Butternut squash & chickpea cakes served with garlicy green beans recipe

Prep time: 15 minutes / Cooking time: 1 hour & 5 minutes

Serves 4.

Vegan recipe

Approximate full recipe cost £4.19

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsps. oil

800g butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunky dice

150g white onion, finely diced

2 + 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

600g tinned chickpeas, drained

½ tsp of Garam masala, or to taste

1tsp lemon juice, or to taste

200g green beans

Salt & pepper

METHOD:

1.      Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2.      Prepare the butternut squash: The skin of the butternut squash is very hard so to make it softer make some holes in the skin with a fork (like you would do for a jacket potato) and pop in the microwave for 2 minutes. Afterwards, lay the butternut squash on its side on a chopping board, using a sharp knife carefully cut off the top ½ inch including the stem. Repeat by cutting off the bottom ½ inch of the squash too. You can discard those 2 bits. Using a peeler, peel all the skin off the squash, take your time and do it slowly and carefully. Once it is all peeled, lay it flat on its curvy side and slice in half down the middle. Then cut each piece in half vertically, so you will end up with 4 pieces of butternut squash. Use a spoon to scoop out all the seeds and stringy bits. Now you can cut the butternut squash into cubes.

3.      Roast the peeled and diced butternut squash. Lay the cubes flat on a greased oven tray and cook at 180°C until tender. Depending on the size of the cubes it could take up to 40 minutes, you will know it’s cooked when is tender and golden on the edges. If starts going too dark around the edges and still not cooked, just cover the tray in tin foil and continue cooking covered until soft.

4.      Meanwhile, cook the onion and garlic in some oil until soft. Keep aside.

5.      To make the cakes: In a large bowl add the chickpeas and using a fork or a potato masher roughly crush them, you do not want to mash them just to break them up.

6.      Then add the cooked butternut squash, cooked onion & garlic, Garam masala and lemon juice to the bowl with the chickpeas. Mix well while mashing still using the fork or potato masher. Taste for flavour, add more lemon juice or Garam masala if you think it needs it.

7.      Once fully mixed, divide the mixture into 8: using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, place individual scoops/spoons on a greased tray. Flatten the scoops to form into cakes.

8.      Brush the top and side of the cakes with a little bit of oil too. Alternatively, if you have oil spray just give them a spray.

9.      Bake at 180°C for 15 - 20 min until they have a nice golden colour.

10. Meanwhile, top & tail your green beans (cut both edges off). Cook them in boiling water for 3 minutes (you want them to remain crunchy). Drain them well. In a medium frying pan at medium heat, add 1 tbsp. of oil. When hot add 2 cloves of crushed garlic & cooked green beans. Toss them around in the pan for a couple of minutes until the garlic is cooked and the green beans are well coated in the garlicy oil.

11. Once the cakes are cooked, serve them with a side of garlicy green beans.

TIPS:

•   You can cook the butternut squash whole if you have the time. It will save you the peeling & cutting into cubes. Preheat oven to 190°C. Using a large, sturdy knife, cut your butternut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and stringy bits from each half and discard (or save for roasting).Transfer the butternut squash, cut-side up into a baking dish and brush with oil. Roast in the oven for approximately 1 hour to 1 hour and a half, until soft and fork-tender. Cooking time will very much depend on the size of the butternut squash so if it is very large and requires longer cooking, cover it with tin foil to prevent it burning on the outside. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Using a spoon, scoop flesh from the skin, start in the middle and work your way to the edges until there is no flesh left in the skin.

•   You can prepare the cakes ahead and keep them on a tray in the fridge, ready to go in the oven when need it. If choosing to do that, add another 5 minutes to the cooking time to make sure that they are cooked through.

•   If you prefer you can exchange the chickpeas for beans, kidney beans or pinto beans, all would work well.

•   You could use whatever spice you have available instead of the Garam masala, like curry powder. If using beans instead of chickpeas, using cumin & Cajun seasoning would be really nice.

•   You could add some fresh herbs to the cakes like coriander, parsley or chives.

•   You could serve the cakes with any other vegetables that you like. You could also serve them with a side of potatoes wedges.

•   The same method used to cook the green beans in garlicy oil is great to reheat any left-over vegetables that you may have in the fridge. It is a quick way to add a bit of extra flavour to your vegetables when reheating them. Nicer with fresh garlic but you can use dried in a pinch and is lovely too.