Squash, Lentil and Coconut Casserole

I'm still on the spicy kick, as you can see. Last night’s dinner was inspired by a recipe I found recently in a Waitrose magazine; it sounded just the thing for a cold day. Yesterday was certainly that day – it was lovely, dry with some weak wintry sunshine, but it was absolutely freezing! When we went out for our daily walk there was a bitter easterly wind which made my eyes water and my face go numb…not a pretty sight…!

Anyway, when we got back I fiddled around with the aforementioned recipe and changed some of the ingredients (Mr Simply Veg isn’t keen on fennel), ditched the cream that was in it (cream and coconut milk…hmm, no thanks, my hips don’t need the calories) then added a handful of lentils.

OK, so it doesn’t look anything like the original dish but it was really good. We had it with crusty bread but next time I’ll serve it with rice or maybe noodles – it makes masses so I froze two portions for a later date.

Much as I love spicy food I’ve never used Cajun seasoning before – god knows why, I must be mad, it’s wonderful stuff!

2 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
1kg butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 2-3cm cubes
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp Cajun seasoning
1 tsp dried thyme
250ml stock
1 400ml can coconut milk
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
75g red lentils

Heat the olive oil in a large lidded pan; fry the onion and squash over a high-ish heat for 5 minutes then add the garlic and fry for a minute or two.

Add the Cajun seasoning and thyme, stir well then add the stock, coconut milk and tomatoes; bring to the boil then turn the heat right down, pop a lid on and simmer for 15 minutes. Mix in the red pepper and lentils, put the lid back on and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the veg and lentils are tender.

Serve with crusty bread, rice or whatever you fancy.

Serves 4

Butternut and Carrot Soup

Before Christmas I put all the fruit and veg I’d bought in a cardboard box and popped it outside in the garage to give me more fridge space. I think I may have had a brainstorm because I seem to have overbought somewhat….

We’re still ploughing our way through a small mountain of clementines and quite why I bought so many carrots is anybody’s guess, but I still seem to have masses of them; don’t even ask what I was going to do with the butternut squash I discovered because I can’t remember! Thank goodness root veg keep so well in a cold place.

My usual way of using up a glut of veg is to make soup and that’s exactly what I did a couple of days ago. It was actually quite nice to have something simple after all the excesses of the festive season.

1 medium butternut squash
400g carrots
1 large red onion
1tbsp olive oil
1.5 litres vegetable stock
good pinch of dried chilli flakes
½ tsp dried thyme
50g red lentils
a few snipped chives


Peel and deseed the squash then peel the carrots and chop both into 3cm chunks; peel the onion and slice it into eighths through the root end. Put all the veg into a large plastic bag together with the olive oil, hold the top tightly closed and shake well to distribute the oil; put the veg in a single layer on a large baking tray and roast at 200C for 30 minutes until tender and just beginning to char at the edges.

Scoop the veg into a large saucepan and add the lentils, stock, thyme and chilli flakes; stir well, bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the lentils are completely soft.

Blitz with a stick blender until smooth.

(I was going to put a spoonful of crème fraiche on this but in the event I decided to go with a sprinkle of snipped chives…better for the waistline!)

Makes 6 good portions

Roasted Butternut Soup

This is a really nice soup, very tasty and warming and such a lovely autumnal colour; we had some for lunch today after a couple of hours of raking up yet more leaves from the garden.

Despite my best intentions last week I didn’t get round to making this until the weekend because I’ve been trying to empty out the freezer a bit and, having found several frozen blocks of various soups lurking in there, I wanted to get those out of the way before making any more.

I’ve had a lovely clear out and a tidy-up of the freezer; it’s now ready for stacking with nice Christmassy bits and pieces plus a few things like mushroom duxelles and red cabbage which will both be needed on Christmas day. I also want to make and freeze some mince pies and I’ll probably make another batch of Not Sausage Rolls and a few cheese and onion quiches as well.

Maybe I used to be a squirrel in a former life – this is obviously my version of storing nuts for the winter!

1 large butternut squash
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
few leaves of fresh sage
1.5l vegetable stock

Cut the unpeeled squash in half, discarding the seeds, and put into a large roasting tin; drizzle with half the olive oil and put the thyme leaves and whole garlic cloves in the seed cavity. Roast in a hot oven for 45 minutes until soft and just starting to brown at the edges.

Meanwhile, put the onions, carrots, celery, sage and remaining olive oil into a large saucepan and cook gently for 10-15 minutes until softened.  Add the stock and bring to the boil; simmer for 20 minutes until the veg are tender.

When the squash is cooked, scoop the flesh from the skin and add it to the stock along with the garlic squeezed out of its papery skin. Simmer for a further 5 minutes then blitz with a stick blender until absolutely smooth. You might need to add a bit more stock if it’s too thick.

Nice with a swirl of single cream or a blob of crème fraiche.

Makes 6 generous portions and freezes well.

