As a kid, I despised butternut squash. I don’t know what it was about it, I just wouldn’t go near it. Over the years my taste buds have grown up (probably more than I have) and I’ve learned to love it. This is pretty good news when it comes to health benefits, the guys over at wholeliving.com say: “Low in fat, butternut squash delivers an ample dose of dietary fiber, making it an exceptionally heart-friendly choice. It provides significant amounts of potassium, important for bone health, and vitamin B6, essential for the proper functioning of both the nervous and immune systems.”

1 butternut squash, diced
160g quinoa
150g feta
2 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
handful pumpkin seeds
a few snips of chives

1. Heat your oven to Gas Mark 7 (conversions here) and put the butternut squash in a roasting dish. Drizzle with one tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt then shake the dish to coat all the pieces.
2. Roast on the top rack of the oven for about 50 minutes – after 40 minutes, scatter the pumpkin seeds over the squash
3. Meanwhile, get your quinoa on the boil. Rinse it first then put in a large saucepan and pour over 800ml boiling water, simmer for 15-18 minutes (pay attention to your pack instructions, they may well vary)
4. Drain the quinoa and put it back in the saucepan but off the heat. Swirl through the lemon juice, garlic and remaining olive oil.
5. Once your squash is cooked through, add about three quarters of it to the quinoa and leave the rest in the dish in the oven on full whack to get nice and crispy, it’ll just want another 5 minutes or so.
6. Crumble the feta onto the quinoa and squash and stir through, once the rest of the squash has crisped up nicely scatter it over the top and snip those chives on there.

This will keep nicely overnight and serve well as a packed lunch, but I’d be surprised if there was any left.

Your track recommendation for this recipe is from Martha and the Vandellas, because it is hot in this little corner of the world right now.

Thanks for reading x