Squash Salad with Lentils and Goat Cheese

Last week Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe for Spicy squash/Pumpkin Salad with Lentils and Goat Cheese. It looked SO good and is something that is definitely right down my alley so I bookmarked the recipe and decided to try my hand at it tonight! It came out SO GOOD! The flavor of the roasted butternut squash (you could also use pumpkin) was AWESOME and goat cheese is pretty much heaven on earth so the two together made for a perfect match. The added tangy/zesty flavor of the arugula paired with the texture of the lentils made this dish a keeper. Best of all, it took no time at all to prepare. I will definitely be making this again and again and again…

Serves 6 as an appetizer, 3 as a main

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup black or green lentils
  • 6 cups peeled, seeded and cubed butternut squash or sugar pumpkin (1-inch cubes)- to save time/effort you can buy squash that is peeled, seeded, and cubed for you! I bought a package at Wegmans.
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon hot smoked Spanish paprika (if you dont have smoked, you can use regular plus a pinch of cayenne or any type of hot spice to give the kick to the squash)
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 4 cups baby arugula
  • 1 cup soft crumbled goat cheese
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced mint leaves (optional; I didnt have this on hand)
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, plus additional to taste
  • Roasted seeds (about 1/2 cup) from your butternut squash (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss squash or pumpkin cubes with 2 tablespoons oil, cumin, paprika and salt. Arrange in a single layer on baking sheet and roast 20 minutes. Flip pieces and roast for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until tender. Cool.

Meanwhile, soak lentils for 10 minutes in a small bowl, then drain. Cook lentils in boiling salted water until tender but firm, about 30 minutes. Rinse with cold water, then drain and cool.

Combine lentils, pumpkin, any oil you can scrape from the baking sheet (I didn’t get enough for this to be worth it) with arugula, if using, half of goat cheese, mint, vinegar, and 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper and extra vinegar, if desired (we felt it needed it). Divide among plates and pass with remaining goat cheese to sprinkle.