If I had my own restaurant (which I would never want BTW) THIS salad would for sure be on my (seasonal, organic, farm to table) menu!

I didn’t go on a super crazy pumpkin kick this fall like I usually do. Unless of course you take into account the fact that I ate this salad every day for a least a month straight…

This salad basically tastes like a mixture of pumpkin pie and pecan pie in salad form. I realize that makes it sound gross-but what I’m getting at is: IT’S LIKE HAVING PIE FOR DINNER. Speaking of Thanksgiving, ours was super low-key. We didn’t go anywhere or do any black Friday shopping. We got outside quite a bit and had hoped to do some Nordic skiing/touring but the weather forecast was waaaay off and we did not get any real snow. We did take Rocco for a hike on Thanksgiving day though.

He loves hiking and actually does well in the snow as long as we keep moving :). Hiking in the cold really wears him out which I think any Min Pin owner knows is a very satisfying feeling. He isn’t crazy wild like he was a year ago when he was still technically a puppy but he still has quite a lot of energy!

Alright, let’s get to this salad, shall we? It’s super simple to throw together every night as long as you have your pumpkin (in this case I used an acorn squash) cooked ahead of time.

How to cook an acorn squash

1. Preheat oven to 365º F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Slice the acorn squash in half lengthwise so you are slicing with the grooves. Use a large knife with a sharp end. Pierce the squash with the sharp end and slice downward. Be careful & watch those fingers!!
3. Lightly grease the cut ends of the squash with olive oil and place face down on the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake for 30 minutes face down then, using tongs, turn squash over and bake for 30 more minutes face up.

Pumpkin Pecan Salad

• Kale, chopped into small pieces
• Acorn squash (or butternut or probably any squash really)
• Pecans
• Beyond Meat Chicken strips (or real chicken)
• Fig Balsamic Dressing (or dressing of your choice)
• Drizzle of honey
• Cinnamon to taste
• Salt to taste
• Butter or ghee to taste (optional but realllly good)

Of course I don’t list any quantities because it just totally depends on how big you want your salad to be!

Chop kale up, toss with a Fig Balsamic dressing and set aside. Warm chicken and squash up (if it isn’t still hot from the oven). You may want to put some butter or ghee on the squash to give it extra yumminess. I fully endorse this method.

Add warmed squash & chicken and pecans to the salad. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with cinnamon and salt.

Like I said, I ate this every night for a month (maybe more) and it never got old! I actually have an acorn squash on my kitchen counter that’s begging to be in this salad!

I rarely buy salad dressing from the store because it’s just so easy to make my own, not to mention cheaper and healthier. But I was at Whole Foods and this dressing caught my eye. It’s actually been nice having a pre-made dressing that I can just grab out of the fridge.

Alright, I think that’s all for now! I’m trying to do 1 post a week and I have a loooong list of recipes and projects to share so I will slowly but surely get everything up here.

Have a great day!!

Laura