Preheat oven to 400° F. Halve the squash.

Remove the seeds (roast them with salt for a snack?). Dice the acorn squash into ½ inch pieces. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and maple syrup and scatter on a lined baking sheet.

In a medium bowl, combine the garbanzo beans, vegetable oil, cayenne, chili flakes, salt, sugar and lime zest. Toss well. Spread evenly on a lined baking sheet. Place both the squash and the garbanzos in the oven on separate racks. Meanwhile dice the kale into small ribbons.

Microwave the bacon until well-done. Chop. Reserve. Roast squash 10 minutes until it is firm, but fork tender; remove to a large salad bowl. Place the kale on the squash baking sheet without cleaning. Toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast kale about 10 minutes until it is starting to crisp a little, but still has plenty of give. Remove to the large salad bowl. Meanwhile, halve the apples. Remove the cores.

Dice the apples into ½ inch cubes. Toss with lime juice to preserve their color and add some acid to the salad. Add to salad bowl. Top with the chopped crispy bacon.

At this point, check on the garbanzos. They should have about 10 minutes left. When they’re finished, they should be cooked through and crunch when you bite down. Let cool for a minute or two on pan.

Mix the squash, kale, apples and bacon well. Season and add additional lime juice, oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve. Top with garbanzos as desired, but reserve the extra garbanzos in a Tupperware for snacking rather than adding into the salad. This will preserve their crunch. So beautiful and such a bounty of fall flavors and textures.