Roasted Squash, Chile, and Mozzarella Salad

This gem, The Kinfolk Table, arrived on my doorstep on Friday. I carried it straight up the stairs, down the long hallway, and into the kitchen where we started cooking from it on the spot. Sam Wylde's Roasted Squash Salad was first, along with Nathan & Katie's Citrus Lentil Salad. This is a 340 page book, even more beautiful than expected, celebrating why it can be so good to sit down at a table and share a meal with others. A simple meal. And there is an effortlessness to the cooking throughout, a nice overall vibe, with recipes that are approachable, delicious, often beautiful, but not-at-all fancy or fussy. I'm sure many of you will have a chance to page through it in the coming weeks, but in the meantime take a peek at a few of the spreads (photos throughout the book are by Parker Fitzgerald & Leo Patrone, design by Amanda Jane Jones). I share the Roasted Squash, Chile, and Mozzarella Salad down below.

The way the book is organized, you get a glimpse into the homes of a range of home cooks - musicians, writers, editors, florists - and they share recipes and inspiration from their tables. Beautiful preparations from a spectrum of individuals, from a range of places.

The roasted squash salad is simple to pull together, and the chile-garlic-thyme combination is a crowd-pleaser. Dare I say, dial up the chiles, particularly if you use a varietal that is flavorful without too much heat. I make a couple suggestions in the head notes down below....

Congratulations Nathan and the Kinfolk crew - also loved seeing so many friends and familiar faces (xo Nick Fauchald, Laura Dart, Sarah Britton, Sara & Hugh Forte, Julie Pointer) throughout the pages - hi all, hope to see each of you in person soon! xo -h