Try this Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad with Honey Balsamic Dressing for your next Sunday lunch! Terrific as a side or as a meal, this is a really magical combination of flavours.
Make-ahead winner: Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad
I want to regale you with tales of how I always make this Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad for lunch with the girls. How perfect it is for a lazy weekend get together because it’s make ahead and a crowd pleaser because it’s got enough oomph to be a meal in itself whilst still being healthy and gluten free too. (Who else needs to cater for varying diets at get togethers??)
I’ve even recommended this to numerous friends who have come to me asking for ideas for make ahead lunch recipes.
But truthfully, I have never made this for my friends. I can’t ever embellish about what I’ve made for friends because weirdly, some of them actually read my blog and they would call me out. Some of these friends are serious corporate types, jet setting around the world, taking important meetings and working on top secret projects. It amuses me no end that in between reading board papers and information memorandums, they read my posts as I dribble on about whatever deliciousness I’m sharing on that day and Dozer antics. Te he he!!!
Today’s deliciousness -> This Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad that I’ve never made for them.
This is a really terrific combination of flavours, and I think of this as quite a classic salad. I’m sure I picked it up from a Women’s Weekly magazine many years ago.
The roasted pumpkin is sweet and juicy, the feta adds pops of salty creaminess, the pine nuts add a warm, earthy crunch, the freshness from spinach, all lightly dressed with a Honey Balsamic Dressing. You really don’t need that much dressing for this salad, just enough to coat the baby spinach. Plus, I don’t know if it’s just Aussie baby spinach, but dressing just never sticks well to baby spinach.
So I really mean it when I say this salad is light on the dressing!
I know pine nuts are quite expensive so are a bit of an indulgence, but you don’t need much. You can substitute it with other nuts, but if you’re making this to impress guests, it’s worth using pine nuts. No other nuts have that same soft, creamy crunch and the distinct flavour of…. well, pine nuts. 😉
This is not a difficult salad to make but I have a few tips that I’ve picked up over the years, like roasting the pumpkin so it’s golden but still holds its shape rather than turning into mush.
I usually serve this at room temperature but it’s great warm too. Also, rocket lettuce (arugula for those on the other side of the pond) works well with this if you want a bit more of an edge to it. I like using baby spinach because the flavour and texture is quite soft, unlike other lettuces that are really crunchy.
Good way to kick off a new week, with a healthy salad! Giving myself a pat on the back. 😉 – Nagi x
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad recipe video! PS That pumpkin Dozer gets at the end is raw. RAW. 😳
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Roast Pumpkin, Spinach and Feta Salad
Ingredients
Pumpkin:
- 600 g / 1.2 lb pumpkin (after peeling), cut into 3cm / 1.25" cubes (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Dressing:
- 2.5 tbsp / 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- Salt and pepper
Salad:
- 1/4 cup / 35g pine nuts (Note 2)
- 150 g / 5 oz baby spinach leaves (4 handfuls)
- 60 g / 2 oz feta , crumbled (or more!!)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220C/430F (standard) or 200C/390F (fan/convection).
- Toss pumpkin with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread on baking tray, bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, flip, then bake for a further 7 - 10 minutes until golden but not mushy. (Note 3) Loosen pumpkin with egg flip (it can adhere as it cools), then if serving salad at room temperature, leave to cool.
- Shake Dressing in a jar. Taste and adjust to taste. I like it a bit sharp because it balances out the flavours in this salad.
- Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until light golden and it smells nutty. Remove pine nuts from skillet as soon as it's ready.
- Place Spinach in a bowl. Drizzle with a bit of dressing then toss.
- Add pumpkin, just a bit of feta and pine nuts, then GENTLY BRIEFLY toss just to disperse the feta. (If you toss vigorously, the feta can make it look messy).
- Transfer to serving plate. Sprinkle over remaining feta and pine nuts. Just before serving, drizzle with remaining dressing (dressing doesn't stay on baby spinach well, so worth drizzling at end). Serve!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Contemplating whether this meatless meal is worth begging for.
Nagi, you are one of my 3 cooking goddesses, but I just can’t get my head around roasted pumpkin in a salad. I see nobody else has this problem. Maybe it’s because I’m Canadian? or maybe I’m just weird?
Really???!!! Hmm, maybe it is a Canadian thing? I’ll ask my friend! It really is fabulous in a salad, I promise you. 🙂 N xx
Lo….must be a Canadian thing cause I too thought it was …well…weird! Don’t know till I try!
Seriously!!! And there I was thinking Canadians were such foodies….. disappointed. JUST JOKING!!! My Canadian friends would have my head if they read this! 😂
I made this salad for my husband (minus the honey) and he asked for seconds. A miracle considering he hates salad AND pumpkin. The combination is spot on.
