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Paula Deen Cuts the Fat, 250 Favorite Recipes All Lightened Up, Exclusive: Butternut Squash Salad with Apple, Pecans, and Parmesan Dressing

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Throughout the fall months, this is the salad you will find me eating most often. It hits the spot when I’m craving starch and satisfies that urge without skyrocketing my sugar and carb intake. It also fills me up, like I’ve eaten a plate of potatoes, without the negative health effects. But besides all that, it just plain tastes good. There’s nothing quite like roasted squash on a cool evening. It’s warming, comforting, and downright tasty.

Ingredients

  • 1 small butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 4 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • Large pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 small shallot, finely chopped
  • 5 ounces baby arugula
  • 1 small Granny Smith apple, cored and thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
  • 1/3 cup toasted chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 °F.
  2. In a large bowl, toss together the squash, 1. tablespoons of the oil, . teaspoon of the salt, the allspice, and cayenne. Spread the squash on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast, tossing occasionally, until tender and golden, about 35 minutes. Cool.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, shallot, the remaining . teaspoon salt, and the remaining 3 tablespoons oil.
  4. In a large bowl, toss together the arugula, cooled squash, apple, pecans, and dressing. Add the Parmesan and toss once more before serving.

Serves 4 to 6

 

More about Paula Deen Cuts the Fat, 250 Recipes All Lightened Up

Paula Deen has lost over 40 pounds and has maintained her weight loss for over two years by swapping out ingredients to reduce fat and calories. Paula’s key to weight loss is moderation and accountability, and one day a week she still enjoys good old southern cooking with biscuits and all. One does not have to give up taste when reducing calories, and these recipes are a testament to that. Paula shares 250 of her favorite recipes lightened up. This brand-new, New York Times best selling cookbook presents lightened up versions of fifty of her classic southern recipes and presents new recipes that cut the calories but not the delicious taste.

The New-York Times Best-Selling cookbook, Paula Deen Cuts the Fat, 250 Favorite Recipes All Lightened Up, is now available now at Amazon, Costco, Barnes & Noble, Target, and your local bookstores!

Paula Deen - As a young girl growing up in Albany, Georgia, Paula Deen never dreamed she would become an American icon. As a young mother, Paula was living the American dream — married to her high school sweetheart and raising two adorable boys — when tragedy struck. Her parents died, her marriage failed and she began a prolonged battle with agoraphobia. With her boys in their teens and her family near homelessness, Paula took her last $200, reached deep inside her soul and started The Bag Lady, a home-based catering company that marked the start of Deen's professional cooking career. With sons Jamie and Bobby delivering lunch-and-love-in-a-bag, beginning in June 1989, Paula turned her life around by sharing what she knew best, traditional Southern cooking.

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