Looking for a simple & attractive salad for Christmas?

I was thinking really hard the past few days on what salad to serve on Christmas day. I wanted something colorful and festive looking without compromising the taste. This is what I came up with. This salad is very quick and easy to make.  Furthermore, it is colorful and very delicious. Any better suggestion?

Edible Flower Salad with roasted butternut squash and spinach

Ingredients:

(A)

200 gms butternut squash, julienned

1/2 ts ground black pepper (can be adjusted to your own taste)

1/2  ts sea salt (can be adjusted to your own taste)

1 tbs extra light olive oil

3 stalks of thyme,

2 stalks of rosemary

2 tsp chopped garlic

(B)

60 gms spinach

30 gms edible flower mix

Method:

In a roasting pan, mix (A) and spread out the squash.  Preheat oven to 200 C or 405 F. Roast the squash for 15 mins or till they are soft.  On a serving plate, arrange (B) as you wish.  When squash is cooked, remove the thyme and rosemary and lay them on top of (B). Drizzle all the remain oil from the roasting pan onto the salad.  Toss well before eating. Add more salt and pepper if necessary. 

Mix greens and spinach with Roasted Butternut Squash, Bacon, Pecan and Maple Vinaigrette - Featured in Group Recipes

I saw this recipe from one of the foodie’s site but unfortunately I forgot to write down the url.  This recipe is adapted from the Kitchen of Once Upon a Plate.  the two things that I changed in this recipe included using pecans instead of walnuts (my hubby is a southern boy through & through) and I added spinach mixed into the regular salad greens (another favorite of ours.) We enjoyed this salad so much that we did not want the meal to end.  The flavors in this salad go extremely well with a favorite white wine, which for me is usually on the slightly sweet (demi sec) side of the equation. We drank an Australian Gerwurtztraminer with it that evening.Heaven!  

Serving: 4

Ingredients for the Salad:

1 packet 125 gm mix greens

1 packet 125 gm spinach leaves

3 cups butternut squash

5 slices of bacon

1 cup pecans

Ingredients for Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup Pure Maple Syrup

1/4 cup Sherry Vinegar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive

1/4 teaspoon Dijon Mustard

¼  tsp Sea salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method to prepare Vinaigrette:

Place Maple syrup in a small pan, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and allow syrup to reduce by about half. In a small bowl, whisk together the reduced maple syrup with the vinegar, whisk in the Dijon mustard, then whisk in the oil until mixture is emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Method to prepare the salad:

Washed mix greens and spinach leaves and set aside. Remove skin and seeds of Butternut squash and into cubes/dice (about 3/4-inch). Slices of bacon, sliced crosswise into thin strips and fried until just crisp, drained. Spray some oil on the pan and roast pecans. Place diced butternut squash on rimmed baking sheet, toss with a tablespoon olive oil to coat, then sprinkle lightly with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Roast in hot oven turning pieces once or twice until just tender but not mushy. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Arrange mix green and spinach leaves in salad bowl and add roasted butternut squash, crispy bacon and pecans. Drizzle with Maple Vinaigrette. Add salt and pepper before serving.