Weekday Lunch: Squash and Pear Salad

Nov 08 2011

Weekday Lunch: Squash and Pear Salad

When I make a satisfying and seasonal lunch (and have time to take a few pictures before devouring it!), I want to share the recipe with you because if you're anything like me, lunch can be a sore spot in your day. Peanut butter and jelly, again?! I'll eventually organize these lunch posts under a separate lunch heading in the recipe page, but in the meantime, refer to these two posts for previous fulfilling lunches.

Last week's winning lunch involved minimal prep and even less cleaning. Inspired by a recipe in Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook, I peeled and cut a butternut squash into chunks and roasted those chunks for about 35 minutes.

While the squash was cooling slightly, I sliced up two Bartlett pears and quickly sauteed them in foaming butter along with a little rosemary. I also allowed the pears to cool slightly. I then spread a bed of arugula onto a plate and topped the arugula with the squash and pears. I finished off the salad by shaving a few pieces of Parmesan on top. The squash satisfied my immediate hunger, the savory pears provided an unusual dressing to the salad, and the shaved Parmesan was the perfect nutty accompaniment. This salad's ingredients are easily found at the farmers' market. I plan on making this the next time I need lunch-time inspiration…which will probably be next week!

Squash and Pear Salad

Recipe adapted from the Garden Cookbook

Ingredients

1 medium size butternut squash

2 tablespoons of olive oil

salt and pepper

2 pears, cored and sliced lengthwise

50 g of butter

1 teaspoon of chopped rosemary

4 handfuls of arugula

slivers of Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Peel and cut the butternut squash into chunks. Drizzle the squash with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast for about 35 minutes until the outsides of the chunks begin to brown.

3. After removing the squash from the oven, add the 50g of butter to a skillet over medium-high heat. Wait until the butter begins to foam before sauteeing the pears with the rosemary until the pears are brown, but have a still firm feel.

4. Spread a base of arugula onto a plate. Top with the cooled butternut squash and pears (you can include some of the pear liquid here). Add slivered Parmesan on top.