Butternut Bake

This is my take on a Simon Rimmer recipe I saw online recently for a roast squash bake; it looked OK but I thought it had far too much cheese, not enough onion and nowhere near enough garlic for our taste; oh, and I also thought the recipe was poorly written, but apart from all that it was fine!

This dish is one of those where the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. It doesn’t look much when it’s assembled and you’re just about to put it in the oven, but once it’s cooked all the flavours and textures come together; it smells wonderful while it’s cooking and it tastes even better.

1 small butternut squash

1 tbsp olive oil

2 red onions, peeled and cut into eighths through the root

5 cloves garlic

6 tsp Sacla Organic pesto

8 sun-dried tomato halves in oil from a jar

125g soft goats’ cheese

1egg

2tbsp crème fraiche

2tbsp grated parmesan-style cheese

Peel and chop the squash into chunks, discarding the seeds; put the chunks into a large baking tray, pour the oil over and mix the whole lot together with your hands. Heat the oven to 200C and put the tray in for 20 mins. Take the tray out of the oven, add the red onion wedges and the unpeeled garlic cloves, then put it back in the oven for another 20 minutes until the squash is tender and the onions are cooked and lightly caramelised.

Put the cooked squash into an ovenproof dish followed by the onion and the garlic, which you need to squeeze out of its papery case. Put teaspoonfuls of the pesto over the squash and onions then lay the tomato halves over the top.

Whisk together the goats’ cheese, egg and crème fraiche and spoon it over the vegetables. Scatter the ‘parmesan’ over the top and pop it in the oven at 200C for 20 mins until golden and bubbling.

I served it with a simple tomato and onion salad (we’re knee-deep in toms at the moment; they’re ripening faster than we can eat them!)

Serves 2

Spicy Veg and Lentil Casserole

Last night's dinner was a rather tasty casserole; it was all a bit spur of the moment, but for some reason I was feeling short on inspiration and nothing seemed to appeal. There were loads of bits and pieces in the fridge that needed using up, so I got the whole lot out on the worktop to see what I could come up with. It turned into a fragrant veg casserole that cheered up a wet Saturday night no end and was very nice indeed.

I would have served it with naans if I'd had any in the freezer but onion bhajis provided a pretty good substitute. Incidentally, I know the list of ingredients looks as long as your arm but it's mostly store-cupboard stuff; nothing too tricky.


½ a small butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
12 small new potatoes, halved
1 large onion, peeled and sliced thinly
1 medium parsnip, peeled and cut into chunks
100g small chestnut mushrooms
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
3 sticks of celery, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black mustard seeds
¼ tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tin chopped tomatoes
450mls veg stock
100g red lentils
100g french beans cut into 1inch pieces
100g frozen peas
1 tsp garam masala
handful of fresh coriander, chopped finely

Prepare the first seven vegetables, put into a very large pan with the olive oil and saute gently for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, turmeric, cumin, coriander, mustard seeds and chilli flakes and stir for a minute or two until the spices become fragrant. Add the tinned tomatoes and the stock, give everything a really good stir and bring to the boil; simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add the red lentils and simmer for another 15 mins (you may need to add a bit more stock). Add the French beans, frozen peas and garam masala, bring back to the boil and simmer for another 5 mins.

Stir in the chopped coriander before serving with naans (or, in my case, onion bhajis!)

Serves 4 generously

Roast Stuffed Butternut

In the winter when the weather's cold and miserable I find I always seem to cook the same old, same old, but I'm trying to break out of that rut.

It was blowing a gale out there last night; perfect conditions for having a rummage in the fridge and seeing what I could find to cook up something warming and different.

I love butternut squash, but I usually only use them for soup or chopped into chunks and cooked alongside roast potatoes. I've never used one as the basis of a main meal before, but I certainly will in future!

This recipe is infinitely adaptable; for the stuffing you can use whatever veg you have to hand and, although I used Feta, I suspect it would work equally well with Brie, Camembert or Mozzarella and if you don't have pine nuts, throw in a few chopped cashews or even olives instead.

See, I said it was adaptable.


1 butternut squash
2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
6 button mushrooms, halved
1 small courgette
½ small red pepper
2 large shallots, peeled and cut into quarters
2 tomatoes quartered
2 tbsp pine nuts
100g feta, chopped into small chunks
1 tbsp grated parmesan-style cheese

Cut the squash in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds and stringy bits. Drizzle the squash with half the olive oil and put the chopped garlic in the cavities. Roast for 40 minutes at 200C until tender.

Meanwhile, chop the courgette and pepper into smallish chunks, mix with the shallot wedges, mushrooms and remaining olive oil, then roast for 20 minutes. Put the cooked veg in a large bowl, add the tomato quarters, pine nuts and feta chunks; mix well then pile onto the cooked squash halves. Sprinkle with the 'parmesan' and put back in the oven for a further 15 mins.

If you're absolutely ravenous you could serve some garlic bread with this, but to be honest it was very filling on its own.

Serves 2