That’s terrific to hear Kelly! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review – N x
Nagi you have nailed it again as I made this tonight and had Grilled Lamb back strap with it and delicious delicious salad so easy and wholesome love it and I am sure Dozer would also even thought it’s meatless . Thanks again
WHOOT! I’m so pleased you enjoyed this Kris, I really love this salad!! N xx
I made this last night to accompany lamb loin chops on the BBQ It’s really, really, really good.
I adore pumpkin and/or sweet potato in salads. The salad dressing to accompany brings all the flavours together.
I’ve started to throw pine nuts into a lot of salads as of late; it’s something I just haven’t done for some time but they’re really good.
Thanks again Nagi, it’s definitely a keeper.
I just bought a huge pumpkin to make fall recipes. I’ll have to add this to the list!
Looks like a delicious salad. How long did it take for Dozer to realize that he’d knocked his new favorite toy off his pillow when lunging for the pumpkin? You can tell how much he loves that toy when you see his beautiful paw draped over it. Love your recipes, love love love your dog!
Since both the pumpkin and the lovely dressing you teach have sweet overtones I would have it ‘both ways’ and use one of these nifty small bags of rocket+spinach to bring a wee bit of bitterness in contrast. Yes, pine nuts are expensive, but one does not need much and the rest of the offering does not cost the earth!! And Dozer leaves his baby to eat pumpkin – now I have seen everything !!!
This salad – and variations on it – have been appearing on my table for years. You’re right – it’s delicious, versatile and hearty enough to be a meal on it’s own in a pinch!
Looks lovely! I’d like to serve this warm, what’s your method please Nagi?
Hello Nagi, Dozer, looks delicious! Love that kind of stuff. Agree to have it at room temp.. My favourite nut is hazelnut, I don’t care how much cost we live only once, so my as well enjoy.! On w/end we had meat sellout, chicken filets arond600gr for3.50 , or marinated with garlic fresh garlic, lemon oregano 400gr for2.95, have enough till Xmas, red peppers small ones perfect for two dollars the same with broccoli, Spanish onion almost KG for one dollar and blueberry one month for 2.50 panet. But spring weather is shocking, very cold, windy, had good rain. Ok you two Love you and leave you. Cheerio!
Delicious – followed recipe as written and I love it! Will be part of my repertoire in the future. A great company recipe!
I picked up a similar recipe from BBC Good Food a few years back and I look forward to making every year. Add a teaspoon of whole grain mustard to your dressing and some chopped red onion and I’ll be on you doorstep 🙂
Oh my this looks good! I love salads and I loved any type of roasted vegetables, especially pumpkins/squash. I can’t wait to try this.
As for Dozer, it looks like he has his left eyebrow raised that makes him look skeptical of that salad. LOL!
could you use roasted butternut squash instead of the pumpkin?
I’m new to your blog and absolutely loving your recipes. From one dog lover to another, Dozer is beautiful and so are your posts of The Life of Dozer!
Good looking salad! We make a similar version using rocket (arugula) instead of spinach and toasted seeds from the squash instead of pine nuts. Pine nuts are also hugely expensive here.
We often top it with a pile of crisp bacon and you have a meal.
Dozer looks ready for his summer a the beach..
Can you use sweet potato instead of pumpkin?
Sharon Murray, Absolutely as I do often when I don’t have pumpkin/squash. I cut the potato into 1.5-2cm rounds then cut them in halves or into quarters (depending on their circumference) , except the ends, cut them just to a similar size. Also, you can swap the pine nuts for chopped walnuts as they’re less expensive and the baby spinach for mixed salad greens. This is one of my all time favourite summer salads. Hope this helps.
Sorry Nagi for changing your delicious salad around, but sometimes we just don’t have everything on hand all of a sudden when visitors drop in. I do the same as your salad mostly, but sometimes. well!!!!!!
Hi Nagi! This would be a great side dish at Thanksgiving! Yes, pine nuts are expensive but most nuts are. I keep nuts in the freezer to be sure they don’t go rancid and I always have four to five different ones on hand. My dogs would have looked at me like “are you kidding, raw veg?”
I had a big dog that Hated peas. She could eat an entire can of doggie beef stew in 30-seconds flat, leaving the bowl and every pea licked completely clean and perfectly intact in the bottom of her clean bowl. I don’t know how she’d managed it, gobbling it as fast as she had, but there had been a perfect little grouping of peas left behind every single time without fail. Dogs can be so amazing!
Wow, that looks so delicious! I love pumpkin everything but as a Floridian, it often seems weird to be making “autumny” foods when it’s still in the 90’s outside. THIS is the PERFECT solution! 😀 Pinning this and probably making in the next couple of weeks.
This looks amazing and totally perfect for fall! I know exactly what you mean about dressing not sticking to spinach leaves. I usually cut the spinach so it doesn’t slide off so easily. Still doesn’t stick like regular lettuce but I feel like it’s easier to eat and less dressing ends up at the bottom of the bowl. Going to try that for this salad-will make it this weekend!!!!