Maple glazed Delicata squash, cashews, baby spinach salad with creamy wasabi dressing. vegan glutenfree

It is a soup and a salad kind of week. This is what we did with the rest of the delicata squash. Some of it was roasted with olive oil, salt pepper and rosemary and served on Thanksgiving!

This salad is on the go, randomly add whatever comes to mind, kind of salad. Hubbs wanted a lighter, fresh meal the other day, while I had cooked up some spicy chana masala. Told you, we eat a lot of chickpea in this house.. I should just grow some of my own!

We shared the salad, with the bigger portion for hubbs, and yes, the chana masala did manage to sneak onto the plate.. coz hubbs now knows that he needs to balance his meal with added protein to last a few hours.. all that nutrition discussion helped! We used to eat a very vegetarian meal at home in our pre-vegan days too, but at work, the default for hubbs was some meaty stuff. So when he started opting for vegetarian and then vegan options, some days he was stuck only with the salad bar and eat loads of greens and beets and fruits and then get hungry. After a balance in the meal discussion, he started adding beans, chickpeas, tofu, tempeh and asking the office cafe for other protein and vegan options., and found that the cafe already has a growing vegan menu! and they add requested items quite frequently.

There is always a bit of a learning curve with changes in diet, but there is nothing a bit of reading, knowing and asking cant solve.

Another yumm salad posted earlier Gingery maple glazed Tempeh, baby greens and cherry tomatoes.

Winter Squashes are a great source of Vitamins A, C, B6 and fiber! these squashes also make great substitutes for ribbon or angel hair pasta!

Directions

In a pan, add a teaspoon of oil and heat at low-medium. Arrange the delicata squash to fit in the pan. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and pinch of pepper.

Cover and cook for 12-15 minutes. flip them around and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add 2 teaspoons of maple syrup and 1/2 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce or tamari or to taste Mix well to coat and let cook for another minute.

You can also roast the squash. Toss it in salt pepper, oil, maple and soy to coat, and roast on parchment for 30-40 minutes until tender and browned on the edges.

Meanwhile ready your salad with spinach or other baby greens.

For the dressing, blend 1/4 a cup of soaked cashews or almonds with wasabi to taste, salt, pepper and vinegar.

Pour the dressing on the salad. Drop some sizzling squash on top and a good helping of cashews, walnuts or other nuts of choice, raw or roasted.

Eat.

To make the salad into a better meal, add cooked chickpeas or black eyed peas, or some Tofu.

This Salad is headed to Ricki's wellness weekend, and Allergy free lunchbox and Cybel pascals holiday Allergy friendly friday