Harvest Spelt Salad with Roasted Honeynut Squash

This Harvest Spelt Salad featuring roasted honeynut squash, crunchy pumpkin seeds, creamy goat cheese, bright pomegranate, and a maple balsamic vinaigrette.

It’s a perfect main dinner or side dish that you could serve at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or during the fall season.

Don’t have spelt berries on hand? No problem! You can easily substitute spelt with einkorn, farro, or other wheat berries. Additionally, quinoa, millet, or wild rice would also work well in this recipe.

My guide below walks through many other substitutes for the recipe and how to make it your own!

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🌾 What is Spelt?

Spelt is an ancient variety of wheat that’s been cultivated for thousands of years. It’s known for its nutty flavor and nutritional qualities. And while related to modern wheat, spelt has a different flavor and texture that makes it a useful ingredient in sourdough bread baking and other recipes.

Spelt has a naturally nutty, slightly sweet, and earthy flavor, with a hint of warmth that adds depth to baked goods and other dishes. Its texture is pleasantly chewy when cooked as whole grains like in this recipe.

Spelt berries are usually freshly milled to make spelt flour that you can incorporate into recipes like my Spelt Sourdough Bread or Spelt Sourdough Focaccia. However, you can also cook the whole berries, treating them like rice, to enjoy them as a wholesome whole grain.

Like making rice, the texture of the cooked grain depends on how long you boil the spelt, but I like to go for an al dente texture so there’s a little bite to the tender grains.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed

See below for my ingredient recommendations and substitutions.

Spelt Grain Salad

• Spelt berries
  • I typically get my spelt berries at a local co-op in the bulk section. However, you can purchase them online from numerous mills and companies.
  • Can easily substitute with another wheat berry, such as einkorn, spelt, or farro.
• Honeynut Squash
  • I like honeynut squash in this recipe because it’s easy to roast with a caramelized, sweet flavor.
  • Substitute with butternut squash, delicata squash, or even other roasted vegetables such as carrots and sweet potatoes.
• Arugula
  • The spicy green pairs well in this salad, but you can substitute with baby kale or other seasonal greens if you prefer.
• Goat Cheese
  • I like the creamy tanginess that goat cheese brings in this recipe, but you can substitute with salty feta, gouda, cheddar or other cheeses.
  • If you like goat cheese, you’ll love my Asparagus Goat Cheese Sourdough Quiche.
• Pomegranate
  • The pomegranate adds a sweet crunch and beautiful ruby-like jewels to the dish.
  • To access the arils, slice the pomegranate and peel and open it under water in a large bowl to prevent the bright red juice from leaking and staining.
  • Substitute with dried cranberries or dried cherries.
• Pumpkin Seeds
  • I love pumpkin seeds or pepitas in seeded recipes like my Buckwheat Sourdough with Pumpkin Seeds, Sourdough Pumpkin Granola, Seeded Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread, and Easy Sourdough Discard Granola Recipe.
  • Toast pumpkin seeds before adding to the salad for the best flavor.

Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

• Dijon mustard or stone-ground mustard
  • A natural emulsifier that bind the oil and vinegar together.
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar provides a unique mix of acidity and natural sweetness that balances the vinaigrette.
  • Substitute with red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or another vinegar or acid like lemon juice.
• Maple syrup, for sweetness and to up the fall flavors
  • Learn How to Make Homemade Maple Syrup.
  • Substitute with honey.
• Salt
• Black pepper

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🥗 How to Make Harvest Spelt Salad with Roasted Honeynut Squash

Follow this visual recipe guide as you make this spelt grain salad. It serves up to 4 people as a main dish or 8 as a side dish.

You can make many of the components ahead of time or you can multitask and roast the squash and make the spelt, vinaigrette, and toast the seeds as the squash cooks.

1. Roast the Honeynut Squash

Preheat the oven to 425ºF (218ºC).

Peel the squash, slice in half, and spoon out the seeds.

Then, chop the squash into ¾” to 1″ bite sized pieces and toss on a sheet pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Roast for 25-30 minutes, or until the squash is tender (not mushy).

2. Cook the Spelt Berries

Cooking spelt is similar to cooking rice or other grains.

Add a cup of rinsed spelt berries to a small saucepan or pot. Pour in 1 ¾ cups of water and a large pinch of salt.

Bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover with a lid, and reduce heat to low so the berries simmer and cook for about 40-45 minutes. Don’t leave the heat on too high, or the water will boil off too quickly and the bottom will burn.

Near the end of cooking, you can taste a couple to see how al dente they are and if you want to cook them longer. When done, remove the lid and let cool for a few minutes in the pot before straining any remaining water.

You can serve mix the berries into the salad while warm or cooled completely.

3. Make the Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

As the spelt cooks, you can make the easy maple balsamic vinaigrette in a small mason jar or a small bowl with a whisk.

Simply combine the dressing ingredients in a jar. Then, cover with a lid and give it a good shake to make your vinaigrette!

4. Toast the Pumpkin Seeds

As the berries cook, I also toast the pumpkin seeds or pepitas in a small skillet on medium heat for a few minutes until they just start to pop and brown.

If you’re adding nuts, such as pecans or walnuts, or other seeds like in my Einkorn Salad with Radicchio & Oranges, you could toast them now too.

5. Assemble the Salad

In a large bow or platter, toss about half of the vinaigrette onto the spelt berries so the spelt soaks in some of the flavors of the dressing.

Add arugula, roasted honeynut squash, toasted pumpkin seeds, crumbled goat cheese, and pomegranate seeds to the salad bowl and toss with the remaining dressing.

Taste and adjust with more salt, pepper, or vinegar as needed.

To serve, lay the grain salad onto a large platter (or you can keep it in the bowl).

Drizzle a bit of good extra virgin olive oil on top, followed by a few pinches of flaky salt and pepper.

Finally, enjoy! The salad is excellent as a main dish or served as a side.

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❓ FAQs