Butternut squash and potato salad with miso-harissa dressing

I have Heidi Swanson's blog 101 cookbooks to thank for this. Whenever I need to make something healthy and vegetarian, to her wisdom I will travel. The salad is what we're talking about here, not the fritters, which despite being delicious, have the unfortunate appearance of grass cow pats. Heidi made her version of this salad with delicata squash, a summer veg which can be cooked with the skin intact, giving it a pleasing stripey look, however, this being Winter, I adapted and used butternut. The combination of miso and olive oil was intriguing and had the most amazing nutty, sweet and tangy flavour, coupled with some spice from harissa. Toasted almonds added crunch and a toasty taste and the radishes helped cut through all the richness. Superb.

Recipe : Butternut squash and potato salad

Adapted from 101 cookbooks 

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into small chunks

about 15 baby potatoes, cut in half

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup white miso, (Shiro)

1 tbsp harissa paste

juice of one lemon

1/2 cup kale, finely shredded

4 radishes, sliced finely

a handful of almonds, toasted in a dry pan until brown and fragrant

a handful of parsley, finely chopped

Heat the oven to 425oF. Mix the oil and miso together in a bowl and add the harissa, stirring well. (Don't worry if it seems lumpy at this point as mine did, it doesn't seem to affect the recipe, in fact little bits caramelise to give you intense mini nuggets of flavour). Put the squash and potatoes into a bowl and add 3/4 of a cup of the oil / miso / harissa mixture. Stir well, (your hands are easiest for this), distributing all the spice mixture through the veg. Lay out in a single layer on a baking dish and cook for 25 - 30 minutes until soft inside and golden and slightly crisp on the outside. Remove from the oven and transfer to a serving bowl.

Squeeze the lemon juice into the remaining miso mixture and stir well, (now it should become smooth). Add the kale to the dressing and mix well again.

Add the dressing and kale mixture to the roasted pots and squash, along with the radishes, almonds and parsley. Mix everything together to combine all the ingredients well and serve, preferably at room temperature.