If I’m not all that happy to wave the Summer goodbye, I must admit there are things about Autumn I’m rather excited about.

Besides the fact that my workplace will FINALLY be turning the AC off and I won’t have to wear cashmere to avoid catching a cold in the middle of a heatwave, that is.

Top of my list is the comeback of all sorts of winter squash onto the list of seasonal fruit & veggies!

I love squashes & pumpkins of all kinds, and couldn’t help but pick up one of the first butternuts of the season at my local farmers’ market last week.

It almost ended up into my favourite soup, but a bit of fridge foraging later and this beautiful Autumnal Quinoa Salad was born…

Easy to make, healthy & super tasty, it’s the perfect dish for a light Autumn dinner or a colourful, vitamin-packed lunch!

Autumnal Quinoa Salad with Butternut, Feta & Pine Nuts (serves 2)

Ingredients: 

• 200g quinoa (I got this pretty mixed-coloured one from Waitrose)
• 300g butternut squash, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 50g crumbled feta
• 20g pine nuts
• sea salt, cracked black pepper, oregano

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200°C (gas mark 6).

2. In a bowl, mix the slices of butternut with the olive oil, a pinch of salt, some black pepper and a generous pinch of oregano. Spread onto an oven-safe dish and bake for 35-45 minutes (or until the edges start caramelising).

3. Bring a big pot of salted water to the boil, then throw in the quinoa and cook for about 20min, then drain.

4. In a dry pan, fry the pine nut kernels until golden.

5. Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl or pile them up onto two plates, top with a little more oregano and serve immediately.

This dish can also be eaten cold, which makes it a brilliant packed lunch option as well!

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