I am famous around my friends and roommates for waking up early. As in, before 6:00 a.m. I’m up and running. While sometimes I do need a cup of Bulletproof Coffee I am mostly wide awake without any aid. I’d love to use that time to clean, but since the vacuum at six in the morning would be torture for my roommates, I cook.

I’ve mentioned it several times now: if you are not eating veggies you are not eating Paleo. Hell, if you are not eating veggies you are not eating healthy, period. But I understand that it can be a chore for some people, who find them tasteless. This recipe, that I got from The Bitten Word makes a marvelous job at bringing those flavors out. First, we peel and roast the butternut squash, drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper and chili powder.

While the squash is roasting, I toasted some pumpkin seeds on the stove top (following Elana’s method).

And I made the dressing by emulsifying olive oil into a mixture of lime juice, cilantro and honey.

This is how it looked in the end. The white crumbles? Goat cheese. Eh, was on sale at Whole Foods, I said why not. Remember people to check for your own allergies, sometimes dairy is a no-no no matter how much you can miss it. However, what made this salad delicious was the dressing. Oh, Sweet Baby Gandalf, the dressing!