Fall Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Salad with Goat Cheese & Pomegranate

Fall is pumpkin season to us, and we’ve featured plenty of pumpkin recipes over the years. But did you ever see a picture of a beautiful pumpkin dish and decide to recreate it? That’s how this tasty pumpkin and sweet potato salad recipe started!

The pumpkin and sweet potatoes are sweet, so we use half balsamic (which is also sweet) and half lemon juice for the dressing – nice and tart. We mellow it out with a bit of honey. Remember when roasting the pumpkin and the sweet potatoes to use plenty of salt, otherwise the salad will be too sweet.

Try out this Tuscan recipe featuring squash, and then check out all our cooking tours in Tuscany!

The pomegranate and some chopped walnuts add a bit of crunch, and the chives a bit of brightness, but you could easily substitute another nut such as hazelnuts or pine nuts, or different herbs, like mint, taragon, parsely, or even basil. (Speaking of pomegranates, did you know the part of them you eat are called arils?)

You can use any eating pumpkin, but we usually pick a small pie pumpkin. You can also substitute butternut or acorn squash.

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Fall Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Salad with Goat Cheese & Pomegranate

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Cook method: Roast

Ingredients:

• 1 small pumpkin
• 1 large sweet potato
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1/4 cup pomegranate arils
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 2 oz goat cheese
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil plus more for roasting the vegetables
• 1 tbsp lemon
• 1 tsp honey
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp chopped chives

Instructions:

1. First, cut the pumpkin into 3/4 inch slices, top to bottom, and cut away from the skin. Then, toss it with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg.

2. Next, peel the sweet potato and cut into 3/4 inch cubes, and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper.

3. Bake both the pumpkin and sweet potato in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. This can be done on the same pan, but separated, or on 2 pans. After 2 minutes, flip the pumpkin and stir the sweet potatoes, then cook for about 10 minutes more. The sweet potatoes should be done after 30 minutes, the pumpkin might take longer. (The type of pumpkin will determine the length of the cook time, but you want them cooked through and not mushy.)

4. At this point, remove from the oven and set aside.

5. Next make the dressing by combining the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, honey, chopped chives, and salt and pepper to taste.

6. Finally, arrange the pumpkin slices and sweet potato on individual plates or on a large platter. Drizzle with the dressing, then sprinkle with the chopped walnuts, pomegranate, and crumbled goat cheese.

Check out some other recipes featuring pumpkins:

• Italian Style Pumpkin Soup
• Pumpkin Ravioli
• Amaretto Pumpkin Pie

By Peg Kern

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