Warm Roast Pumpkin Salad

Looking for Australian recipes for the Zaar World Tour 2005? Look no further! This is innovative Australian cuisine at its best: a most unusual and absolutely delicious-sounding recipe which I have adapted just slightly from a book I HAD TO BUY when I saw it today: 'Green: modern vegetarian recipes' by Australian cook Flip Shelton. As Flip says of this recipe you really can “brighten the darkest winter days with this warm, colourful salad”.

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 600  g  butternut pumpkin
• 4  small beetroots
• 1  brown onions (Australian) or 1  yellow onion (American)
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 4  garlic cloves, finely chopped
•  sea salt, to taste
•  fresh ground black pepper, to taste'
• 1⁄4 cup  pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
•  baby spinach leaves, well washed
• 1  tablespoon raspberry vinegar or 1  tablespoon red wine vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas mark 6.
2. Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper, peel the pumpkin, beetroot and onion and cut into wedges.
3. Mix together the oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl until they are well-combined. Toss in the pumpkin, beetroot and onion and stir until the vegetables are well-coated.
4. Spread the vegetables on the baking tray and place in the oven for 40-50 minutes, or until the pumpkin starts to brown.
5. Place the pepitas in a dry non-stick pan and place in the oven for a couple of minutes, stirring, until the seeds start to pop and brown.
6. Combine the roasted vegetables, pepitas and spinach in a large bowl and drizzle with the raspberry vinegar.
7. Serve warm.