Wednesday 23 November 2016

VeganMoFo 2016 #23: Falling for Spring



23rd: Autumn/Fall (or Spring if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere) Traditions – Are there any foods you traditionally make in this season?

When this prompt was originally released, I am pretty sure it just mentioned fall traditions. Though they have updated it for spring as well for us people down south. However, my planning had already taken place, but it ended up kind of working for both! I don't really have any autumn or spring traditions as such, but whenever I think of autumn I always think of butternut squash and cranberries. Do I make lots of things with butternut squash or cranberries in autumn? No. But I think about them!

However, as mentioned, I live in the southern hemisphere. Where it is Spring, though in Brisbane's case it has already started edging into summer. When the weather gets hot, I love starting to look at big meal-sized salads. And here is where the two shall meet.

Delicata Squash, Millet & Kale Salad with Lemon-Tahini Dressing from The Oh She Glows Cookbook piqued my interest because squash and cranberries! I have never seen delicata squash here, so replacing it with butternut was a given. The recipe calls for a cup of dried millet to be cooked, and I only used half that amount (I also used a millet and quinoa blend because I ran out of millet), which ended up still being way too much grain for the salad. If you used the whole cup of dried grain, it would end up being a huge grain salad! Which could be cool. The ingredients are layered to make a beautiful salad. The bottom layer is kale rubbed with some dressing. I did blanch my kale slightly, because I find that sometimes raw kale salads make my stomach hurt a little,and I mixed in some fresh baby spinach too. This is topped with the millet, celery, parsley, roasted butternut, cranberries, pepitas and then the dressing. It also calls for raw onions, which I left out because I don't like raw onion. Though I noticed a tip for roasting the onion with the butternut, which would have been lovely. The dressing comes together very quickly, and is tasty and tangy. This is meant to be served as a warm autumn salad, but because it is spring here I left everything cool before assembling. It was a lovely mix of flavours and textures, enjoyed by everyone!
Rating: :), dressing :)

Squash, Millet & Kale Salad with Lemon-Tahini Dressing


Squash, Millet & Kale Salad with Lemon-Tahini Dressing


Lemon-Tahini Dressing


I feel that I successfully made an autumn-inspired dish in a spring-appropriate manner, so my work here is done!

What is your favourite season? And your favourite food associated with that season?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

The beautiful face of Gizmo


Gizmo. <3 <3 <3

8 comments:

  1. I don't have any spring traditions, but spring is my favorite season. It's so beautiful and hopeful I love it soo much! That salad looks beyond delicious, I wish I had the ingredients right now to make it!
    Gizmo!!!!

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    1. I love spring as well, though sadly we have very little actual spring here anymore. It tends to jump straight to summer!

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  2. That sounds amazing. I love roasted butternut squash in salads, but I don't have that nearly often enough.

    My fave season is summer! And I'm all about a big ass salad or grilled veggie dogs & corn & kabobs.

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    1. It is so hot and sweaty here in summer. I do love my big salads, though some nights are too hot and gross to even think about going outside to turn on the BBQ. I stay inside in the aircon and cook on the stove instead.

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  3. Ooh lovely. I have been looking for some recipes that use millet and I have that book so thank you!

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    1. Millet is one of my favourite grains, though so often overlooked!

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  4. I have that cookbook and that recipe never sparked my interest until you made it. XD It sounds so yummy. Butternut is a pretty good replacement, delicata isn't as sweet, I guess because most people end up eating the skin? I should make this since I have millet sitting around.

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  5. Oooh that delicata squash salad looks good! I need to try that.
    My favourite season is summer. It has all of the best produce too =)

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