Vegetarian Salad With Butternut Squash And Pomegranate

Christmas is less than two weeks away and with that comes vast amounts of (usually) ver rich food from multiple different friends and family gatherings – I had my first this weekend and a lot of food was consumed! I find Christmas a very meat-heavy affair. Which, is fine for me as I love to eat meat, though I am beginning to consciously eat less of it. But a number of my friends are vegetarian and so we’ve got to keep the veggie Christmas dishes interesting!

This festive salad recipe would look perfect on a Christmas table. The vibrant orange of the butternut squash, the bright green leaves from the parsley and mint, with the jewelled ruby pomegranate. I think its all the best Christmas colours on a plate!

It’s also a lovely alternative side dish to roast meat (especially lamb or turkey) instead of the usual roast potatoes and red cabbage. This festive salad is great for a day of leftovers. I recently tried it with sage and onion stuffing sprinkled over it and it was so good! And I imagine it would be delicious with chopped chestnuts instead of pine nuts. This salad is a great way to add some fresh flavours to all that feasting on boxing day whilst being quick and easy!

---

Serves 4

Vegetarian Festive Salad With Butternut Squash & Pomegranate

Ingredients 

• 1 large butternut squash
• 2 cups bulgar wheat
• 1/2 pomegranate
• 1 packet mint (approx. 28g)
• 1 packet parsley (approx. 28g)
• 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1 tbsp harissa paste
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 1 tub hummus

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°c. Slice the butternut squash in half and then slice each half into thick discs, about 2cm wide. I like to use a metal roasting dish when roasting vegetables for salads, I find I get crispier sides! I always like to put the dish into the oven with the oil to heat up. Add 1tbsp of oil to the pan and put into the oven. After a few minutes remove and stir in the harissa paste – it should sizzle a little. I find this really brings out the spices. Then add your sliced butternut squash. Roast for 20 mins, turn half-way through.
2. Whilst the butternut squash is roasting, boil the bulgar wheat according to the instructions on the packet (usually for about 12 minutes). Drain and set aside in a large bowl.
3. Chop the mint and parsley and add to the cooked bulgar wheat together with the pomegranate seeds and mix together. Whisk together the rest of the olive oil, the lemon juice and pomegranate molasses and add the the big bowl. Mix together well until all the ingredients are coated.
4. Divide the bulgar wheat between 4 plates and add the slices of butternut squash. Sprinkle with pine nuts and finish with a dollop of hummus.

---

Other festive recipes:

Gin And Blackberry Cured Salmon With Horseradish Crème Fraîche

No Bake Mini Christmas Puddings

Christmas Hamper Ideas – Luxury Fruit And Nut Chocolate Swirl

Christmas Hamper Ideas – Red Onion Chutney

---

Follow me on Bloglovin, Instagram and Twitter for all things food and travel!

---

Pin for later