Roasted butternut squash, beetroot, crispy kale, and cheesy polenta.
A recipe for 6 people
Roasted vegetable:
- 3 large beetroots
- 1/2 large celeriac or 500g parsnips
- 1/2 butternut squash or 500g carrots
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Rapeseed oil for roasting
Wash the vegetables. Carefully cut away the tough outer skin of the celeriac and remove the pips from the squash. Leave on the skins from beetroot, squash, and if using parsnips or carrots. Make sure you scrub well to remove any soil. Chop the vegetables up into chunky bits that will fit on a fork. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper before mixing it all up. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes at 200°C.
Crispy kale:
- 200g kale
- Salt
Wash the kale well and shake dry. Remove most of the stalk by holding onto the stalk and roughly pulling off the leaves. Switch on the top grill of the oven to high heat and allow to warm up. Either break the kale or cut into golf ball size pieces and place in a large baking tray that fits the oven. Make sure there is enough to fill only a single layer, so it will all be exposed to the heat. Sprinkle a little oil, salt and pepper over the leaves and rub it in by hand. Roast for about 6-8 minutes until slightly blackened. Repeat again until all cooked.
Cheesy polenta:
- 280g polenta
- 800ml milk
- 800 ml water
- 1/2 vegetable stock cube
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 120g butter
- 150g grated cheddar cheese
- 1/4 finely grated nutmeg
Bring the milk, water and seasoning to a boil and stir the polenta in. Cook the polenta for about 12 minutes until it thickens. Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and cheese before serving.
Roasted seeds:
- 150g mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower)
Whilst the grill is hot, place the seeds on a flat tray and roast carefully. Alternatively, use a pan to achieve this. When seeds start to brown, drizzle with a little oil and salt.
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Notes from the cook:
This is one of my favourite meals to cook here in the community. It’s quite simple, very flavoursome and gluten-free. It can also easily be adapted to suit a vegan diet too. At late summer and autumn all these vegetables come out from our own garden and give us the chance to be in harmony with our surroundings. Change the vegetables to suite what’s in your garden, fridge, or green grocer.