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Dinner Party Green Salad

I really enjoy beautifully presented foods. Using a platter rather than a bowl for a salad allows every ingredient to stand out and make for an artistic and colourful addition to any dinner party. Salads are often just any unique combination of vegetable or fruits you like.  Be creative. For my dinner party I chose to combine the tenderness of roasted butternut squash along with crunchy Kale, cabbage salad, a sprinkling of sweet sparkly pomegranate seeds, and paired the salad with my Fig Salad Dressing.
  • 4 cups bagged Kale Cabbage Salad mix, or any of your favourite salad green mix (I like the Kale Mix because it's a healthy choice, and is very nice and crunchy.
  • 1/4 cup paper thin slices red onion
  • 1/2 cup finely diced red pepper
  • 1/2 cup thin strips jacima
  • 2 cups cubed butternut squash, roasted 
  • pomegranate seeds
  • Fig salad dressing 
  1. Wash, peel and seed one small butternut squash. Cut into small cubes. Place on a baking sheet lined with foil and drizzle with a few teaspoons olive oil. Roast in 400ยบ oven for 10 minutes. Gently stir and roast another 5-10 minutes until just tender. You don't want them to be too soft and get mushy. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, place in a bowl, cover and let them get cold and firm in the refrigerator. 
  2. Place prepared salad greens (wash and dry well if not done already) in the centre of platter.
  3. Top with red onions, red peppers and jacima.
  4. Place cool butternut squash cubes around greens and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
  5. Serve with Fig salad dressing on the side. 
Don't forget to add a small garnish such as a tomato, radish flower, carrot curls or parsley. 

10 comments:

  1. What a beautiful looking salad, Kathy! When I first looked at the picture I thought the bottom was chopped mangoes and you know, I think I will make this with mango instead of the squash. Thanks for the recipe!

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  2. That just looks so beautiful Kathy! What a great idea to use roasted butternut squash. I have never used jacima but must try it!

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  3. where to purchase those luscious-looking pomegranate seeds...?

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    1. I either purchase a pomegranate and seed it myself or buy the seeds in little cello packages at some supermarkets. Costco also sells the seeds in little boxed cello packs in the product section around the Christmas season. Once you get the hang of it a pomegranate is very easy to seed.

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  4. Kathy this is such a pretty salad and I agree it's nice to change it up a bit and use a platter instead of a bowl. I love using roasted butternut squash, or beets, or any other unexpected ingredient.
    I buy pomegranates in the grocery store and seed them myself. (check out ways to seed them on Google) They add sparkle to any salad.

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  5. Pardon me for being dumb, but what is jacima ? This salad sounds so good. I want to try it

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    1. Jacima is an edible root that resembles a turnip. It's got a thin light brownish coloured skin and white crisp flesh. Think of a pear and a water chestnut combined. A very mild flavour with a nice crisp texture.

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  6. Wow! This salad looks colourful, delicious and so very pretty! Rhoda

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  7. So beautiful dish! It looks so attractive at first.

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  8. This looks so good! I think I will try this weekend, thank you!

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