Seriously Good Salad

My husband and I have officially joined the Costco cult and I have never been happier. Oh sure, I was skeptical at first (I mean who needs that much cheese at once); but I have since been converted due to their abundance of frozen vegetables, giant Naked's, and plenty of produce for my weekly smoothies. In the most recent trip, I bought a rather large container of spinach for a smoothie recipe and while I used about 3 cups for my smoothie I hadn't even scratched the surface of that container. Salad for dinner it was!

There is no better way to make a salad than to throw a hodge podge of ingredients from your fridge topped with a homemade dressing. Opening my fridge that evening, I pulled out cubed butternut squash, apples, onion, feta, and avocado. The flavor combination of sweet apples, ripe avocados, and aged feta topped with a tangy dressing (borrowed from a great friend) really worked and will be a salad recipe I will continue to use in the future. The next night I made a similar salad and added seasoned tilapia with garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper that would pair well on this salad!

Recipe:

Salad:
1 gala apple; chopped
1/2 avocado
1 cup cubed butternut squash
2 cups spinach
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
handful pecans
1 tbsp olive oil
garlic powder to taste
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400. Arrange cubed butternut squash on foil lined pan and toss in olive oil and seasoning. Roast about 20 minutes or until soft.
2. Meanwhile combine salad ingredients in large bowl and add cooked and cooled squash. Top with pecans and dressing.

Dressing:
1/2 c minced onion or shallot (I used a sweet onion)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp pure honey
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 squeeze lemon or orange juice (I did both)

1. Add all ingredients in blender and blend until combined