Welcome Fall with Butternut Squash and Farro Salad

Orange and brown Earth tones set off by a boatload of green flat-leaf parsley and purple onions make this filling autumn salad a visual mosaic that tastes as complex as it looks. With earthy, nutty, herbal, floral, fruity and citrusy notes, and a bevy of contrasting tastes, it will have people scratching their heads trying to guess what's in the dressing.

The secret is a blend of spices, including grains of paradise, allspice, coriander and cumin. While you're probably familiar with the latter three, the first one might be new to you. Grains of paradise are the seeds of a plant related to ginger and native to West Africa. They look like small pearls of buckwheat, but biting into one releases a potent heat that's similar to black pepper with a warm lingering flavor that's a bit like cinnamon. Together with the other spices, the blend gives the salad a spicy/sweet flavor that's best described as a cross between curry and apple pie.

Paired with a dressing made from tart, earthy preserved lemons and olive oil, along with plenty of verdant parsley, it's one of those dishes that comes together in a different mix of tantalizing tastes and textures with every bite.