Butternut, Chickpea, and Chicken Salad with Parmesan Dressing

This has been a semi-crazy fall, which has meant a lot of delivery and frozen pot pies (I know!).  It has definitely left me craving fresh ingredients and salads.  This salad is pretty quick to pull together, although you do have to plan some time for the squash to roast (this could be done ahead, depending on your schedule).  Sweet butternut squash is combined with rotisserie chicken, nutty chickpeas, and creamy goat cheese for a great combination of flavors and textures.  Everything comes together with a quick Parmesan-red wine vinegar dressing that nicely balances richness and acid.

This recipe is inspired by one from Robin of The Balanced Life. I love love love Robin's online Pilates videos, and she also sends out recipes as part of her monthly Pilates membership community.  The original recipe had avocado in place of the goat cheese, which I think would also be delicious -- I just couldn't find one that wasn't rock hard at the grocery.  But if you've got ripe avocados on hand, that would be a fantastic sub for the cheese.

Butternut, Chickpea, and Chicken Salad with Parmesan Dressing (adapted from Robin of The Balanced Life)

For the dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (use a Microplane to get extra fine ribbons)
Juice of 1 lemon
2 T red wine vinegar
2 tsp honey
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper

For the salad
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and chopped
Olive oil
Salt
pepper
1 rotisserie chicken leg (drumstick and thigh), shredded
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Chopped romaine lettuce
Crumbled goat cheese

1. Put all the dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.  Screw on the lid and shake well to combine.  Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Toss the squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast until tender, about 20-30 minutes, tossing once midway through roasting.
3. Combine the squash, chicken, and chickpeas in a large bowl.  Add a good drizzle of the dressing and toss to combine.
4. Separately, toss each portion of lettuce with more dressing.  Top the greens with a scoop of the squash-chicken mixture, and then top with crumbled goat cheese.