One of my favorite flavors of fall: butternut squash. The texture. The light sweetness. The jam-packed goodness including vitamin A, fiber, iron and more. And it really satisfies as the star of today's recipe for my Butternut Squash Lover's Fall Salad. Complete with rich maple-tahini dressing on top and sweet citrus all around. Dive into fall with this yummy, good-for-you salad..

Hello sunshine. Fall-ish sunshine on your plate. Er, bowl.

Before adding the drizzle of tahini-heaven on top..

Butternut squash fun (nutrition) facts:

One cup of butternut squash cubes contains just about 82 calories and 457% RDA vitamin A. So you can eat allllll theeee squashhhhh you want.

Just go easy on the tahini. I mean, you can totally tell from my photos that I went very light on the tahini drizzle. (Yes that was me being sarcastic.) More tahini-maple dressing please!

Sometimes butternut squash is all you need as the star of your meal.

With some flavor accents to enhance the fall flavor.

Cinnamon.
Citrus.
Tahini.
Sage.
Sea salt.
Maple.

Trust me. This is way too easy and delicious to pass up.

Butternut Squash Lover's Fall Salad

By Kathy PatalskyPublished 10/01/2015
This easy salad includes skillet butternut squash, accented with citrus, pumpkin seeds and a generous drizzle of tahini-maple dressing. Delicious!

Ingredients

10oz butternut squash (frozen cubes used - fresh work too)
1 teaspoon virgin coconut oil
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
3 cups arugula and spinach greens
2 tablespoon pumpkin seeds, raw
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
1 orange, sliced/peeled
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice (use a slice from the orange)
1-2 sage leaves, fresh (torn)
Dressing:
1 tablespoon tahini
2 teaspoon maple syrup, grade B
1 tablespoon orange or lemon juice or apple cider vinegar (supplement with water if you want a milder dressing)
1-3 tablespoon water (optional - as needed - to help cook squash)

Instructions

Warm a skillet over high heat. Add the coconut oil. When oil is hot, add the squash and splash of water. Allow to cook until the squash is tender and cooked through, but not mushy. Note: If using fresh squash, it is advised that you boil it first, to get it tender and cooked through -- drain water then add the tender squash to this skillet.
Sprinkle the cinnamon, orange zest and salt over top. Tear the sage leaf into tiny bits and add it to the pan. Fold the squash with these seasonings.
Push the squash to one side of the pan. Add the pumpkin seeds to the dry side of the pan, along with the orange juice and maple syrup. Let them sizzle for a minute or two. Then gently fold the seeds and seasoned squash all together, allowing all the flavors to combine. Turn off heat. Optional: toast two small sage leaves in the hot pan to be used as a "fried sage" garnish.
Using a blender, combine the dressing ingredients together. I will usually double or triple the dressing recipe so that I have some leftover for the next few days -- and this makes it easier o blend in a blender container. If not blender, you can whisk everything together by hand. The dressing is super simple: the tahini, maple and then an acid to help loosen the tahini. Then add more of the acid - or water to thin out the dressing to your desired consistency. You can play around with these basic ingredients as well to craft your perfect tahini dressing. If you like sweet, add more maple, etc.
Drizzle 2 teaspoon of the dressing over top the salad greens. Then add the orange slices around the edges of the serving bowl. Finally, add a large generous portion of the skillet butternut squash and pumpkin seed mixture to the center of the salad. Then add more dressing over top. Add the toasted sage leaves as garnish - optional. I like a thick tahini dressing to drizzle over top. Serve right away so you enjoy the warm skillet squash combined with the cool, bitter and spicy greens and citrus.

Yield: serves 1Prep Time: 00 hrs. 10 mins. Cook time: 00 hrs. 10 mins. Total time: 20 mins.