roasted pumpkin salad

Green Wrap : try using a scarf instead of Christmas paper for your gift wrapping this year. Scarves come in all sizes, shapes, colours and patterns as well as a variety of pricing.
No trees thrown in the bin and your wrapping can be worn or reused as gift wrapping.

eco wrapping

You can also use old ties as bows!

Roasted Pumpkin Salad

6 cups of pumpkin peeled and cut into small cubes
extra virgin olive oil
salt ( I don’t use salt at all)
6 red onions or bunch shallots
4 cups cooked wild rice (basmati or jasmin ok too!)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons warm water
1/2 to 1 cup flat leaf parsley (or similar), finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 160C. Toss the pumpkin in a generous splash of olive oil along with a pinch of salt (or not) and turn out onto a baking sheet. At the same time, toss the onions with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt (or not!) and turn out onto a separate baking sheet. Roast both for about 45 minutes or until pumpkin is brown and caramelised. The same goes for the onions, they should be deeply coloured, caramelised and soft throughout by the time they are done roasting. You’ll need to flip both the pumpkin and onion pieces once or twice along the way – so it’s not just one side that is browning.

2. In the meantime, make the dressing. By hand or with a blender or food processor puree the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and honey until creamy. You may need to add a few tablespoons of warm water to thin the dressing a bit. Stir in the parsley, saving just a bit to garnish the final plate later. Stir in the sunflower seeds. Taste and adjust seasonings (or flavours) to your liking.

3. In a large bowl, toss the wild rice with a large dollop of the dressing. Add the onions, gently toss just once or twice. Turn the rice and onions out onto a platter and top with the roasted pumpkin(I’ll very gently toss with my hands here to disperse the pumpkin a bit). Finish with another drizzle of dressing and any remaining chopped parsley. Serves 6-8.