Butternut squash & spelt salad with rose harissa dressing
I made this lovely salad at the weekend so I had some tasty lunches ready for me to grab in between home schooling. It’s been really nice to have something interesting ready eat without having to do any prep - especially as food is the highlight of my day more than ever right now! If you’re going to do the same then just keep the salad and dressing separate and that way it will last 4-5 days without going soggy.
To give you an idea of how much this recipe makes, I managed to trough my way through it in 5 ‘main meal’ sized bowls with a little added cheese and salad.
I know a couple of the ingredients (spelt and rose harissa) aren’t necessarily what you might have in your store cupboard, but they’re easily available online. Or alternatively you could switch the spelt for bulgur / cous cous / brown rice and use ordinary harissa paste or even leave out and just have a tahini dressing (you might need to add a little extra water) - it will still be super tasty!
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
230g pearled spelt
1 large red onion (yellow is fine too)
1 sweet pepper (any colour except. green)
½ butternut squash, chopped in 1 ½ cm cubes
Handful of chopped parsley
Handful chopped coriander
Sprinkle of sea salt
Handful of toasted sunflower seeds, optional
Dressing
3 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp lemon juice
50 ml water
2 tsp rose harissa
½ tsp sea salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 200ºc
Spread the squash out on a large tray and drizzle with about ½ tbsp of olive oil. Do the same with the onions and peppers, mixing well. I used separate trays as the squash will take a little longer to cook. Sprinkle with salt and place both trays in the oven for 20 minutes.
Check and turn the vegetables with a spatula and place back in the oven. Roast the onions and peppers for a further 10 minutes and the squash for about 20 or until soft right the way through and browned on the outside.
While the vegetables are roasting, cook the spelt - add to a large pan of cold water and bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until softened. Drain well and allow to cool.
Now make the dressing by adding all the ingredients to a bowl or jar and whisking well. The tahini will make the mixture stiffen as as you first start to mix, but keep going it will gradually loosen up.
Mix the spelt, vegetables and herbs with a good sprinkle of sea salt and serve with a generous drizzle of dressing. Top with sunflower seeds if you’re using them.
Tip
This salad can be eaten warm or cold. With any salad the flavour will always be better if you serve at room temperature. If it has been stored in the fridge, just serve a portion in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute to take the chill off without over-cooking any of the ingredients.
Add crumbled feta, halloumi, creamy blue cheese and a green salad as a main meal or you could eat it as a side with veggie sausages, griddled meat or fish.