by Ina Garten
Let me start off by saying I would definitely use arugula in this salad as called for in the recipe; I used spinach that I had in the fridge that I wanted to use up. The peppery flavor of arugula would be a nice contrast to the sweet butternut squash. To me the spinach came across rather "flat" in taste and texture.
As for the dressing I did not have cider vinegar - used champagne vinegar, apple juice in place of apple cider, and I would cut the oil by half - all I could really taste is the olive oil. Not sure how much of an apple presence there would be if I had the correct vinegar and cider.
Monica of A Beautiful Mess raved about this salad; so maybe if I had the correct ingredients for the dressing it would have turned out better. This is definitely worth a second try and would look beautiful on the Thanksgiving table!
Success meter (1-3): 2
Make sure your squash is almost ready before
adding the cranberries. They turn out quite
chewy and hard if cooked too long.
The beginning of what I thought would be a great dressing.
Arugula makes for a prettier presentation.
You can find the recipe at Barefoot Contessa and on Monica's blog.
