Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Salad with Maple Rosemary Vinaigrette

Compelled by the dazzling color palette of her native New England landscape, Emily Dickinson resolves to be fashionable by adding an ornament to her fall ensemble. 

This photo was taken in New Hampshire mid October 2014 on a trip..

'III. NATURE XXVIII. AUTUMN' by Emily Dickinson
The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I'll put a trinket on.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Salad with Maple Rosemary Vinaigrette 

Cook's Notes:Bring fall flavors to your table with this amazing autumn salad. And you just can't go wrong adding bits of bacon to liven up the salad. Its salty taste pairs well with the sweetness of butternut squash. The homemade Maple Rosemary Vinaigrette is outstanding and enough for 4 salads. Advance prep makes the final assembly right before serving easier. Early in the day roast the squash and cook the bacon. The dressing was made in a blender and stored in the refrigerator. Otherwise transfer dressing to a jar with a screw top.

Recipe serves 4 and was adapted from cookingclassy.com

Salad Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups cubed butternut squash
• 1 TB. olive oil
• 1-1/2 TB. pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp. Saigon cinnamon 
• 3/4 tsp. dried thyme 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 6 slices of bacon cooked crisp and crumbled
• 1/2 cup walnuts toasted
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup red onions, thinly sliced (rinse under cold water to remove harsh bite)
• 3 oz, herb feta or goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 small bag of mixed greens (blend baby kale and spinach or arugula and spinach blend) 

Vinaigrette Ingredients: 

• 3-4 TB. pure maple syrup
• 2 TB. apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Sea salt and ground pepper to taste
• 2-1/2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried, crushed rosemary 

Salad Directions:

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone pad. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  
• In a bowl add olive oil, syrup and cinnamon. Toss butternut cubes in mixture and spread evenly out on baking sheet. Sprinkle with thyme. Bake 15 minutes. Add in walnuts and cranberries, cook 3 minutes more or until cubes are tender.
• Cook bacon, crumble and set aside. 
• In a salad bowl add greens, squash cubes, bacon, walnuts, cranberries and red onion.
• Serve immediately and drizzle with vinaigrette. 

Vinaigrette Directions:

• Add all ingredients to blender and mix well. Taste and adjust ingredients. 
• Blend again and refrigerate for a few hours, blend one more time right before serving.