Mixed Greens with Roasted Pumpkin, Roasted Pumpkin Seeds and Feta Cheese Tossed in a Sweet Fall Spiced Dressing

Celebrate fall with a fall inspired salad featuring a favorite decorative piece used frequently during fall – pumpkin! Keep the pumpkin for a few days as a decoration and then use it to make this salad that uses the pumpkin flesh and the seeds. This is perfect for a dinner party, because all of the ingredients can prepared ahead of time and all you have to do is toss, top with ingredients, serve and enjoy! Keep in mind the pumpkin cubes and seeds should be served chilled or at room temperature, so allow about an hour of prep time. Serves 4.

Ingredients

Salad
4 -8 cups of mixed greens
3/4 cups of roasted pumpkin cubes
1 tablespoon of olive oil
A sprinkle of kosher salt
1/2 cup of Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
1/4 cup of feta cheese crumbled
Dressing
2 1/2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

Technique

Make pumpkin cubes by cutting a small pie pumpkin in half vertically and cutting into wedges (save seeds for Roasted Pumpkin Seeds recipe.) Chop into smaller pieces and remove rind. Chop into 1 – 2 inch pieces. Of course you can peel it any way you choose, but I have found this is the easiest way to cut the rind of a very dense pumpkin. Toss cubes with olive oil and kosher salt and evenly spread on a baking sheet. Roast in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove and refrigerate to cool. Make Roasted Pumpkin Seeds at the same time as roasting pumpkin and set aside.

Make dressing by whisking the first 5 ingredients together and slowly whisking in olive oil. Assemble salad by tossing mixed greens and dressing. Evenly divide among plates and evenly top with remaining ingredients. Serve immediately.

Suggested Beverage

Try Weingut Joh. Haart Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling (Germany), Graf v. Schönborn Riesling Kabinett Troken Hallburger Schlossberg, Becker Vineyards Fume Blanc, Yalumba Viognier (South Australia) or McManis Family Vineyards Viognier (California).

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