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 :)







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



Gizmo. <3 <3 <3