Roasted Pumpkin Salad

Roasted Pumpkin Salad with Barley - this autumn salad is perfect for a light but surprisingly filling lunch. It's super delicious too! 

Ingredients 

• Pumpkin (substitute with butternut squash if you don't have access to pumpkins)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Rocket
• Pearl barley
• Apple
• Brown mushrooms
• Pumpkin seeds
• Tamari soy sauce
• Walnut oil
• Apple cider vinegar
• Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Getting oven ready

Before doing anything else, you'll want to preheat your oven to 220ºC. 

Prepping your pumpkin

While you wait for the oven to heat up, you can prep your pumpkin (or butternut squash) by washing it, halving it half and removing the seeds. Then cut off cour thumb-sized pieces of pumpkin (including the skin) and set them to one side. 

Now you can peel the rest of the pumpkin and cut it into bite-sized chunks. Once it's all cut up, put the chunks in an ovenproof dish and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle a little salt before roasting the chunks in the oven for 20-25 minutes. 

How to cook your pearl barley

With the pumpkin roasting in the oven, you can move onto preparing your pearl barley. Firstly, give it all a quick wash before putting it in a saucepan with about 1 litre of boiling water and put the pan on medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes. 

During this time, you'll notice the barley grow in size as it soaks up the water, a bit like rice! Be sure to check on the barley every few minutes and add more water if necessary. Once the barley has doubled in size and is soft, drain it and set aside. 

Cooking your mushrooms

Next up, wash and slice your mushrooms before frying them in a large pan with a splash of olive oil. Be sure to only fry them for 1-2 minutes on each side, otherwise, they'll lose too much of their moisture and will shrink! Add a little salt and pepper until you're happy with the flavour. 

Once your shrooms are cooked, set them aside and put the four thumb-sized slices of pumpkin in their place. with a little more oil and salt and keep cooking them until they soften and brown. Once it's cooked, set the pieces aside. 

How to make your autumn dressing

Firstly, take a small jar and mix up the pumpkin seeds and tamari soy sauce and roast them in the oven for about 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, whisk together 1 tablespoon of walnut oil and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a small glass.

Putting everything together

With all your ingredients cooked and ready, it's time to put everything together to make your delicious salad! 

Firstly, add a handful of rocket salad on each plate, before topping with the barley, mushrooms and roasted pumpkin chunks. Shred ¼ of an apple on to each plate, add the fried pumpkin and pour over the walnut-vinegar dressing. Finish off the dish by sprinkling the roasted pumpkin seeds over the top.

You can even go a step further by pouring yourself a cold Appletiser 😉

This recipe is: 

• 100% vegan
• egg free
• dairy-free
• wonderfully autumnal 
• perfect for an easy and healthy lunch
• super easy to make 

📖 Recipe Card

Roasted Pumpkin Salad with Barley

Romy

Roasted Pumpkin Salad with Barley - this autumn salad is perfect for a light but surprisingly filling lunch. It's super delicious too!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Lunch

Cuisine British

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  

• 1 medium-sized pumpkin substitute with a butternut squash if you don't have access to pumpkins
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 handfuls of rocket salad washed and drained
• 1 cup of pearl barley
• ½ medium-sized apple
• 200 g brown mushrooms
• 3 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
• 1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon walnut oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Preheat your oven to 220ºC.
• Start by preparing your pumpkin by washing it, cut it open in half and remove the seeds. Slice off 4 thumb-size pieces of pumpkin including the skin and set them aside. Peel the rest of the pumpkin and cut it into bitesize pieces. Transfer the pieces to an ovenproof dish, drizzle with olive oil & sprinkle with a little salt, then roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.
• Whilst the pumpkin is in the oven, wash the pearl barley and add it to a saucepan with about 1l of boiling water. Boil on medium-high heat for about 15-20 minutes. The barley will expand in size during this process and soak up the cooking water - make sure to stay close by and check on the barley evert 2-3 minutes and add more water if needed. Once the Barley has doubled in size and is cooked soft, drain and set aside.
• Wash & slice the mushrooms and fry them in a large pan using a drizzle of olive oil. Make sure to only fry them for about 1-2 minutes on each side, so they are done, but don't release too many juices or lose too much size. Season to taste with salt & pepper, then set aside.
• When the mushrooms are done, remove them from the pan and fry the 4 thumb-size slices of pumpkin in the pan with olive oil and a little salt until lightly browning and soft. Set the pumpkin aside.
• In a small jar, combine the pumpkin seeds and the tamari, then roast them in the hot oven for about 5 minutes.
• To prepare the dressing, simply combine 1 tablespoon of walnut oil and 1 tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar in a small glass and briefly whisk it up.
• Now it's time to assemble! Add a handful of rocket salad to each plate, then top with the barley, mushrooms and roasted pumpkin chunks. Shred ¼ of an apple on to each plate, add the fried pumpkin and pour over the walnut-vinegar dressing. Finish off the dish by sprinkling the roasted pumpkin seeds over the top.
• Pour yourself a cold Appletiser and enjoy!

Keyword autumn salad, barley salad, pearl barley salad, vegan pumpkin salad

Looking for more of my vegan home recipes? Be sure to try these: 

• Vegan Teriyaki Sauce Recipe
• Vegan Kale Caesar Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing
• Crispy Baked Falafels with Garlic Tahini Dip
• Roasted Pumpkin Red Lentil Dhal Recipe