A new blog

Years ago, when my daughter was leaving home, I made a collection of our family's favourite recipes which I printed out for her to take with her. Many of them, and some additions and expansions, were posted here. I haven't updated this page for some time, and it's probably time it turned into a blog.

Plus, to help manage my weight, I need to keep a food journal, and plan on posting that here, too, to aid accountability!

So for my first recipe, the delicious butternut squash with bulghur wheat and quinoa stuffing we had last night. I didn't actually stuff the squash because it had a bad bit on it, so I had to use the solid neck that didn't have a hollow in it!

Serves 2, as do most of my recipes unless otherwise stated:

Neck of a large butternut squash, halved (you could use a whole small squash, halve and deseed it).
1-2 large onions, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup (125 ml) Tesco's quinoa/bulghur wheat mix (or 1/4 cup of each)
1/4 cup (c 68 ml) pine nuts
100 g feta cheese, crumbled
Seasoning
A little cooking oil - I used Tesco's stir-fry oil.

Oil a baking tray and place the squash cut-side down in it; put in oven at gas mark 5 for about 30-40 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pine nuts in a little more oil, stirring frequently, until browned, and then set aside. Put the chopped onions in the saucepan that the nuts were in, and cook for 10 minutes on a gentle heat, again stirring frequently. Now add the bulghur wheat and quinoa, and 250 ml boiling water, bring back to the boil, cover, reduce heat to the merest candle flame and simmer for 15 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. When it has, stir in the pine nuts and the crumbled feta, and gently heat through again. Serve either in, or beside, the cooked squash, as appropriate.