Baked Autumn Vegetables with Quinoa (vegetarian/vegan)

Everybody in my family loves pumpkins/squashes. In autumn I often cook soups made of roasted pumpkin and when I take it out from the oven, I have to guard the baking tray to ensure I don’t have to quickly come up with another idea for lunch ;-) 

This recipe is based on the favourite roasted squash but I also included here some other vegetables and chanterelles. So apart from sweet pumpkin, we have in this dish nutty parsnip and earthy chanterrelles combined with crunchy pumpkin seeds. The dish could be served with rice or barley but if you prefer to have a vegetarian dish (or even vegan, if you omit the Parmesan) with complete protein (containing all essential amino acids), serve it with quinoa.

INGREDIENTS (4 portions):

1 butternut squash (or pumpkin) weighing 1-1.3kg, peeled and cut into 2-3cm chunks,

200g chanterelles, cleaned,

2 red onions cut into eights,

3 parsnips, peeled and cut into 2-3cm chunks,

8 garlic cloves, peeled,

2-3 tbsp olive oil,

1.5tsp thyme,

1 cup quinoa,

a drizzle of olive oil,

2 cups water or vegetable stock,

2 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds,

2 tbsp pumpkin seed oil,

1 tbsp white wine vinegar,

salt and pepper,

2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 180 Celsius degrees (fan).
2. Put the butternut squash, parsnips, onions and garlic to a shallow oven proof dish and sprinkle it with the 2-3 tbsp olive oil, sea salt, pepper and thyme, mix well (best done with your hands). Cover the dish with a lid (or aluminium foil) and place in the hot oven.
3. After 30 minutes take it out from the oven, add the chanterelles and stir gently. Put the dish back to the oven (uncovered) for another 30 minutes.
4. In the meantime prepare the quinoa: put it to a fine mesh strainer, rinse it well (for at least 1 minute) under running water and drain well. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pot over a medium heat and fry the drained quinoa for about 1 minute till the rest of water evaporates. Add water or stock, 0.25 tsp salt and bring to boil. Lower the heat and cook covered for approx. 15 minutes. Take it out from the heat and let it rest covered for 5 minutes more. Fluff the quinoa with a fork.
5. When the vegetables are ready serve them on a bed of quinoa, sprinkled with pumpkin seed oil, a dash of white wine vinegar and Parmesan.