Pumpkin Cranberry Pistachio Salad

I quite enjoy having pumpkin.  My BFF absolutely detests it. Nothing in life is a given.  Pumpkins are good for freckles.  Pumpkins are 90% water retained and barely calorific. Like the Irish rotund pumpkins can be carved to make will-o’-the wisps or  jack-o'- lanterns. Pumpkins are also gluten free. Now you tell me, why can everybody just not like pumpkins? C’mon, they even come in handy during snake bites….

Anyway pumpkins aside, yesterday I had friends over. These are the types who have absolute clarity on their gastronomical pangs. They know the calling of their palate two days beforehand and I was given a wished menu. So, I grilled some chicken on the bone with a Peri Peri rub, ‘on the bone’ being another operative twice repeated instruction here There was salad and a French onion soup in the plan. I added some roasted and her-bed jacket potatoes and fresh fruit with cream cheese custard with crumble to the lunch carte. They brought the soup along with them; with Emmental melting on a multi grain toast it was as classical and as delicious as it could be.

I set about to make the salad - a pumpkin-cranberry-pistachio one. I took about 200 g pumpkin for the four of us. Skinned the fruit and then cut it into cubes sized like those in a rubix. Mildly salted it. In a bowl I folded in together 11/2 tsp maple syrup, 3/4 tsp paprika powder, 3 pods of finely chopped garlic and 11/2 tsp water. Gently seasoned the pumpkin with ¾ of the dressing and baked for 30 minutes at 150 degrees C. I took the tray out of the oven, sprinkled cranberries and pistachios and baked again for 5 more minutes.

Before serving, I washed some lettuce. You can opt for any baby salad leaves. I popped in the pumpkin-cranberry-pistachio roast. A sprinkle of lemon juice and the remaining ¼ of the dressing. A last dash of some finely chopped fresh coriander leaves. We were good to gorge.

BFF, please rustle this one and just quietly have it and do not forget to love it too! And you should have thought once before acquiring a Bengali BFF. We impose.