A favorite warm salad from our Piedmontese retreat.
We returned home from Mexico the night before the first snowfall of the season here in Colorado, and in the matter of 24 hours, our bodies went from summer-mode into deep winter. The fresh salads, papaya halves and minty mojitos that I’d been craving on the beach were far from my mind, and all I could think about were the warm flavors I had prepared in the vibrant autumn of Piedmonte, just a few weeks earlier. What a colorful series of memories and flavors to unfold – and what a gift to be able to re-live the places that touch, move and inspire us through flavors.
This Warm Squash, Chickpea + Fennel salad was one of my favorite dishes from our Soma.by.Hedvig retreat in Piedmonte last month, served with crusty-ghee spread toast, and warm bowls of Butternut-Fennel Soup, this recipe served to ground and align our bodies as we navigated through the chakras of the body, attuning in mind-body and spirit. But this meal also did an amazing job of fueling us through a snow day at home.
When the world tilts cold and everything slows, our metabolism and our bodies physiological nutritional needs shift. Vegetables are still “important,” but eating lots of leafy green salads is not. In fact, the more we enjoy these cold, rough, mobile, subtle and unsubstantial meals, the more discomfort, imbalance and gut distress we’ll experience through the cold months. Further, if you look around a snowy landscape, where are the salads growing? No where near where I live, and if you live in a winter climate, probably nowhere near you either. Salads fall out of season. We can’t get them locally. The land provides what we need and there is not a salad to be found.
Instead, our bodies are craving WARMTH. Density. Grounding. And digestibility. The more we enjoy meals that are easier to digest, the higher our bodies propensity to utilize our foods as fuel to restore, nourish and power our winter efforts…and our behind the scenes winter rejuvenation.
And so, the invitation to enjoy a warm salad is extended. Warm salads are basically winter’s love language — they keep the vibrancy of fresh, hearty and nutrient rich veggies but deliver it in a way your digestive fire can actually handle when temps drop and daylight shrinks.
Because our bodies also metabolically shift to prioritize protein and fat consumption through the winter (foods that ground, build and balance the energy of the season) it’s smart to build yourself hearty salads that really satisfy. Luckily you’ve got a recipe right here!
There are a few excellent reasons to abandon the out-of-season, cold, harsh fresh salad and go for warm instead. Among them:
Warm salads boost your inner fire.
Warm ingredients (roasted squash, toasted fennel + spices, sautéed aromatics, warm chickpeas) stoke agni — the digestive fire that tends to get sluggish when it’s cold outside. Instead of shocking your system with raw greens straight from the fridge, you’re giving your body something it can instantly work with.
They ground the winter chaos.
Cold months spike vata — the airy, restless, windy energy. Warm salads weigh you back down in the best way: slow-roasted veg, chickpeas, a drizzle of good oil, a little heat from spices. It’s like rooting into the season instead of fighting it.
Hearty, warm salads keep immunity humming.
Salads boosted with protein + steady carbs (rice, grains, squash) support stable blood sugar (key for mood + immunity in long dark months). Warming spices like fennel, ginger, cinnamon, or cumin support circulation and lymph flow — basically clearing out the stagnation winter tries to create.
They’re comfort food… but clear-headed.
Warm salads satisfy that winter craving for something cozy without the heaviness that leaves you foggy or ready for a nap. They feel like nourishment, not recovery.
They deliver deep, slow energy.
Winter digestion wants foods that are cooked, moist, oily, and spiced. Warm salads check all those boxes — you’re building ojas (your vitality reserves), not draining them with cold or overly raw foods.
…is a beautiful way to check all of these boxes!
If you’re not a chickpea fan, you could use another protein of your choice, but I particularly love this warm salad with chickpeas.
I strongly recommend cooking your own chickpeas here, and I have a specific way to do it that helps boost digestibility, enjoyabiliy and flavor. Read the Recipe Notes below for more details! If you must use canned chickpeas, they’ll “work,” but you’re likely to have a bit more bloatyness or gas after eating this meal in the winter.
I can’t recommend highly enough that you enjoy this dish with warm crusty bread, slathered with a generous amount of ghee, and that you have a warm bowl of soup as an accompaniment. My favorite here is Butternut-Fennel Soup or something else that’s smooth, and dippable for the bread.
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