250gms butternut squash, chopped into small chunks
2 tbsp Olive oil or rapeseed oil
120gms pack thin-stemmed broccoli, cut into small pieces
250gms pouch cooked quinoa
small handful coriander, leaves picked and chopped
small handful mint, leaves picked and chopped
4 spring onions, finely sliced on an angle
50gms pomegranate seeds
20gms pistachios, roughly chopped
1 small ripe avocado
juice ½ Lemon
handful sprouts (alfalfa or china rose sprouts are nice) or baby herb leaves
For the dressing
1 tbsp tahini sauce
½ small ripe avocado , stoned, peeled and roughly chopped
small handful coriander, leaves picked
small handful mint, leaves picked
zest and juice ½ lemon
2 tsp honey or maple syrup
Method of making the Salad
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and line a baking tray with parchment. Tip the butternut squash onto the tray, drizzle with 2 tsp oil and season well. Roast for 20 mins, then push the squash to one end of the tray, add the broccoli to the other end and drizzle with 1 tsp oil. Season and roast for 10 mins more.
Meanwhile, make the dressing. Put all the ingredients in the small bowl of a food processor, add 1 tbsp water and a pinch of salt. Blitz to make a loose dressing, adding a little more water if necessary.
Squeeze the pouch of quinoa to separate the grains, then tip into a large bowl. Add the herbs, spring onions, pomegranate seeds and pistachios. Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil, season and toss everything together. Add the roasted veg too.
Divide the salad between two plates and drizzle over the dressing. Halve the avocado and remove the stone, then slide a dessertspoon between the skin and flesh to remove it in one piece. Place on a chopping board, rounded side up, and thinly slice. Squeeze over the lemon juice, then slide a knife underneath and lift half the avocado onto each salad.
Garnished with assorted bell peppers and mint sprigs, just for plating made the squash net to make it more appealing.
A brief about Chef Avtar Singh Rana
Chef Avtar Singh Rana a passionate professional celebrity chef having more than 2 decades of experience. A chef who wears different hats, who ranges from the city Delhi is someone who loves interaction and discovery with a vision of always coming up with the best and true perfectionist at his work, he dwells in photography, traveling and of course food. He started his carrier with Taj Group of hotels, in the year 1998 and since then has only achieved milestones and growth immensely his hunger to learn and explore more got him travelling to the middle east, Oman, KSA , multiple times, where he worked for some of the iconic hotels. His talent also brought him recognition from Radisson, Starwood and Accor, where he was responsible for the preopening of the hotels.
An individual who leads by the examples and has the knack of grasping quickly and extend warm hospitality.
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