of fiber per 1 cup of cubed butternut squash, this gourd is a great way to make steps towards reaching the daily fiber recommendations (25 grams for women and 38 grams for men).
If you’re struggling to meet the daily Vitamin C recommendations, 1 cup of butternut squash will get you halfway there.
It’s also a good source of B6 and potassium.

Other healthy butternut squash recipes:

Cookin’ Canuck’s Hearty Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash & Quinoa
Cookin’ Canuck’s Low-Fat Butternut Squash Soup with Spiced Pepitas
Cookie & Kate’s Vegetarian Butternut Squash Chipotle Chili
Foodiecrush’s Easy White Bean Chicken Chili with Butternut Squash
Ambitious Kitchen’s Butternut Squash, Chickpea & Lentil Moroccan Stew