So while it’s Fall/Autumn for some of you and that means pumpkins and squash and a lot of pumpkin pie, it’s Spring here in Melbourne, Australia and I found these little squash at the farmers market a few weeks ago, apparently they were a late variety of an heirloom squash.
To be truthful I have been dreaming of baking them for a couple of weeks now and finally did it! So here’s the end result – happy cooking my friends…
Maple and Cinnamon Baked Squash filled with black lentil salad
For the Lentils
1 cup of black lentils organic – rinsed before cooking
2 cups of vegetable stock (organic homemade) or filtered water
1 tsp celtic salt
1 tsp chili flakes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Allow this to cook on medium to high stove top, stirring occasionally with lid on and allow it to absorb the liquid. Once liquid is absorbed the lentils should be cooked – allow up to 45 minutes.
For the Squash – Pumpkin
You will need 2 squash – give them a good clean and cut off the stalk, cut into half and remove the seeds, leave skin on.
Mix 1 tbsp cinnamon to 1/3 cup organic maple syrup, 6 tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp celtic salt. Pour into the squash (making a few cuts through to ensure it saturates the flavors when baking).
Place onto your lined baking tray and in the oven on 200 degrees for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until cooked but not falling apart.
For the Salad
Prepare the salad first with all the fresh items below:
1 cup organic baby spinach
1/4 cup organic shredded purple cabbage
2 small dutch carrots sliced into ribbons
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
For the dressing: 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 tbsp celtic salt
and the juice of 1 lemon.
Mix through in a large bowl 1 cup of cooked lentils and then add in all the salad items (leaving the sunflower seeds and mint for last) and finish off with the olive oil and lemon dressing. Mix through and fill your squash and finish off with the sunflower seeds and mint.
You are ready to go – enjoy with a bit of yogurt if you are not vegan. Made a delicious and very filling meal. This served 4 people.
Now did you know that black lentils are a good source of dietary fiber and also have a low amount of calories? They are highly nutritious and also provide us with powerful minerals such as folate, manganese, zinc,iron, copper, vitamin B1 and potassium. Lentils come in all sorts of varieties and colors, split, and whole. The perfect legume if you are not paleo of-course. We enjoy lentils in our traditional Turkish style of cooling too and our famous red lentil soup which I will share with you all next time.
Hope everyone has a great new week and lots of love to my new friends and followers that have come along – hope you enjoy the content and inspiration here!
