Roasted squash the humble hero of this gut-friendly dish

Eat smarter with this healthy recipe crafted by a nutrition expert by using any seasonal vegetables you have on hand.

Roasted Squash with Toasted Grains. Picture: Issy Croker

Once you roast grains like this in the oven, you won’t look back – it’s the best topping to add texture to your meals. The relish adds a bright freshness, contrasting well with the sweet, soft squash, and you can add any other seasonal veg to the recipe that you have to hand, like roasted beetroot or celeriac.

The Food for Life Cookbook.

Tim Spector.

Roasted Squash with Toasted Grains

• 10-15g Fibre
• 8 Plants
• Preparation time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 45 minutes
• Serves 4

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 large squash, deseeded, skin on, and cut into 2.5cm-thick slices
• 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 250g pre-cooked mixed grains
• 1 x 400g tin cannellini beans and their liquid
• 2 tbsp tahini
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 20g parsley, finely chopped
• 50g green olives, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• Salt and black pepper

TOP-UPS

• Chopped red chilli
• Sauerkraut

SWAP

• Any white beans for cannellini

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/375°F/gas 5 and line a large baking tray with baking parchment.
2. Place the squash and garlic cloves on the lined tray, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season well. Roast for 35 minutes.
3. Take the tray out of the oven and remove and set aside the garlic cloves. Scatter the pre-cooked grains over the squash and return to the oven for 10–15 minutes until the grains are crispy and the squash is soft.
4. Squeeze the cooked garlic from its skin into a high-powered blender with the beans and their liquid, the tahini and lemon juice. Season and blitz until completely smooth.
5. Mix the parsley, olives, apple cider vinegar and remaining olive oil in a bowl and season. To serve, spread the blitzed cannellini beans onto a large serving dish, top with the squash and grains and scatter over the parsley and olive relish.

This is an edited extract from from The Food for Life Cookbook by Tim Spector, photography by Issy Croker. Jonathan Cape RRP $59.99.