Houseman's Roasted-Squash Salad Recipe (2024)

I'm watching my weight and couldn't face using so much oil in a salad, so I made a dressing with the spices, lime juice, sherry vinegar and a much more reasonable amount of olive oil (about 1/4 cup). I also used about half as much of the herbs. I put this in a blender and made a green dressing that was not a paste. I drizzled this over the squash and scattered the currants, nuts and cheese over the top. It was intensely flavored and very bright, but way fewer calories!

My husband wants to know how to cut the kabocha without a chain saw. We did it with the skin on, and maybe we should have skinned it first (but how please?)

I microwave winter squash until skin is soft and you can
cut through it more easily.

My family doesn't like cilantro or coriander. What are some good substitutes for these 2 ingredients?

No!!! Fresh currants are a completely different fruit from dried currants, which are not in fact currants at all but tiny raisins made from small grapes. (They were called "raisins de Corinthe"--corinthian raisins--which got corrupted to "currants"). But fresh currants are a totally different unrelated thing.

This salad was different and delicious! I made some changes based on ingredients I had or liked, and adjusted some amounts. I used butternut squash rather kabocha, which I couldn't find; I used dried wild blueberries rather than currants; I cut the fennel, coriander and sumac to 2 teaspoons each; and used just 1/2 cup of fresh mint rather than parsley and cilantro. I also served the salad over some pearl barley and a bed of arugula to make it a main course - everyone loved!

I use a heavy chinese cleaver which I hammer into the squash with a hammer. I am sure that the same outcome could be achieved using a hatchet and a hammer.

beautiful photo, very painterly

Za'tar is not a sub for sumac and would really change the flavor profile of this. If you have a middle-eastern grocery they would likely have it. If you can't find it locally order on line. Penzey's or The Spice House are both reliable and good sources.

Like others, I have fallen in love with this recipe and made it often. I have used chopped almonds instead of pistachios, lemon juice instead of lime. As far as leftovers, i have found that this is even good cold. Or, keep the dressing separate from the squash, refrigerate, and bake as much squash as you will need. It is also good at room temperature.
If you use a really good quality olive oil this recipe is fantastic.

I read that you could leave the skin on because it's edible. That is about the only reason to leave it on--it tasted like flavored cardboard - I recommend cutting it off. Sprinkling pomegranates over it as suggested by others is a terrific addition--really makes it! It's easy to cut the squash if you bake it in the oven for 20 minutes at 400. Then cut one half starting from the center. Turn it 180 degrees and repeat. Then break it in half with your hands, scoop seeds and voila!

Made this last night to go with oven roasted loin lamb chops marinated in oil, lemon juice and garlic - fantastic pairing with the squash. Guests loved it, so much so that I plan on making it again for the Christmas day buffet. I did not tweak anything in the recipe. Not only a winner in taste, it looked stunning served on a white platter.

Wonderful dish, and it won raves from unexpected quarters, which is always such a pleasant surprise. Only one tweak - I will dial back just a little on the fennel the next time because it tends to dominate the other flavors.

Can you use za'tar in place of the sumac? And does sherry vinegar count as white wine vinegar?

replace cilantro with additional parsley, omit the ground coriander. The other ingredients should provide plenty of flavor.

Cook time was a bit off - wanted mine longer. Also I love acid but the recipe as written is a little aggro, I feel like the lime is unneeded. Will def riff on it though!

Made this 3 times, pretty much as written, but for using honeynut squash cubed the first time. But red kabocha as specified the second and this time using delicata sliced in 1/4" half moons. All outcomes delicious using best quality vinegar, EVOO, pistachios, feta (I use Mt. Vikos here), fresh spices etc. I have gotten the hang of it to do steps 1 - 3 in advance for easy assembly and service in steps 4 - 5. This is a main dish for us but could be a holiday meal side too.

I’ve been cooking this wonderful dish a few times each winter since it’s debut in 2015. I particularly love seeing that gorgeous illustration every year when I flip to my recipe. But today I mourned my inability to distinguish 1/4 from 1/2 in the tiny type, so I’m reduced to printing it off the website. Too bad! But thank you Sam Sifton for this family (and guest) favorite.

Only 1 tbsp white wine vinegarRoast and grind fennel and cumin seeds if possibleserve over bed of greens for more heft Pumpkin seeds instead of pistachios

I turned the leftovers into a salad by dicing the squash and adding kale. So so so good!

A lot of work and just okay. Made it as written but “sauce” was really sour and relatively one note despite the complex ingredients.

Fantabulous flavors and lovely presentation made per recipe (well, almost) and served as main dish. Easily cut this in half to serve two. The only modification I made was to sub Honeynut squash (they are like small butternut) and I did peel them. Given the fresh herb sauce on this is a dressing you may want to play with the acid (lime juice / vinegar) to oil ratio to fit your palate. I don't think the dressing would hold well, as in overnight if you had leftovers.

Made some substitutions - craisins for currants, pumpkin seeds for pistachios, za'atar for sumac. Very beautiful and popular. Used extra topping with a green salad.

This dish has a funky flavor profile in a good way - the spices in the dressing are striking and evoke a Middle Eastern palate. I wanted to turn it into a heartier weeknight supper so stovetop grilled some pork-apple-fennel sausages and served everything over some mixed greens. We'll definitely be making this again!

Made this evening with Tetsukabuto squash instead of Kabocha. Only changes were to cut back quite a bit on EVOO, used 1 tablespoon of spices instead of 1.5 and subbed barberries for the currants, this squash was a bit smaller. It was so delicious and a keeper. Served with sprouting purple broccoli.

This was excellent, although a ton of work. Probably an hour of active time for me. Microwaving squash for 2 mins made it easier to cut through.

I was able to cut the raw kabocha squash into 20 crescent moon pieces, unpeeled. My fingers remain intact, but for those without heavy sharp knives, would recommended roasting the whole squash before cutting. At 375 F my squash pieces roasted for ~ 35 minutes, flipping once. Kabocha is sturdy so it could’ve cooked /- 5 minutes and have been fine either way. For the sauce, I used whole fennel seeds, 2x herbs, 2x wine vinegar and omitted the cheese for DF guests and it was fantastic.

This was delicious and perfect for a cold fall evening. The herbs, spices, fruit and cheese blended into a tangy, bright sauce that complemented the squash perfectly. A few changes: used a dried berry blend instead of currants, used a couple of the many acorn squash from our garden instead of getting new squash and used Martha Rose Shulman's tip of baking the squash for 20 minutes to soften it before cutting -- sliced the squash into thin wedges and pared the peel off the back. Quick and easy.

delicious.... the squash was unwieldy while prepping and to cut in to once roasted. So, cutting it into chunks to roast or making a mashed squash turned out better. The green sauce was surprisingly sweet/tart and creamy, it made a good sandwich spread the next day.

Prepared as written with a 4 pound orange kabocha, and this was excellent. I skinned about half to see if it made a difference and the effort was unnecessary, once cooked the skin is undetectable. Quite a substantial dish as well - easily a main and the side salad I’d made disappeared among the greens. Slicing a kabocha skinned or not is relatively easy if your knife is v sharp, but it does take time. Any other squash would be a difficult proposition.