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Ginger-Roasted Squash and Greens

adapted from Melissa Perello as published in Food & Wine, December 2010

Ingredients
  • 1 winter squash, halved and seeded acorn, kuri, kabocha, carnival, sweet dumpling, or a couple delicatas
  • 1 knob fresh ginger, peeled with a spoon and grated on a microplane
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
Currant Dressing
  • ½ cup red wine vinegar
  • ½ cup water
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ¼ cup dried currants
  • 1 cinnamon stick, 2- to 3-inches
  • a couple tablespoons of crème fraîche and/or olive oil to drizzle
For plating: A mix of salad greens (sweet and bitter is nice together, like spinach and radicchio, little gem or red leaf and frisée)
Instructions
Pre-Bake

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare a sheet pan by lining with parchment paper or foil. Rub the olive oil and grated ginger onto the flesh of the halved squash.  Sprinkle with salt and place cut side down on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flip the squash over and continue baking for another 15 minutes until tender.

Dressing

  1. In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, water, maple syrup, and cinnamon stick and simmer for 5 minutes. Add currants and simmer a couple minutes more. Remove from heat and set aside.

Roast the Squash

  1. Increase oven temperature to 425°F. Cut pre-baked squash into crescents no thicker than an inch and a half at the widest part. (This is easiest to do by cutting each half in half, then each of those pieces in half yielding 8 slices total.) Arrange in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes with a flip half-way through, until golden and crisp along the edges.

Plating the Salad

  1. Arrange greens on a platter. Top with squash crescents and drizzle with the currant dressing (remove the cinnamon stick) and créme fraîche.