Golden Root Stew

Fancying something sweet yet savoury for my dinner, I rummaged round my fridge to see what I could find. On offer were, amongst other things, several different types of roots. So it was an easy decision to make a warming stew. Not only is a stew easy to make, but with the right ingredients it can be a very cheap and nutritious meal. Roots generally contain a surprising amount of delicious vitamins, so they’re an easy way to fill up on good stuff after a long winter. Adding some lentils adds protein, which not only is good for you, but also fills you up and makes you feel fuller for longer (really useful for those of us trying to shed some pounds).

Serves 2

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion

3 small parsnips

¼ sweede

½ bitternut squash

500ml water

1 teaspoon herbal salt

1 teaspoon herbes de Provence

1 handful of red split lentils

1 tablespoon tomato puree

Finely chop the onion while the oil warms up in a saucepan. Sweat the onions, and leave them to get soft for about 5 minutes. I the meantime; peel and chop the parsnips, sweede and butternut squash. Add these to the onions, and stir for a few minutes until all the vegetables are warm.

Boil the water in a kettle (or separate pan) and add to the vegetables. Boiling the water before adding it prevents the vegetables from cooling down, and so reduces the cooking time.

Add the herbs (use any type of dried mixed herbs if you haven’t got any Herbes de Provence), the salt and the lentils, and slowly boil for about 30 minutes. Add the tomato puree, and leave to simmer for another 5 minutes. Test to see if the vegetables are soft. If they’re not, then leave to simmer until they are.

Serve in a bowl, tastes great with a toasted slice of bread.