Spiced Pumpkin & Pomegranate Salad
I’ve tried to grow so many aspirational pumpkins. If you’re new to veggie gardening maybe you don’t know that aspirational pumpkin growing is a thing. It totally is. I have grown big pumpkins, small pumpkins, pumpkins with dark knobbly braille-like skin, pumpkins with fancy names and pumpkins that are blue-grey and so huge they need to be cut with a butcher’s knife. But I have decided that nearly all of that was wasted energy. The only pumpkin I should have been growing, all these years, was the butternut. No other pumpkins I have ever grown (or tasted) compare in terms of texture or flavour to the butternut. Butternuts are sweeter, smoother and - when roasted long enough and hot enough - turn to caramel on your oven tray. They are not only worthy of a spot in your garden (and will happily pop up uninvited from your compost bin), they are worthy of a spot on your dining table. Toss them with lemon juice, rocket, roasted almonds and bonus points if you can cover them with the bright red seeds of a homegrown pomegranate!
Spiced Pumpkin & Pomegranate Salad
Serves 2 to 3
Ingredients
6 cloves of garlic (skin left on)
4 cups cubed butternut pumpkin
1⁄2 tsp ground coriander
1⁄2 tsp turmeric
1⁄2 tsp ground cumin
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, cut into slices
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1⁄2 cup of almonds (with the skin on)
1⁄2 tsp tamari
2-3 cups rocket
Juice of half a lemon
1 pomegranate
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Preheat your oven to 200 ̊C conventional (180 ̊C fan forced).
Toss the garlic cloves and cubes of pumpkin with the coriander, turmeric, cumin, 2 Tbsp of olive oil and a few pinches of salt. Place on an oven tray and roast for 25-30 minutes, or until the pumpkin has softened and started to brown on the edges.
While the pumpkin roasts, fry the onion in a non-stick frying pan along with the balsamic vinegar and the remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Cook on moderate heat until the onion becomes translucent and caramelises.
On another baking tray, spread out the almonds and cover them with the tamari. Roast for about 5 minutes, or until the almond skin has started to brown. Roughly chop the almonds into large chunks.
Let the pumpkin and onion cool to room temperature. Pop the soft roasted garlic out of its skin, then toss the pumpkin, almonds, onion and garlic with the rocket and lemon juice.
Cut the pomegranate in half around the middle (with the pointy bits at either end). Take each pomegranate half and hit the skin with the back of a wooden spoon (this knocks the red jewel-like seeds out of the pomegranate). Scatter the pomegranate seeds on top of the salad, add salt and pepper to taste, then eat!