Pumpkin 'Kitchen Sink' Salad
This roasted pumpkin salad recipe showcases my favorite a salad building technique. An 'everything but the kitchen sink’ salad is just that, a salad whose purpose in life is to use up leftovers from the fridge and be supplemented by some pantry staples. I prefer a more considered approach to a kitchen sink salad. My version is a hearty salad that is packed with flavour. And ingredients can be swapped in and out to reflect any cuisine you are channeling for the meal you're planning
Equipment
- Rice cooker (optional)
- Colander
Ingredients
Salad ingredients:
- 500g-700g pumpkin (Kent, Queensland Blue, or Butternut)
- 1 cup freekeh
- ½ cup wild rice
- 1-2 large shallots
- 2 large garlic cloves
- ½ cup currants
- 150 ml apple cider vinegar
- 1 yellow or red capsicum
- 100 g frozen shelled edamame
- 100 g fresh goats cheese
- 1-2 cups rocket leaves
- 60 g smoked almonds
Dressing ingredients:
- 100 ml reserved currant vinegar
- 100 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup snipped chives
- 1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon honey
- sea salt
- white pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven
- Preheat oven to 200°C /180°C fan forced.
Wild rice
- Bring at least three litres of salted water to a boil in a large pot.
- Add wild rice, stirring occasionally to stop rice sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Continue to boil on a medium heat until at least half of the grains have burst open (20-30 minutes).
- Boil the kettle, as you may need to top up the water.
- Drain the cooked rice in a colander and rinse with cold water.
Freekeh
- Freekeh can be boiled in a large pot of water, using the method above for the wild rice.
- I use a rice cooker and follow the ratios for brown rice (1 cup freekeh to 2 cups water).
- And be sure to rinse the freekeh before adding to the rice cooker.
- Once the rice cooker is finished, stir to separate the grains, and leave to steam for 10 minutes.
- Then remove from rice cooker and leave to cool.
Pumpkin
- Scoop out the seeds of the pumpkin.
- If roasting with the peel on, wash the peel and pat dry. Otherwise, remove the peel.
- Cut into wedges and place on a baking paper lined baking tray.
- Drizzle with olive oil and rub over the pumpkin.
- Roast at 200°C/180°C fan forced until a fork can easily pass through the pumpkin.
- The time will depend on the size of your pumpkin pieces. I keep checking as overcooked pumpkin turns to mush very quickly.
- Remove from oven and leave to cool.
Sour currants
- Bring vinegar to a boil in a small pot or in the microwave.
- Add currants and set aside for 15-20 minutes.
- Strain the currants and be sure to keep the strained off vinegar for the dressing.
Shallot and garlic
- Peel and chop the shallot into a fine dice.
- Heat a small frying pan on medium low, adding some olive oil.
- Add the chopped shallot and crushed garlic cloves.
- Sauté until the shallots are translucent, remove from heat and cool.
Herb dressing
- Wash herbs and spin in a salad spinner or dry between paper towels.
- Snip chives and chop parsley.
- Make dressing either whisking in a bowl or using a jar with a lid.
- Add 100ml of the reserved vinegar from the sour currants, the olive oil and honey.
- Whisk/shake to emulsify.
- Add herbs and whisk/shake again.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Prep other ingredients
- Chop capsicum into small dice.
- Cut roasted pumpkin into 2–3cm cubes.
- Place frozen edamame in a small bowl and cover with cold water, drain once defrosted.
- Lightly chop smoked almonds.
- Wash and pick through rocket leaves.
- Leave goats cheese in fridge until assembling salad.
Assemble salad
- If making the salad in advance, assemble into a container in layers, refrigerate, and toss just before serving.
- Set aside 1/3 of the pumpkin, currants, capsicum, edamame, pickled onions and almonds to use to finish the salad when plating.
- Start layering in container. Add rice, freekeh, shallots and garlic and most of the dressing and toss. The grains should be well coated, add more dressing if needed.
- Layer pumpkin, capsicum, edamame, currants, pickled onions and rocket on top of the grains.
- Refrigerate a couple hours or overnight to allow the grains to absorb the dressing.
- Just before serving toss the salad and plate onto a large platter or bowl.
- Top with reserved pumpkin, currants, capsicum, edamame, and almonds.
- Crumble over goats cheese.
Just before you cook with abandon…
Freekeh: Freekeh is a middle eastern grain that is made from roasting young green durum wheat. Freekeh is considered healthy as it is a type of whole grain, where only the skin of the grain has been removed after it is roasted. As its popularity is growing you can now find it in supermarkets and it is readily available at health food stores. You can also substitute farro or barley if you can’t source freekeh.
Wild rice: Wild rice is a native species of North America and, as a Canadian, I have a soft spot for it. While it is pretty easy to find in Australia now, I find that most people are not aware of how to cook wild rice and often undercook it. To get the full nutty flavour and complex texture, you need to keep boiling the wild rice until the grains burst open. It’s OK If a few grains don’t burst. But you need to watch the boiling pot fairly closely and top up the water when it gets too low. The rice should also be rinsed in cold water after cooking as it does produce a lot of unwanted scum.
Cool it down: If you do not consume cooked rice or grains as soon as they are cooked, it is important to get the grains cooled as quickly as possible. If cooked grains are left on the bench too long or take too long to cool in the fridge, they can end up causing food poisoning. Bacillus cereus is a microscopic organism that is found on cooked grains. In the right conditions it can multiply, releasing harmful toxins and causing food poisoning. To avoid this all cooked grains need to be consumed while hot or cooled down quickly and stored in the fridge. In Australia I would not leave cooked rice on the bench for more than an hour. My routine is to spread the cooked grain out on a tray, cool it for 10-15 minutes on the bench and then put the tray into the fridge to get it down to 4°C.
Virtually vegetarian: With the exception of the goat’s cheese this roasted pumpkin salad recipe is vegetarian and would also suit vegetarians who are happy to eat non-meat animal products (NMAPs).
Make it vegan: You can swap in any vegan cheese or just leave out the goat’s cheese and you have a vegan roasted pumpkin salad recipe. Both the edamame and freekeh are pretty protein rich but you can also up the ante in this regard by adding in a drained can of cannellini beans.
Make it a day ahead: Making this salad a day ahead of your planned meal makes the prep time so much more relaxed. I prepare all the elements and layer them into a large, sealed plastic container and refrigerate overnight. Specifically with this kitchen sink pumpkin salad I layer in the following bottom up order:
- Cooked freekeh, cooked wild rice, sauteed shallots and garlic combined with the dressing
- Capsicum and edamame
- Currants and almonds
- Rocket leaves