Nude squash recipe from the inclusive world of Dame Fandango

vegetables | 'nude' roasted squash and red onion medley

Serves 2 on a bed of rice

This is a gorgeous 'pure' tasting dish and very healthy. We have resisted the temptation to put any dressings or sauces on this one at all, because, to be perfectly honest, the flavours mix beautifully just as they are. You can either thread the vegetables onto skewers, or simply spoon the vegetables into a dish/onto plates. It really doesn't matter which.

Wheat free, dairy free, nut free, meat free version...

Ingredients...

1 red onion, cut into quarters
½ butternut squash, peeled and cut into approx one inch cubes
2 carrots cut into ½ inch (1cm) chunks
2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes
1 courgette sliced into ½ inch (1cm) chunks
2 tbsp oil
Light sprinkle of salt and pepper

Method...

Heat the oven to 180ºC
Heat the oil on a baking tray and add the carrots and squash cubes.
Cook for 10 minutes.
Add the courgette and tomatoes and cook for a further 20 minutes or more. Make sure all the vegetables are well coated in the oil and season lightly.
Add the onion for the last 10 minutes.
If you were threading onto skewers, you might like to put some foil over them for 10 minutes, then remove and cook for further 20 minutes or so. I say that to stop the less hardy vegetables blackening too much.

Maybe serve with...

This is gorgeous served on a bed of rice. And you can drizzle with any leftover juices. Yum! If you were making skewers and didn't want to cook rice, you could always add baby new potatoes to the skewers instead.

For those able to eat fish ...

I have served this with a salmon fillet flaked through the rice, which is lovely. You could pan fry the salmon, but I tend to do it the lazy way and just put a salmon fillet in a covered baking tray and cook at the same time as the vegetables! You only need one fillet between two of you. The time needed will vary depending on the size/quantity of fillet/s, but shouldn't exceed the time needed to cook the vegetables. If you didn't have a salmon fillet, just stir a tin of salmon through the mixture instead. You could also serve this alongside white fish fillets, although I have avoided tuna so far because I feel it would be a little bit overpowering.

For those able to eat wheat...

This is gorgeous on a bed of lightly salted cous cous, because it's so easy! I have also flaked salmon through the cous cous, as well as the rice, and it worked brilliantly.

For those who can eat meat...

Again, this mixture of vegetables could easily be served with chicken, or you could add cubes of chicken to the skewers.

If you have leftover squash, see the Moroccan style tagine. If you have leftover onions, tomatoes and courgettes, see the simple ratatouille.

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