Pumpkin and Lentil Tagine

275g brown lentils
3 tomatoes, chopped
500 - 600g pumpkin/butternut squash, cubed
4 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
3 tbsp tomato puree
1/2 tsp sugar

Cook the lentils in water for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Cook the onion in the oil until soft. Add the garlic for a few seconds, then the cumin, turmeric, pepper and paprika, cook for about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree and sugar. Stir.

Add the lentils and squash, together with a little water. Stir well, cover and cook for 20 minutes.

Serve.

Serves 4.

It turned out less spicy than I was expecting, and maybe needs to be jazzed up a bit if I try it again.

Veggie Lasagne

1/2 large butternut squash (about 600g), peeled and diced
1/2 red pepper, cut into strips
1/2 yellow pepper, cut into strips
2 small courgettes, trimmed and thickly sliced
1 red onion, roughly sliced
1/2 aubergine, cut into 2cm cubes
125g cherry tomatoes
rosemary
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 x tins chopped tomatoes
250g pack fresh lasagne sheets (6 sheets)
2 tbsp olive oil spread
2 tbsp cornflour
600ml skimmed milk
60g grated mature cheddar

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
2. Place all the veg, rosemary and garlic in a large roasting tin, toss with the olive oil and roast for 30 minutes.
3. Make the cheese sauce by whisking the spread, cornflour and milk together over a medium heat until thickened, then adding the cheese.
4. Stir the tomatoes into the vegetables once they are cooked.
5. Make up the lasagne - layer of lasagne, 1/3 veg, 1/3 cheese sauce, lasagne, 1/3 veg, 1/3 sauce, lasagne, 1/3 veg, 1/3 cheese sauce (I prefer to save a bit more of the sauce for the top, using less on the lower layers)
6. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes.

I was tempted to put some more grated cheese on the top but resisted. The sauce isn't the cheesiest I've tasted, but the veg mix is lovely.

Serves 4 (farily generous portions, but apparently still only 339 calories each).

Broad Bean and Pecorino Salad

Another one from good food magazine. I just tend to make this up a portion at a time, it tastes lovely and fresh and summery, and if you use frozen broad beans instead of fresh it's very quick too.

Recipe

Pea, Tomato and Paneer Curry

I've never eaten paneer before so decided to experiment with it. I didn't know what to expect from it, but it was actually really easy and tasty. I lowered the fat a bit by frying the cheese in some of that low calorie spray stuff, and it seemed to work OK.

Recipe here

Vegetable Tagine

Another one from the trusty BBC Good Food website (always useful when I'm planning my cooking at work without any recipe books handy.

Recipe here

Lemony Rice and Peas

A good standby, this one - I had everything in the cupboard except some spring onions which can easily be obtained on the way home from work. I didn't bother with the coriander because I didn't have any fresh, but it was still lovely. I also used small tins of lentils and chickpeas and made a half portion, as there blatantly aren't 10 of me!

Recipe link

Lentil and vegetable soup

2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
1 leek, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
500g red split lentils
250ml can sweetcorn
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice

Fry the onion, carrots, celery and leek in the oil in a covered pan for 10 minutes. When soft add the lentils and 2.5 litres of water. Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.

Blend, keeping some aside for texture. Put everything back in the pan with the sweetcorn, soy sauce, lemon juice and seasoning. Serve

Serves about 8.