Roasted Pumpkin Salad!

Food to me is such a passion that when home I only watch food shows. Ideal Sunday for me is watching TV the entire day and learning about food culture of different countries and learning new recipes!!!

Fox Traveller and TLC are my top favorite channels! Jamie Oliver is a British Chef who does dishes keeping the flavor of fresh produce intact. Keeping food simple and close to nature is his style! I am so inspired by him. He has his own garden in his village where he grows vegetables. One day I too wanna pick up vegetables from my garden just before preparing the meal! That will be a dream come true.



I first had roasted pumpkin salad in Bangkok ,had loved it but somehow forgot about it until yesterday when I saw Jamie making Pumpkin Salad. Most of us never have pumpkin , I was pumped to try the recipe. Tried it and it sure turned out very delicious, caramelized crunchy onions perfectly complimented the soft roasted pumpkin! Dressing too is very yum.

Ingredients for roasted pumpkins

• Pumpkin- peeled and cut in chunks
• One large Onion- cut in chunks
• Olive oil -1 Tbsp
• red chili powder- 1/2 tsp
• salt
• Black pepper- 1/2 tsp

Ingredients for dressing

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt
• Juice of one lemon
• 2 Cloves of Garlic- chopped finely
• 3 large Spring Onions - whites and greens chopped finely
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder

Method

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes.
• Cut pumpkin and onions into chunks and place them in a baking tray and drizzle olive oil.
• Sprinkle salt, black pepper, red chili powder and give a good toss to coat all chunks properly.
• Put tray  in oven and bake for about 30 minutes on 200 degrees C or till pumpkins are charred and cooked. ( Do not overcook them)

Roasted pumpkins

• For the dressing, take a bowl and mix olive oil, light soy, lemon juice, red chili powder, garlic, sugar, white part of spring onions. Taste and adjust the seasoning and the sweet and sourness of the dressing. Add salt if required

Dressing

• Pour the dressing over the roasted pumpkins in the tray. Add the mint leaves and spring onion greens and mix everything together.

• Serve the warm salad sprinkled with few more mint leaves and relish!

Roasted Pumpkin Salad

You can use the same dressing for any other salad too! Using Potatoes instead of Pumpkins will also taste equally delicious. Add in roasted cashews for that extra flavor!

Fancy food can be made at home too. Cooking and eating at home saves money, contributes to family bonding and most importantly, you end up eating fresh and healthy food. We don't burn calories except for when we hit gym so its very important to be watchful about what we eat.

Happy eating healthy food!

Love always :)