Curried Butternut Squash Salad with Apples, Dates and Pecans {Vegan + Paleo}

This spiralized butternut squash salad is full of apples, dates and pecans. It has a spicy-sweet flavor and is a healthy, paleo and vegan friendly side dish!

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Umm, I don’t mean to scare you but, like…

IT’S ALMOST NOVEMBER GUYS. Aka: time to wear 3000 scarves AT ONCE (remove said scarves before operating a vehicle though, because they MAY hinder your eyeballs ability to SEE) WHILE face planting into ALL the bowls of cozy-comfy food that your hungry little-keep-me-warm-through-the-cold-days self can get your FACE IN.

Don’t lie. I know you’re already miffed that I’m making you come out of your head-in-bowl slurpfest of cauliflower soup to read this post. I know how you WORK.

Have no fear, I have a feeling that you’re about to go from being an angry-why-can’t-I-soup-slurp in peace sort of person to someone who is like “SQOODLES ARE THE NEW SOUP FOREVER AND EVER THE END.”

I knows it.

Except before you can declare that sqoodles are your new EVERYTHING and devote your entire life to eating them (that is less of an exaggeration than you MIGHT THINK) you’re probably sitting there, soup dripping down your chin (why are you so attractive? It’s distracting) scratching your noggin’ and wondering what a “sqoodle” is.

GUYS. SQOODLE = SQUASH NOODLES. Like I am obsessing over something that is NOT a sweet potato noodle. You’re shocked right? Since we’ve eaten our weight in them. You thought I would never VENTURE AWAY from them.

No really though. Butternut Squash Noodles. Mixed with fresh and crispy apple noodles, zippy red onion noodles (so much noodle, so little time,) drizzled with maple syrup, bursting with Hi-I’m-Autumn-and-I-taste-like-WHOA spices: cinnamon, ginger and allspice, PLUSPLUSPLUS that SURPRISE curry powder that makes its appearance at the very last second leaving your taste buds being all “HOLD THE PHONE, I DON’T KNOW WHAT WE JUST ATE, BUT WE’RE NOT MAD ABOUT IT.”

You guys. ALL the fall feels in ONE tender-caramelized-sweet and healthy side dish. ALL. OF. THEM.

Ooooohhhh dates too! Like, those squishy little fruits that add perfect-pops of sweetness and texture among the tangles of spicy-roasted veggie noodles. Did I mention crunchy pecans? Crunchy chewy texture vibes exploding out of this salad guys. FER REAL.

You know what though? Sqoodles used to be something that I was only able to dream about. I tried to make them and my spiralizer just would NOT cooperate. I had some gorgeous tangles of perfectly long noodles aaaaand some HUGE, wide and totally-awkward noodles that my spiralizer would just.not.cut.

I almost gave up, destined to a life of sweet potato noodles ALWAYS. Not that it’s a bad thing, but you know what they say about variety?

It’s the best. Or something to that affect.

But then my friend Ali from Inspiralized sent me here new Inspiralizer to test out. HOLY PERFECT SQUASH NOODLES BATMAN. As you guessed from previous sentence, they made sqoodles like I had never had before.

Ie: They actually were noodle-y. And pretty. And then I obsessed. You guessed that already though.

Legit. I gave my old spiralizer to my mom (Hi Momma!)

I see no use for something that puts any kind of gap between my squash loving self and, well, squash.

Before you go and dump you not-quite-as-appealing-anymore-soup, let me just subliminally message your mind for a second:

Thanksgiving. Squash Noodles. It’s a thing.

It’s YOUR THING.

Recipe

Paleo & Vegan Curried Butternut Squash Salad with Apples, Dates and Pecans

5 from 6 votes

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Serves: 6

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 25 minutes

Total: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lbs Medium butternut squash about 3
• 2 Large Granny Smith apples
• 1 Large Red onion
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Maple syrup
• 1/2 Tbsp Sea salt
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Fresh ginger minced
• 1/2 tsp Yellow curry powder
• 1/8 tsp Allspice
• 1/4 Cup Pecans finely chopped + additional for garnish
• 1/3 Cup Roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley packed
• 1/3 Cup Medjool dates pitted and roughly chopped

Instructions

• Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.
• Chop the bulbous end of the butter nut squash off, as well as the top stem, leaving just the straight part in the middle. Peel off the skin (I find it easier just to cut it off) and chop it in half, so it's easier to spiralize.
• Using Blade B spiralize the squash so it turns into thick noodles. Place into a very large bowl.
• Cut the apples in half and gently cut out out the core. Cut the round part of each apple half off slightly, so that it's flat. Don't cut too much, or the apple will split when spiralizing. Place onto the Inspiralizer and spiralize each cut half using blade C. Place into the bowl with the squash noodles.
• Cut the ends off of the red onion, so they're flat, and take off the papery skin. Place onto the Inspiralizer and spiralize with Blade A. Add into the bowl with the other noodles.
• Toss the noodles with the olive oil, maple syrup, salt, cinnamon, ginger, curry powder, allspice and a few good twists of pepper. Really toss them around to make sure they're evenly coated in the spice mixture.
• Transfer the noodles, being sure to scrape up all the oil and syrup from the bottom of the bowl, into a large baking or casserole dish and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the chopped pecans.
• Bake for 10 minutes, stir around and then bake again until the squash noodles are fork-tender and the apples and syrup has begun to caramelize, about another 10-15 minutes.
• Immediately stir in the parsley and dates, and then let cool for 5 minutes.
• DEVOUR. *

Tips & Notes:

* To make it easier to serve, cut the noodles in the baking dish before dividing between plates.

Nutrition Disclaimer

Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.

Author: FoodFaithFitness

Course:Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine:American

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FOR THIS RECIPE, I RECOMMEND:

• Maple Syrup
• Large Mixing Bowl
• Rectangular Baking Dish
• Curry Powder

IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE, PLEASE REMEMBER TO TAG @FOODFAITHFIT AND #FOODFAITHFITNESS ON INSTAGRAM! I LOVE SEEING YOUR RECIPE RECREATIONS!

Weight Watchers Points Per Serving: Points+: 6. Old Points: 4

(based off of 8 servings)

Want to try the Inspiralizer for yourself? Click HERE! Just so you know, it’s not available on Amazon as it’s the official spiralizer of Inspiralized!

Want more vegan meal ideas?

Mediterranean Chickpea Stuffed Grilled Avocados

Vegan Coconut Curry with Sweet Potato Noodles

Chickpea Curry

Other butternut squash noodles from Inspiralized:

Pear, Pomegranate and Roasted Butternut Squash Salad 

Winter Kale, Sausage and Butternut Squash Lasagna

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