This colorful Fall Harvest Salad contains Autumn flavors, including roasted butternut, apple, pear and crunchy pecans. It also includes spinach, feta, pomegranate seeds, pomegranate juice, pomegranate seeds and a homemade maple vinaigrette. Serve this salad as a side dish, lunch or simple weeknight dinner to impress your family and guests on those chilly Autumn and Winter evenings. This crowd-pleasing recipe is perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas , or to bring along to potlucks and parties, picnics and other events.
Autumn Harvest Salad
This Fall Salad combines sweet, savory and tangy flavors. Butternut squash is roasted until soft and crispy in the oven. Pecans, pumpkin seeds and toasted pepitas add crunch to the salad. Apple, pomegranate, and pear arils provide sweet and tart flavors. Feta cheese creates creaminess. This Fall Harvest Salad is made with all these ingredients, fresh baby spinach and bacon chopped, along with Maple-Lime Dressing. The whole family will enjoy it. This salad is easy to make and will look beautiful for Thanksgiving and Christmas , or during the Fall and Winter season. Add protein to make it a meal for a busy workday. Two of my other favorite Autumn Salads are the roasted sweet potatoes and spinach salad, and the simple apple spinach with cranberries and goat cheese and maple-lime dressing.
A fresh salad. This is a recipe that’s packed with ingredients like spinach, butternut, squash, pear and apple. It also contains pecans, pumpkin seed, and pecans. You can omit the bacon if you prefer.
A show-stopper holiday side dish. Fall Harvest Salad has a “wow” element that will make your guests want to come back for more. The bright, festive ingredients make this recipe vibrant and colorful. This recipe will go well with the traditional Thanksgiving sides.
Perfect for meal preparation. You can prepare many ingredients in advance and keep them refrigerated up to a week before you assemble the dish. This is a great recipe to make on a weeknight, or to take to potlucks, parties, and other social gatherings.
A flexible recipe. Add your favorite fruits, vegetables, nuts, cheeses, nuts or greens.
Traditions of the holidays
This simple Fall Harvest salad is festive and colorful. We often associate it with holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s Eve.
Butternut Squash contains a high amount of minerals such as magnesium, manganese and potassium. Butternut squash also contains a lot of dietary fibre. This tasty vegetable is well-known for its nutty and subtly sweet flavor.
Pecans contain a lot of fiber and nutrients. Zinc and Vitamin B1 are included. These nuts are delicious and add texture to any salad. To add crunch, I lightly toast the nuts in a preheated 350 F oven for 10 minutes.
Pumpkin Seedsadd crunch to the texture. The seeds can be toasted for 10 minutes at 350 F in a preheated oven.
Spinach contains many nutrients and antioxidants. It is high in fiber, and contains many vitamins and minerals. Spinach contains a lot of vitamin A and C as well as iron, calcium, folic acid and folic. I used baby spinach.
Pomegranate. Sprinkle on the salad the ultimate Autumn/Winter fruit, pomegranate arils (seeds). These seeds add a tangy, sweet flavor and make a stunning presentation.
Feta Cheese has a tangy, salty taste. This brined, salty cheese is typically made with sheep’s or goat’s milk. This cheese is easy to crumble, and it’s great for salads.
Bacon — use cooked, chopped bacon. You can easily cook bacon in an oven with foil lined baking sheets at 350 F. This will take about 20-30 minutes. Use paper towels to drain all the grease from your bacon.
Ingredients for salad dressing include extra virgin oil, maple syrup and freshly squeezed lime.
Roasting pecans, pumpkin seeds and other nuts
If you bought raw seeds and nuts I recommend roasting them for 10 minutes in a preheated 350 F oven until the pecans become a bit darker and the pumpkin seeds change from green to brown.
You don’t need to roast the roasted seeds and nuts (or salted ones), but a quick and careful roasting will definitely freshen them!
Roast butternut squash
Pre-heat the oven to 400 F.
Toss butternut squash cubes in a large bowl with olive oil, fresh herbs, and salt. Spread the butternut squash in one layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Roast the chicken in the oven at 400 F on the middle rack for 30 minutes.
This Fall Harvest Salad can be prepared in advance so you can spend more time with family and friends at Thanksgiving and less time in the cooking. Here are some tips.
