Temperature is finally coming down where I live, leaves are turning yellow and I feel like I can really enjoy the fall season. With appropriate autumn vibe, I decided to make a hearty salad full of fall flavors that includes of course, grilled kabocha pumpkins. This is the pumpkin season after all.
Tableware
I bought this pumpkin soup tureen from Williams-Sonoma few years back and thought this tureen would be perfect for my salad. Using a tureen for something other than a pumpkin soup will create more uses because I only make pumpkin soup once every few years!
My other tableware piece here is the Asiatic Pheasant dinner plate from Burleigh. I talked about Burleigh and its wonderful pieces in my other blog post but I can never get enough of Burleigh ware. Asiatic Pheasant in plum is beautiful against the orange and yellow fall colors.
Salad Ingredients
Veggies and Lentils
This salad has lot of ingredients but it’s pretty simple to make. For salad greens, I used one bag of organic spring salad mix. To that I included chopped tomato and Japanese kabocha pumpkin. I like using Japanese kabocha for its smaller size (it’s easier to handle) and they are great when grilled. They are just as sweet as other pumpkin varieties, but they hold up their texture well and don’t turn into mush. Something you want to avoid in a salad.
To get a good sear on kabocha, lay each piece flat in your skillet and cook each side for about 10 minutes over medium heat. Your kabocha pieces will end up soggy if you hurry through this process.
Lentils are wonderful any time of year, but I enjoy it more during fall and winter. I found this steamed lentils at Trader Joe’s and am wondering why I didn’t see this product before in the produce section. It’s already steamed so all you have to do is heat it. There’s one pound of lentils packed into the package and for this salad, half pound of this plus other ingredients in the salad is enough to serve at least 4 people.
Rosemary & Lemon Chicken
Protein component of this dish is grilled chicken breast infused with rosemary and lemon. To make sure I don’t end up with dried up, hard chicken for my salad, I soaked my chicken breast in a marinade. Chicken infused with olive oil, white wine, lemon juice and rosemary will ensure you get a moist tender flavor rich chicken for your salad. I usually leave my marinade in the fridge for about 24 hours, but if you can’t wait that long, you will still have a great tasting tender chicken if you let it marinate for 4-5 hours.
After your chicken is done marinating, it’s time to grill it in a skillet. You don’t need to add olive oil to the skillet before cooking the chicken, it has been soaking in a marinade with olive oil. Only thing you need to add is fresh sprigs of rosemary when cooking the chicken. When breasts have nice golden colors, take it out of the pan and chop into 2 inch pieces. Don’t forget to take off nicely grilled rosemary leaves from its stem and combine it with your chicken.
Salad Dressing
Simple, tangy balsamic dressing is the best choice for a salad like this. For a lighter fare salad, I may add more honey to make the balsamic vinegar less tangy, but here I only used one teaspoon of honey to 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar. I need the acidic component to cut through the carbs from lentils and sweetness from kabocha and roasted bell peppers.
Combine the Ingredients and Enjoy!
When everything is ready, take a large salad bowl and combine your ingredients. I first combine the salad greens, tomatoes and lentils and toss together with some dressing. I then add the chicken and grilled kabocha and toss it again with some more dressing. This way, I make sure all of my salad ingredients have nice coating of the dressing.
As a final touch, I add Parmigiano Reggiano and my roasted bell peppers to the salad. I always have a jar of my homemade roasted bell peppers, but if you don’t, you can always buy a jar of roasted peppers in the jarred condiment section of your grocery store.
Salty grainy cheese and additional sweet component from roasted peppers complete this full flavored, satisfying main dish salad.
This dish has been such a hit with my family that I already made this three times so far this month.
Hearty Fall Main Dish Salad
Ingredients
Lemon & Rosemary Chicken
- 1 chicken breast, sliced in half horizontally
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tbsp salt
- ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
- ⅓ cup white wine
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 sprigs rosemary (for marinade)
- 2 sprigs rosemary (for grilling)
Salad
- 1 bag spring leaf mix, washed and drained of water
- ½ small kabocha, cut in 1 inch pieces
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tomato, chopped
- ½ lb steamed lentils
- 4 pieces of roasted bell peppers
- ⅓ cup parmigiano reggiano pieces
Balsamic Dressing
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2½ tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp honey
Instructions
To Marinade Chicken
- Blot excess moisture from chicken breast with paper towel. Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a glass dish, add olive oil, white wine, lemon juice, chicken breast, rosemary and refrigerate for 4-24 hours. Use sealable plastic bag if suitable dish is not available.
For the Salad
- In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for balsamic dressing, mix well and set it aside.
- Heat lentils according to instructions on box. Once heated, transfer lentils to a small bowl, break apart large clumps and set it aside to cool.
- Heat medium skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and place kabocha and lay them flat in the skillet. Sear kabocha until each side is seared. When done, transfer to a plate and set it aside to cool.
- In the same skillet over medium heat, add marinated chicken breast and fresh rosemary sprigs. Sear each side of chicken breast until golden brown. Once chicken and rosemary leaves are done cooking, transfer to cutting board and chop rosemary leaves, and chop chicken into 1½ inch pieces. Combine rosemary and chicken pieces together.
- In a large bowl, add spring leaf mix, lentils, chopped tomatoes, grilled kabocha, grilled chicken and toss with 2-3 tablespoons of balsamic dressing. Once all the ingredients are mixed, add parmigiano reggiano pieces and roasted bell peppers. To serve, drizzle additional balsamic vinegar dressing to the salad.
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