Hearty Roasted Butternut Squash & Apple Salad

This hearty fall/winter salad recipe features roasted butternut squash and apples, wheat berries (or your cooked whole grain of choice), arugula and maple-cinnamon pecans, all tossed in an irresistible gingery dressing! This salad is vegan as written and easily made gluten free. Recipe yields 4 main dish servings.

Ingredients:

Salad

1 cup hard white wheat berries, rinsed (or your whole grain of choice—farro would be a great substitute; gluten-free options include quinoa or sorghum)

1 Granny smith apple, cored and sliced into ½” wide wedges

One small (2 to 2 ½ pounds) butternut squash

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling

5 ounces baby arugula (about 5 cups, packed)

⅓ cup dried cranberries

Cinnamon-maple pecans

½ cup pecan pieces (or roughly chopped whole pecans)

2 teaspoons maple syrup

Pinch ground cinnamon

Pinch salt

Ginger Dressing

¼ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon maple syrup

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste