Smoked Chicken, Warm White Bean and Butternut Squash Salad with Lemon-Rosemary Vinaigrette

Smoked Chicken, Warm White Bean and Butternut Squash Salad with Lemon-Rosemary Vinaigrette
Pair with SCHUG Carneros Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc

2 cups cooked white beans, rinsed
4 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into large cubes
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 whole smoked chicken, broken down into parts, back reserved for another purpose
Lemon-Rosemary Vinaigrette (see below)
½ cup scallions
½ cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
6 cups fresh arugula, washed and dried
1 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds, or toasted slivered almonds

Place the white beans in a medium bowl and add about ¼ cup of the Lemon-Rosemary Vinaigrette to them. Stir them to coat them with the vinaigrette and let them marinate while rest of salad ingredients are prepared.

Next, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Place butternut squash cubes into a large bowl and toss them with about 1/3 cup olive oil so they are nicely coated. Sprinkle a generous tablespoon of salt and a few grindings of pepper over all the squash cubes and toss again. Cover a sheet pan with foil and place the butternut squash cubes on it evenly. Place the sheet pan into the oven and roast for about 12minutes or until the tops of the cubes are nicely browned. Remove sheet pan from oven and use a spatula to turn cubes over. Return sheet pan to oven and roast second sides of squash cubes for another 10-12 minutes, or until second sides are nicely browned. Remove squash from oven and set aside.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Place the smoked chicken pieces onto another sheet pan covered with foil. Place sheet pan into oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until chicken pieces are thoroughly heated.

Just before chicken is done heating, place the roasted squash in a large bowl and add the marinated white beans. Toss them together and then place all of them back onto the sheet pan the squash was roasted on. Place the squash and beans in to the oven with the chicken to warm. Warm the squash and beans for about 8-10 minutes, mixing them about halfway through their warming time.

Put the arugula into another large bowl. Remove squash and beans and chicken from oven. Add the squash and beans as well as the parsley, green onions, and half the Parmesan to the bowl of arugula and toss quickly with about ½ cup of the Lemon-Rosemary vinaigrette. Place large spoonfuls of the salad onto 6 serving plates. Top with a piece of the chicken and pour a spoonful of the vinaigrette over each piece of chicken. Garnish each plate with a sprinkling of the remaining Parmesan cheese and some of the toasted pumpkin seeds or almonds. Serve while salad is warm. Makes 6 servings.

Lemon-Rosemary Vinaigrette

1 tbsp. lemon zest
Juice from one whole lemon (about ½ cup)
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 medium clove garlic, minced
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. very finely minced rosemary (do this by hand to avoid large woody pieces, machines cannot do it as well)

Place all vinaigrette ingredients into a blender pitcher and put lid on. Process vinaigrette until it is fully incorporated and slightly thickened. Taste vinaigrette- more lemon juice can be added if it is not zesty enough, or more olive oil can be added if it is too tart. Set vinaigrette aside till rest of salad ingredients are prepared. Or, place vinaigrette into an airtight container and refrigerate up to one week. Makes approximately 1 ½ cups.

Cook’s Note: If whole smoked chickens are not available in your local market, try smoked chicken or turkey breast, cut into cubes. Roast chicken would be a nice substitute as well. You will not need to warm cubes of chicken or turkey as long as the chicken pieces in this recipe. Our photograph shows some extra large “Corona” white beans from Rancho Gordo, but any nice white bean that you enjoy is fine in this recipe.