Salmon Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash

Anyone else confused about the coffee shop commercials that have been popping up this month?  The ones where the happy customer steps out of the masterfully decorated coffee shop while taking a giant gulp of their freshly made custom coffee drink.  Seriously, have you ever tried to sneak a sip of your coffee while exiting the store?  You're not going to be able to taste anything else for a solid week!!!  

I myself have been guilty of succumbing to the intoxicating aroma of a freshly made latte.  How could something so amazingly delicious smelling possibly be painful?  More times than not, I succumb to the temptation of a beautifully crafted drink and I instantly regret my impulsive decision.  Why in the world do coffee shops feel the need to get their coffee up to metal melting temperatures?

Unfortunately, hot coffee drinks are not my only weakness.  I've also been known to sample piping hot food, straight from the oven.  Most of the time, this is a decision that I regret but unfortunately, it rarely serves as a learning experience to discourage me from repeating the behavior.  What can I say?  The draw of the delectable smelling food somehow overrides my common sense. 

That is exactly what  happened when I made this Salmon Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash.  I popped a steaming, perfectly browned squash cube in my mouth as soon as I pulled the tray out of the oven and I instantly went into full dragon mode.  I'm pretty sure that I actually breathed fire out of my mouth and I burned a few taste buds off with that one bite. 

Despite the obvious hazards of consuming overly hot foods, I still recommend this recipe highly.  (I'm sure that you will exercise more caution than I do.)  This salmon salad was really, really good.  A nice change from all of the sweets and overly rich foods that we've been eating lately.  

Salmon Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash
2 1/2 cups chopped butternut squash
2 1/2 cup sliced red onion
​1 lemon, halved crosswise
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
3/4 teaspoon plack pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon canola oil
4 salmon filets
4 cups curly wave kale
4 cups spinach
1/2 cup pomegranate arils
​

Place a baking sheet under the broiler to preheat.  Remove from oven.  Place squash, onion and lemon halves, cut side down, on pan.  Broil 7-8 minutes until charred.  

Let cool.  Squeeze lemon juice from lemon into a separate bowl.  

Whisk together olive oil, vinegar, maple syrup, orange zest,  mustard, 1 t. lemon juice, 1/2 t. pepper and 1/4 t. salt.  

Heat canola oil in skillet.  Season salmon with salt and pepper.  Cook, skin side down 3-4 minutes.  Flip and cook 2-3 more minutes. 

Place kale, spinach, pomegranate, squash and onion in a large bowl.  

Add vinaigrette and toss to coat. 

Place salmon on top of salad and spoon remaining lemon juice over fish. 

Admittedly, this salmon was not picture worthy.  The issue was my impatience once again.  I didn't let the oil in my pan heat properly and I added the fish too soon which lead to significant "sticking" in the pan.  Maybe one day I'll learn to be more patient in the kitchen. 

​Have a great Saturday!

Ciao!

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