Roasted butternut squash, hemp seed and orange salad
As we’re gearing up to summer, it’s time to indulge in some salad recipes again. But we’re not talking about a couple of limp lettuce leaves tossed with a couple of tomatoes…
A real salad should be colourful and varied in taste and texture. You want each bite to be sweet, sharp and fresh and by the time you’re finished you should be full and satisfied. We like achieve this through ensuring fats, carbs, fibre and protein are all balanced. In this recipe, your protein comes from the hemp seeds and vegan feta, the fat comes from the hemp seeds and oil and the carbs come from the butternut squash, fibre comes from the kale, fruit squash and hemp seeds.
So get it out of your head that salads are a punishment you suffer when trying to lose weight. Salads are beautiful and delicious and a very easy way to get a whole load of nutrients down you.
Cooked using
- 1 medium butternut squash, chopped into slices or bite sized portions (keeping the seeds aside)
- 2 tbsp Good Hemp Seed Oil
- 1 lemon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 60g vegan feta cheese (cut into chunks)
- 2 large handfuls of kale
- 1 small clementine orange
- 1 medium size pomegranate
- A sprinkle of hemp seeds
Method
For this recipe you can either preheat your oven to its highest temperature (around 275C) or you can use an air fryer.
Then place your squash and seeds on a baking sheet and drizzle it with good hemp oil. You want to thoroughly season this with salt and pepper and mix everything together.
Now place your squash into your oven or air fryer bake for 20-30 minutes, both should take the same time to bake but do check every 5-10 minutes towards the end.
Once cooked, the texture should be soft with added colour. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Add your chopped kale to a large mixing bowl, drizzle over oil and lemon juice and massage until the kale slightly darkens and tender, seasoning this with salt and pepper.
Now add your feta cheese, pomegranate, orange slices and your butternut squash seeds slices and seeds.
Toss your salad and mix thoroughly, you can add more oil and lemon juice if you’d like.