Because food’s worth sharing ideas about (or, squash salad lunch)

A gorgeous blowy sunny Saturday, duck pond frozen over again in Stephen’s Green, sun low in the sky casting crisp contrast of shade and blaze. Picked up some crusty white Bretzel bread from Fallon & Byrne and some Braeburn apples and went home to make the following cheery lunch, inspired by my sister’s recreations of a winter salad she ate at the Market Table in Manhattan:

1/4 roast butternut squash (from the fridge), peeled and sliced into bite size chunks

1/4 Braeburn apple, cored and thinly sliced

Shavings of Mossfield mature cheese (she/they use Pecorino; Mossfield is more a nutty Gouda style and the mature one has that gorgeous crystalisation going on – I got the cheese in the Organic Supermarket in Blackrock but they sometimes have it in the Dublin Food Co-op)

One sweet baby carrot, peeled and sliced into thin rounds (they use red grapes but I didn’t think to pick any up)

A handful of pumpkin seeds, toasted under the grill, and seasoned with the Maldon salt and Sea Spice mix from Quality Sea Veg in Donegal (my addition to the salad)

Dressing of honey, lime juice, a touch of Dijon mustard and Donegal Pure Rapeseed Oil (not sure how the Market Table dress there’s but this worked rather well)

I reserved some of the squash and warmed it under the grill, then toasted slices of the crusty bread, spread the warmed squash over this, drizzled with a little Puglia olive oil from The Real Olive Company, seasoned the whole lot and tossed a little rocket leaves in the remaining dressing to add a little greenery to the cheerful oranges and reds.

And it was bloody lovely too.

Holy Mackerel! Because food’s worth sharing ideas about.