Make a gorgeous holiday salad with delicata squash
Bring on the layers when it’s cold outside. And before you reach for your fleece or parka, let’s be perfectly clear: We’re talking about salads.
That’s right, salads have a place in the fall and winter, and when the brisk seasons invite layering hefty, nourishing ingredients into our meals, this principle also applies to salads. They can handle it.
This vibrant salad is a perfect example. It’s layered with toothsome nutty black rice, juicy- crisp radicchio leaves and spiceroasted delicata squash rings.
Each ingredient brings flavor, texture and nutrients to the salad party, and when composed together in a serving bowl and drizzled with a thick balsamic vinaigrette, they produce a unified and highly decorative salad that will please and wow everyone at the dinner and holiday table.
Delicata squash is a winter squash that is often bypassed for the ubiquitous butternut squash.
Delicata is a small oblong squash with green and yellow striated skin that is edible, so there is no need to peel it.
It cooks quickly, and roasting is an easy method that amplifies its mildly sweet and creamy flavor. The squash can be halved lengthwise and roasted, or better yet, sliced into thin rings, which resemble decorative flower shapes.
If you need any further encouragement to make this salad, note that it can be easily prepped ahead of serving, since the rice and squash rings should be cooked and cooled to room temperature. The final assembly takes minutes, which is a cook’s gift during the busy holiday season.