A Sweet Potato/ Butternut Squash and Lentil Salad
Recently I have been very confused. The weather is a nightmare. We have been having a lot of that sort of rain that doesn’t really fall from the sky but just hangs there, midair. There is a real predicament about umbrella usage in this type of weather. No one wants to be the idiot with an umbrella up when it’s not raining but equally you don’t want to walk around holding an umbrella but not using it. My walk to work the other morning was farcical, umbrella up, umbrella down, my arms were knackered by the time I got there. There is a constant worry about what to wear, whenever you I go out the weather decides to change entirely about 30 seconds after I have left the house!
Equally baffling is the question of what to eat in this sot of weather. Thunder storms conjure up images of stews or jacket potatoes but guaranteed as soon as you start cooking the sun will come up and you’ll fancy a salad and a glass of wine. This recipe is my solution to confusing British weather, it is both warming and light and requires very little effort.
I usually make this dish with Butternut Squash but this time I decided to mix it up a bit and use a sweet potato. This is so much easier as one sweet potato is the perfect size for one. I also chose it because sweet potatoes seem to be very fash at the moment, they are everywhere as chips alongside that other food fad du jour, the burger. Also, sometimes when I make this I mix the lentils with some salad leaves to give it more body. This is not necessary, the salad is entirely delicious on its own.
Sweet Potato and Lentil Salad (Serves one)
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Half a tomato
- 1/4 of an onion
- half a tin of lentils
- 1 sweet potato
- 1/5 of a pack of feta
- a handful of pumpkin seeds
How to make it…
- Peel and chop the sweet potato, drizzle over some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Throw it in he oven at 180 degrees for about 40 minutes (I know this seems like a really long time for a quick dinner but you can just leave it there and get on with other stuff).
- Dice up the tomato and onion. Rinse the lentils in a sieve until the liquid coming out is all clear. Toss the lentils, tomato and onion together in a bowl. Pour over olive oil, a teaspoon of balsamic and season with salt and pepper.
- Add salad leaves at this point if you are using them.
- Once the sweet potato is done, add it to the bowl, crumble over the feta and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds.
Cost rating: *** I used 1 sweet potato costing 28p, 1/5 of a pack of feta costing 85p, 1/4 of an onion citing 21p, 1/2 a tomato costing 18p, 1/2 a tin of lentils costing 55p, 1/2 a small pack of pumpkin seeds costing 85p. Total cost: £1.30
Washing up rating ** I used a chopping board, a knife, a peeler, an oven dish, a sieve, a bowl and a knife and fork.