Keep It Real Thursday – Roasted Squash and Cashew Salad with a Yogurt Lime Dressing

I have been accused of cooking with expensive ingredients. And that’s not completely wrong.

Sometimes I do. I love food and some of the foods I love aren’t cheap.

That being said, it is good to have some balance.  This is one of those. I bought a 2 pound squash from a local farm for 2 dollars. From that one squash I was able to make this recipe and the Cumin Spiced Squash with White Beans (and a few other ingredients of course).

Not only was this inexpensive to make, it was delicious and fast. Sure roasting squash takes time, but that part can be done the night before while you’re reading or doing whatever else you like or have to do. Once that parts done, this comes together in 5 minutes flat! Beat that Mickey D’s!

Roasted Squash and Cashew Salad

Serves 2

• 4 cups mixed greens (we used young kale, mustard greens, small beet greens and red lettuce)
• 2 cups squash, roasted and cubed
• 2 scallions or green onions, cut on a diagonal
• 1 red chili, thinly sliced
• 1 handful cilantro
• 1/4 cup roasted cashews

Place 2 cups of mixed greens in 2 bowls. Top each with 1 cup of roasted squash, half the scallions, half the chiles, cilantro and cashews. Drizzle with the Yogurt Lime Dressing. Voila, done and delicious!

Yogurt Lime Dressing

• 1/3 cup plain full fat yogurt (use coconut cream as a vegan substitution)
• 1 Tbsp honey, raw is best (Vegans can substitute 2 Tbsp agave syrup)
• 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 tsp ginger, grated
• 1 tsp lime zest
• salt and pepper

Place the yogurt, honey, lime juice, ginger, lime zest in a bowl. Whisk until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

To roast the squash, preheat the oven to 375 F. Peel the squash using a sharp knife or peeler. Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds and cube into 1 inch squares. Toss the squash with 1 Tbsp of olive oil and spread onto a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and bake until tender. Approx 45 minutes.

Welcome To Keep It Real Thursdays!

The theme is REAL FOOD I WANT TO EAT! All of these recipes were shared here last week as part of Keep It Real Thursday. I guess that’s the theme every week, since I’m doing the picking…All the recipes and information are excellent and if I were to choose tomorrow the outcome might be different. But today this is what I would eat.

Can you tell I’m developing a pre-Halloween sweet tooth?

Poor and Gluten Free

Beet Ravioli

The Flour Sack

Raw Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Writing In White

Primal Crack Brownies

Whole Life Nutrition

Organic Granola Bars

Keep It Real Thursday

Welcome to Keep It Real Thursday!

The Rules:

1. Introduce yourself, your blog, and what you’re about in the comment section and a small blurb about what you’re sharing. This way people can get to know you a little bit right off the hop and hopefully follow you as well.

2. Be sure to add a link in your post back to this post. Simple linky etiquette. This allows your readers to find other posts that may help them on their journey.

3. If you’re sharing recipes, the only requirement is that the ingredient list be comprised of real food only, that means non-processed food items. That being said, we are all in different places on our real food journey, some more advanced than others. I invite all of you to share, no matter where you are on your journey, but I ask you to stay mindful when sharing your recipes that this is a whole (real) food blog. This means, no ingredient lists that include edible oil products (velveeta, frozen whip topping), protein powders, ketchup, white flour, margarine or white and brown sugar.

4. Less of a rule but more a suggestion: Retweet,  Stumble, or Pin this post so EVERYONE gets more exposure and traffic. It’s win-win for everyone.

Don’t have a blog? That’s ok, we’d still love to hear from you. Write your recipes or tips in the comment section so we can get to know you too!

Now it’s your turn to share your whole food recipes and ideas!

I’m sharing this with Mangia Monday, Monday Mania, My Meatless Monday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, Cast Party Wednesday, Allergy Free Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Fight Back Friday, and Foodie Friday.