Simple Herby Roast Squash and Green Lentil Salad with a Garlic Mayo Dressing

This herby, garlicy bowl of beautifulness is a god send right now. Most of the ingredients came out of my cupboard or freezer, it was so simple to put together and it was beyond cheap.

It looks like something that came straight out of a Victoria's Secret model's "What I Eat in a Day" vlog, and I was so proud of it I thought I'd pass the deliciousness on to you beautiful people. I'm very slowly learning that amazing food doesn't have to break the bank or leave you pulling your hair out and crying over a pot of burnt mess. VERY. SLOWLY. Although, I did do that the other day also (The crying over burnt mess, not the pulling, my hair is still in tact - for now).

So without any further rambling, here it is, the fanciest looking thing I've ever eaten. From the least fancy person you'll ever meet. My "Simple Herby Roast Squash and Green Lentil Salad with a Garlic Mayo Dressing":

What You'll Need:

As with any recipes I write they're designed to be low stress, so don't worry too much about exact measures. I'll tell you roughly what I used as a guide, but if you want to use more of something or less of something you go for it. I learnt to cook by trial and error, and playing around. I would get the basic gist of how to make something from a few different recipes and then just do my own thing. So don't be overly worried about following the exact recipe, if something is absolutely crucial or else the whole thing will fall apart, then I'll let you know! But if you're bulking and you want to use twice the squash, half the salad and drown the whole thing in the garlic mayo, or really don't like squash and want to swap it out for sweet potato, you do you.

• Half a bag of frozen Butternut Squash cubes - if you're using fresh squash just adjust the cooking time accordingly.
• 50g of dried green lentils - I say 50g because I judged 100g roughly by eye and it was too many lentils for me so I ended up leaving half the lentils I cooked out. But you just judge how much you want in yours. You can also use tinned just cook them according to the tin and throw them in.
• Half a bag of ready to eat baby leaf salad - You can use any salad you choose, I literally just picked up a bag of ready to use baby leaf salad from the shop and used that as the base.
• A couple of handfuls of pinach
• 1 garlic clove - less or more depending on how much you like raw garlic
• 1 spring onion (Optional)
• 2 heaped tbsp Mayonnaise (Or vegan alternative)
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp oregano
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

The Method

1. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees.
2. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper, and lay the butternut squash chunks out evenly.
3. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle over dried thyme and oregano until covered to your liking.
4. Sprinkle over a little salt and pepper to taste.
5. Place in the oven and cook for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked and slightly browning. Adjust the cooking time accordingly if using fresh butternut squash.
6. While the squash is cooking boil a kettle and then rinse the green lentils in a sieve with plenty of cold water.
7. Cook the green lentils according to the instructions on your pack. I used dried lentils, so for me this meant boiling them on high for 10 minutes, and then simmering for 15 minutes until cooked through with a slight bite.
8. Whilst everything else is cooking finely slice the spring onion, and finely chop or grate the garlic.
9. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, chopped garlic and spring onion, white wine vinegar, a pinch of salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. The white wine vinegar is what adjusts the thickness of the dressing, so feel free to adjust the amount accordingly, just remember that white wine vinegar has quite a strong flavour, so obviously the more you add the more vinegary your dressing will be. Taste as you go and find a balance that works for you.
10. On a plate make a bed with the salad of your choice, for me this was a couple of handfuls of spinach and about half a small bag of ready to eat baby leaf salad. But you can use whatever you like.
11. Spoon over the cooked green lentils, and add the herby roast squash chunks on top.
12. Drizzle the garlic mayo dressing all over, and enjoy!

Tips! - Cut up any root vegetables you have that are due to go off soon (e.g. Sweet potato or white potatoes) into chunks, and freeze them to save waste. You can easily throw them into the oven as above, and pair them with any salad you have in the fridge that needs using up, to make a quick, healthy lunch or dinner. Feel free to use this recipe as a base for ideas, and play around with different herbs and dressings.

I ate some of mine inside a wholemeal pitta bread because I was starving, and I love carbs. But if you substitute the mayo for a vegan alternative this could make a great vegan pitta bread filling.

Here's a picture of how I laid it out for my one year old too. I know toddler and baby meal ideas can be a nightmare, I have a three year old who will hardly eat anything. But my one year old is just like mama and will pretty much eat anything I put in front of her. But I always remember when I was all new to this, and used to really struggle with how to lay food out in a way that little ones might actually try it! One thing I find really helpful are separator plates. Here's a picture of how I put together my daughters:

I hope you enjoy this recipe. If you give it a try upload a picture to Instagram and tag me so I can see what you thought! - here's the link to my profile

As always thank you so much for your ongoing support! If you liked this recipe and are looking for easy, healthy, cheap breakfast ideas click the link bellow and give my Easy Homemade Peanut Butter Granola a try.