Sunday, October 20, 2013

"River Cottage Veg Everyday" - Spelt salad with squash and fennel


For today´s recipe in my River Cottage Veg Everyday series, one of our children chose the colorful "Spelt salad with squash and fennel". Obviously, squash is abundantly available at this time of year and so is fresh fennel, so this lovely grain and vegetable salad was a good choice for the twelfth post in my series.




When you look at the picture in the book, you see a hearty salad that is loaded with vegetables and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall comments this recipe by saying that “this substantial grainy salad makes a lovely autumn/winter lunch or supper”.




For the grain you can use spelt or pearl barley. Since pearl barley is rather common around here, that is what I first used. We can choose between fine and coarse pearl barley – so I prepared the coarse one according to the package instructions but when I took a look at the cooked barley, I decided to use it for my beef and barley soup and prepared wheat berries instead. I much prefer the structure of cooked wheat berries in this salad. They are more rustic than the pearl barley and stand up much better to the chunky roasted vegetables.




For the squash I used a medium sized lovely butternut squash. We love the flavor and bright orange-colored flesh of that squash. I am rather grateful that this type of squash has become widely available around here in recent years. I made a butternut squash soup with smoked spicy Spanish paprika and butternut crisps last week and the family loved it. Oh, I so have to bake a butternut squash pie this week…but I digress…back to the salad recipe at hand. A fruity olive oil, freshly ground black pepper and some wonderful French sea salt set off the sweetness of the butternut squash in this recipe. Just let the oven work its magic.




After roasting the chunks of squash for 15 minutes, you add the wedges of fresh fennel to the roasting pan together with one clove of garlic and then roast them for another 20 to 30 minutes. Fennel is such an aromatic vegetable with a mild aniseed flavor that pairs amazingly well with the butternut squash. By the end of roasting time, the vegetables should be caramelized but still soft. There were also walnut halves to be added to the salad but my kids do not like nuts in their salad and since they are such unbelievably devoted vegetable taste testers, who am I to argue with them about a few walnuts?!




To finish the salad, you will need the juice of a lemon, grated Parmiggiano Reggiano or other well-flavored hard cheese, freshly chopped Italian parsley and some more freshly ground pepper and sea salt – I also added some more olive oil for a final touch. A picture perfect and wonderfully complex and hearty salad – just perfect for autumn. Who would have thought that fennel and butternut squash taste so wonderful together in a salad – do make sure to keep the fennel fronds for scattering on the finished salad just before serving!




If you own the English edition of this vegetable cookbook, you will find the recipe for the “Spelt salad with squash and fennel” on page 72 in the chapter on "Hearty Salads".


24 comments:

  1. A beautiful salad that looks delicious. I love roasted veggies. Roasting brings out the flavor. A big Thank You to your child who chose a wonderful salad to make.

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    1. Geraldine, I will tell my veggie loving child that you send your thanks! Roasting vegies bring out their natural sweetnees - we all love the way the root vegetables tasted after their tour in the oven and in combination with the lovely autumn apples.

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  2. Looks wonderful. We are in a "farro/spelt/épeautre" phase right now, and I have a lovely squash that needs cooking. Just a fennel bulb and I think I will be ready to go! I remember having my very first wheat berries in Heidelberg in 1980. It took MANY years for them to make it to the States! Happy now that so many places have them... Liebe Grüße aus Tucson ~ David

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    1. David, that sounds like a good phase to me - we too have discovered these delicious grains and I do take a certain pride in the fact that all kids happily dive into these sorts of salads whenever I make them! Side dishes with pearl barley and peas are also on the list of favorites around here.
      Ganz liebe Grüße nach Tuscon (AZ), mein Freund!

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  3. I've used spelt for bread making before but never in a salad. Love the vibrant orange of the butternut squash and I could get to like fennel if presented this way.

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    1. Hester, spelt is lovely in a salad but so is pearl barley or wheat berries - they provide the gain so you can get creatve with the roasted veggies - wheat berries are a nutty delicious flavor not to be missed.

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  4. Stunning photography!! and what a gorgeous recipe - SO healthy and delicious and just perfect for this time of year:)
    Mary x

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    1. Mary, this is indeed a gorgeous recipe - we loved the flavor combinatio of roasted fennel and butternut squash - although I use these veggies a lot in my cooking, I had never thought of putting them together in a salad before - rave reviews all around!

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  5. Yum yum! I just love this salad...it looks so fresh and filling! Never experimented with pearl barely yet, but now I want to!!

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    1. Purabi, thank you my dear! Whether you use pearl barley or spelt or even wheat berries in this salad, the recipe will not disappoint, particularly if you enjoy roasted veggies too.

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  6. What a beautiful fall salad. I love the flavor of fennel but don't cook with it as often as I should! This look so refreshing Andrea!

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    1. Monet, indeed the taste was fresh from the fennel, always a bit anislike and the sweetness of the roasted butternut squash went amazingly well with the fennel and the rest of the ingredients.

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  7. This looks so luscious, Andrea. Butternut squash is my fav! Hope your Wed is going well. oxo

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    1. Colette, yes, the Wednesday went well and yes, butternut squash is also my very favorite squash to cook and bake with. Thanks for the nice comment, dear friend!

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  8. This salad reminds me of my grandma who loved eating barley. I just came home from shopping and got butternut squash. This salad is very inspiring for my next salad using butternut squash!

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    1. Nami, that is just what I like about the recipes in the book, they always inspire me to buy even more veggies and create even more lovely and sesonal dishes for our family.

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  9. i want the salad for my lunch. it looks so good.

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    1. Candy, this is indeed a nice salad for lunch as well as for dinner - grains, veggies, what more could one want?!

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  10. What a tasty side dish.. So colorful!

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    1. Thank, you two - a lovely side dish or hearty lunch or dinner - you would always be quite happy with the way this salad tastes like.

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  11. this salad looks so good!!! I never combined fennel and squash but I really should have!! It looks divine :) I have some millet at home, I think it would work with millet too...? Great pictures dear Andrea! Have a wonderful week!!
    xox Amy

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    1. Amy, the combination of squash and fennel works amazingly well - who would have thought. We loved absolutely everything about this wonderful salad. It will probably work just as well with millet - although I must admit that I have never made a salad with millet before. I use pearl barley, spelt or wheat berries. Thank you for the wonderful comment, dear friend!

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    1. Thank you for your kind comment - will be interesting to follow your Portugese blog as well - a lot of wonderful ideas on your blog. Looking forward to following you along.

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