Baked Butternut Squash Salad

 Man this salad was so good! I remember growing up I used to hate butternut squash for some weird reason. If my mum made it, I would make something else for myself to eat. Then I think one day I had butternut squash soup and my world was changed forever (exaggeration much?!!)

I bought the ingredients to this recipe fresh from the market near my house. That weekend, I also went exploring around Amsterdam. You can watch video of my weekend here.

This recipe is a good classic baked vegetable classic in salad form. Its so simple to make (I try to keep my recipes that way), but its also so tasty (I also like to make sure of that too :D ).

Serves: 2 (or 1 hungry person. No judgement here :D )

• 350 grams cubed butternut squash
• 130 grams green beans
• 1 small red onion
• 1 medium/large carrot
• 200 grams eggplant (optional)*
• 1-2 handfuls of your favorite garden greens.
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• Spices of choice(I used black pepper and basil)
• 2 tbsp dried goji berry mix (or any dried fruit) (optional)*
• 2 tbsp almonds (optional)*

Wash all your veggies clean
Preheat oven to 425F/220C/7 gas mark
Peel and Chop the butternut squash and carrot (and eggplant*) into small cubes
Slice the onion into half rings
Cut the green beans in half and remove the stems
Mix all the vegetables in a bowl with the olive oil and spices
Tumble the vegetables on a foil covered baking sheet. Try not to crowd them.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. Turning them once and rotating the pan once until golden brown. (Keep an eye on it!)
Prepare the lettuce. Toss on the veggies and mix in the almonds* and goji berry mix*
Serve.

I forgot to shop up my eggplant to put in the oven to roast with the rest. But it was still good regardless.

Let me know if you try it out. Or if you have suggestions of what else you would add in this.

Enjoy!

Xx

Rati :)

Chickpea Veggie Burger

Lately I've been craving a BIG, TASTY and YUMMY burger! But I do not like eating fast food burgers. Or fast food in general. I remember about two years ago I ate a McDonald's chicken burger. The burger, I must admit, tasted pretty amazing. Then after I was done eating, I flipped over the food tray sheet to see the calorie information and I saw that the one burger I had eaten was over 800 calories!!! AAAHH! I was kind of disgusted. So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered the veggie burger. Firstly because I really do love beans and vegetables, its filled with lots of healthy nutrients and secondly because it really just TASTES. SO. GOOD!* 

I have shared the recipe of the Black Bean Veggie Burger Patty on a previous post. You can find the recipe by clicking here. The changes I made were that I used Chickpeas instead of Black Beans and I also baked the burger patty instead of frying it. 

Here is the recipe for the rest of the burger:

Sandwich on the Go!

Dear Avocados, I love you! :D

They are a creamy ,wonderful and healthy goodness. A gift to our taste buds. Hahaha! So yes you can see how much I love them. :D

I partly grew up in Zimbabwe, Africa. In our backyard there is an avocado tree. When they were ripe and in season, my brothers and I would always make sure the house was filled with avocados. It was wonderful to just be able to pick avocados out of the tree! Africa is such a gift in that way.

So having avocados around, I found many ways to use them. This is a really quick and very easy recipe. I know for a fact we all just don't always have time to make an extravagant meal and I don't enjoy spending numerous hours in the kitchen making a meal. But just because a meal is quick it doesn't mean it cant be absolutely delicious.

So here's a recipe to a quick  and easy lunch on the go.

Ingredients:

• 2 Slices of whole grain bread (or 1 slice, if you want to make an open sandwich)
• 1/3 of a medium sized avocado
• 1 handful spinach
• Thin Cucumber slices
• 2 tablespoons cottage cheese
• 2 slices lunch meat (It can be turkey, beef or chicken. Even meat leftover from dinner last night. Whichever makes your taste buds happy)
• Black pepper to sprinkle (optional)
• Parsley to sprinkle (optional)
• Sriracha Hot Sauce (optional)

Recipe:

1. Toast bread until tender and crispy
2. Spread cottage cheese
3. sprinkle black pepper and parsley
4. Add cucumber slices and spinach
5. Slice the avocado and place on bread
6. Sprinkle Sriracha on top if desired
7. Close the sandwich up and ENJOY!

So simple. So good. So healthy. So filling.

I hope you enjoy this simple yummy sandwich.

Xx

Rati