Her Sauce-ness: Jammy underpinnings to seasonal salads

Jam here. Serving as the base sauce on a plate, preserves lend sweetness to the crunchy, salty, tangy elements of this herby squash and pear salad. You can use all sorts of preserves in cooking, but for vegetable salads I like to use simple flavors that have solid acidity, sweetness and/or aroma to them like Plum Jam, Apricot Jam, or Quince preserves.

You can use all sorts of preserves in cooking, but for vegetable salads I like to use simple flavors that have solid acidity, sweetness and/or aroma to them like Plum Jam, Apricot Jam, or Quince preserves.

This morning I roasted some winter squash. I had kabocha squash on hand but previously I’ve made this dish with delicata squash. The yellow and orange hues of the skin beautifully complement the red apple jam underneath.

This makes a quick and pretty side dish for any occasion. At the moment I’m looking ahead to Thanksgiving feasting. This morning I turned this salad into breakfast by frying up an egg and setting it atop a generous serving of squash and letting a slightly runny yolk further sauce the dish.

A Very Simple Sketch of a Recipe

Here is what you need:

Dolgo Crabapple Rosehip Jam

An Asian pear or mild apple.

Fresh herbs (dill/mint/parsley/tarragon)

Lemons & olive oil

A winter squash (just about anything will do, but skip the spaghetti squash for this recipe)

Nuts/seeds - I’d recommend some fresh roasted hazelnuts or crushed almonds. I like to roast my nuts and toss them in a knob of butter and a couple flecks of sea salt just after they come out of the oven hot. But even stove-top browned sunflower seeds will be delicious!

Method:

Roast your winter squash in oil and salt at 400 degrees F until it develops dark colors at its edges. (Refer to pictures to get a sense for deciding on shape and size of your squash chunks.) These dark, caramelized edges of the vegetable are yummy and will make your salad even prettier with lots of contrasting color.

While the squash roasts, thinly slice up an Asian pear or apple. Toss the fruit in a light vinaigrette of lemon, olive oil, salt and a tablespoon of rough chopped mixed fresh herbs. Reserve a couple whole herb leaves for garnish.

Have your roasted nuts or seeds ready.

When your squash is cool enough to pick up with your hands, you are ready to assemble the salad.

Smear the bottom of a plate or platter with jam. For a medium sized squash, I’d get about 2-3 tablespoons of jam down onto the plate. Distribute the squash and fruit in vinaigrette over the jam. Drizzle the squash and fruit with any leftover vinaigrette. Alternatively, spritz the salad with fresh lemon juice, drizzle it with olive oil and distribute microplaned/grated lemon zest over the fruit and squash. Sprinkle on the nuts/seeds.

Finish the dish with fresh herb leaves distributed over the salad and it’s ready to serve.