Roasted Squash Salad with White Beans, Bread Crumbs and Preserved Lemon
When the temperatures drop and a chill settles into the air, we like to trade our usual dainty green salads for something heartier. Aran Goyoaga’s roasted squash salad with white beans, bread crumbs and preserved lemon will do the trick.
“This salad offers a serious combination of flavors and textures,” writes the author of the new cookbook Cannelle et Vanille, “while still being simple and uncomplicated. The roasted squash and white beans are buttery, the bread crumbs add texture and the preserved lemons offer a surprising floral brine.”
Just a heads-up: The beans do need to soak for serveral hours, so make sure to plan for that. “You can certainly use canned beans instead,” Goyoaga says, “but simmering the soaked beans with bay leaf and garlic will ultimately be more flavorful, and the soaked beans retain their texture better than canned ones. My preference is to keep the squash unpeeled if the skin is thin and free of too many hard bumps.”
This will definitely tide us over until green-salad season.
©2019 by Aran Goyoaga. All rights reserved. Excerpted from Cannelle et Vanille by permission of Sasquatch Books.
Ingredients
1 cup (170g) dried cannellini beans
1 head garlic, halved crosswise
1 bay leaf
2 pounds (1 kg) kabocha, acorn or butternut squash, seeded and sliced
½ red onion, sliced ¼-inch thick
2 garlic cloves, peeled
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon sumac (optional)
¼ to ½ teaspoon cayenne or piment d’Espelette
2 slices stale sourdough or other bread of choice
2 tablespoons finely chopped preserved lemon rind (such as Mina)
1 tablespoon finely chopped Italian parsley
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Microgreens or sprouts, for garnish (optional)
Directions
1. In a medium Dutch oven, cover the dried beans with water by 2 inches and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours.
2. Drain the soaking water from the beans and discard. Add more water so the beans are covered by 1 inch. Add the head of garlic and bay leaf to the pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the beans until they are tender but not mushy, 45 to 50 minutes. Drain the beans and discard the bay leaf and garlic. The beans can be stored in the refrigerator for one to two days.
3. While the beans are cooking, preheat the oven to 400°F. Toss the squash, onion, garlic cloves, 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin, sumac (if using) and cayenne together on a baking sheet. Bake until the squash is tender and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.
4. Place the bread in the bowl of a food processor and pulse into chunky bread crumbs. In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and add the bread crumbs. Stir until the crumbs are well coated with oil and toasted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the preserved lemon and parsley.
5. Transfer the roasted vegetables to a platter. Top with the beans, bread crumbs, vinegar and microgreens. Toss everything together and serve lukewarm or at room temperature.
390 calories
11g fat
63g carbs
14g protein
7g sugars