Healthy Roasted Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad

Celebrate October with this Roasted Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad with Honey Balsamic Dressing . . . healthy and gluten-free. Drizzled with a honey balsamic dressing, this is a magical combination of ingredients. The roasted pumpkin is sweet and juicy, feta adds pops of salty creaminess, pine nuts add a warm, earthy crunch, and fresh baby spinach gives you healthy greens. You really don’t need that much dressing for this salad, just enough to coat the baby spinach. This recipe serves 2 to 3 as a meal or 4 to 5 as a side.

Ingredients:

Pumpkin

- 1.2 lb pumpkin (after peeling), cut into 1.25″ cubes

- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

- Salt and pepper

Dressing

- 2.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

- 1 tbsp honey

- Salt and pepper

Salad

- 1/4 cup pine nuts

- 5 oz baby spinach leaves (4 handfuls)

- 2 oz feta, crumbled

Instructions

Preheat oven to 430F (standard) or 390F (fan/convection). Toss pumpkin with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread on baking tray, bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, flip then bake for a further 7 – 10 minutes until golden but not mushy. Loosen pumpkin, then if serving salad at room temperature, leave to cool. Shake dressing in a jar. Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until light golden and it smells nutty. Place spinach in a bowl. Drizzle with a bit of dressing then toss. Add pumpkin, a bit of feta and pine nuts, then toss. Transfer to serving plate. Sprinkle over remaining feta and pine nuts. Just before serving, drizzle with remaining dressing and serve.

Recipe Notes

- You can use any pumpkin or squash for this recipe.

- Pine nuts are expensive but worth using in this recipe, but you can substitute with any other nuts of choice.

- Pumpkin turns to mush if baked for too long, so keep an eye on it. It should be tender with a nice golden surface.

- Serve and enjoy!

Recipe created by Nagi Maehashi of RecipeTinEats