Our most recent cooking class at the Draeger’s Gourmet Cooking School featured this delicious salad as a perfect fall starter. It combines familiar ingredients of lettuce, cheese and nuts with a surprise guest – butternut squash.

Butter Lettuce Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash

Servings: 4     Prep time: 5 min   Cook time: 40 min (for squash)

Salad:

4 cups butter lettuce, torn into pieces

2 cups roasted butternut squash chunks, from 2lb squash

1/2  cup dried cranberries

1/4  cup red onion, sliced very thin

1/2  cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

1/4  cup pistachios

Dressing:

1/4  cup apple cider vinegar

1/4  cup champagne vinegar

1      teaspoon honey

1/2  teaspoon sea salt

dash  freshly ground pepper

1/2  cup extra virgin olive oil

Prepare Dressing:

Pour vinegars into a small bowl. Stir in honey, salt and pepper. Whisking continuously, slowly add the olive oil until it is thoroughly blended.

Prepare Salad:
Place salad greens in a large bowl. Add squash, cranberries, red onion, cheese and almonds. Toss with one third of the dressing. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper. Add more dressing as needed. Serve immediately.

Cook, Eat, Laugh…Claudia