Recipe: Autumn Pumpkin Salad

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I came up with this salad a while ago and have been making it on the regular - I just love early autumn seasonal produce like freshly harvested blue grapes, pumpkin, blue figs and red cabbage. I combined them in a salad with tomatoes and spinach, added some blue cheese, roasted nuts and seeds, and a nice dressing, and you've got a very filling and utterly delicious dinner salad.

I'm not very particular with measurements, as you can see in the video, so I'll try to write down about how much I used of each ingredient, but please adjust to your taste accordingly. You'll also just have to use however much salad leaves you think you can eat, as everyone is different.

Watch my video tutorial on how to create this dish!

Ingredients (Makes 2 large portions. For an appetizer this will serve 4.)
Fresh spinach
1/2 Hokkaido pumpkin 
Pumpkin seeds
Red Cabbage
2 Tomatoes
Handful of blue grapes
2-3 fresh figs
Handful of nuts (I used Hazelnut and Pecan)
150g of any kind hard blue cheese (for eg. Stilton or Roquefort)
Ras el Hanout & Curry mix spices

Dressing
2 tblsp. best quality extra virgin olive oil
2 tblsp. vegetable oil (eg. Canola, Sunflower)
1 1/2  to 2 tblsp. white balsamic vinegar (depends how tart you like your dressing)
1 1/2 tblsp. plain unsweetened yogurt
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt & pepper
1 big garlic clove (minced)
Splash of water to thin sauce
Salad herbs (fresh or dried, for eg parsley, chives, basil, etc.)


1. Cut pumpkin in half & de-seed. Chop into bite-sized bits. Spread on a baking sheet and sprinkle with spices of your choice (I used Ras el Hanout and Curry) and a splash of inexpensive olive oil. Toss with your fingers, then bake in a preheated oven at 210 C / 410 F for about 20 minutes until the pumpkin is roasted and slightly crispy on the outside.

2. Coarsely chop up the nuts coarsely and roast in a hot pan without oil until toasted slightly brown. I added some pumpkin seeds to the nuts.

3. Wash spinach and chop up and slice all the vegetables and fruits. Whisk together all the ingredients of the dressing in a large salad bowl. Assemble all the fruits and vegetables on top. Sprinkle with the nuts and seeds, and crumble the blue cheese on top. Top with the hot roasted pumpkin. Mix the salad and serve immediately! Tastes phenomenal paired with a glass of red wine.

Let me know how you like this recipe! :)