March 23, 2017
Last week my partner and I had our first market trip together to buy groceries. It was actually really fun, especially because we’ve always gone to the markets for a Saturday morning breakfast and a coffee, but have never really bought groceries there. Now that we live together, it’s a great option for buying fresh produce, as it’s relatively cheap and really great quality! As much as in Melbourne I tended to avoid market shopping as it was really expensive, Brisbane has some great markets to get fresh, affordable produce from, and my family has been doing this for years, so I felt it was about time I started doing the same!
Produce shopping with my partner for really the first time together (the past couple of weeks I’ve just been buying it) was an eye opening experience. For me, I am really happy with a salad for dinner, and tend to buy a lot of bulk salad ingredients and not much else. But my choice in vegetables was pretty much vetoed as I pointed each item out because my partner wasn’t a fan. I then asked him what he liked, and he said potato and sweet potato. I didn’t feel that I could live off these, so probed a bit further, and finally got the answer: eggplant and pumpkin. So we bought some of each, along with some salad vegetables I snuck in, and headed on home.
I then started thinking about what I could make into a meal with pumpkin. There are plenty of things which is great, but I had some danish feta and pine nuts that I wanted to use, so I figured I could trial making a salad for my partner for dinner. It was a little risky, especially as he was always paying me out for eating salads all the time when I lived in Melbourne, but when I told him about my idea, he seemed ok with it. So on Monday night I got home and pulled something together.
Normally I make pretty basic salads with some tomato, cucumber and protein with a lemon juice dressing. I guess this was mainly because I was cooking for one, and was really uninspired to make anything fancy. It was also a nice healthy option, although my partner is right, you can only eat so much of the same salad! So I decided to try branching out and making a different type of salad, broadening my salad horizons if you will. And I must say I was so pleased with the results, that I wanted to share it with you all.
- 1/2 butternut pumpkin, chopped into chunks with skin removed
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3-4 tsp olive oil
- juice of one lemon
- 200 grams danish feta, crumbled
- 1 bag salad mix of your choice
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1 large cucumber, sliced
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Preheat your oven to 200C (390F) and line a baking tray with baking paper and set aside. Place the chopped pumpkin on the baking tray evenly and sprinkle with oregano, salt, pepper and drizzle with 2 teaspoons of the olive oil. Place into the oven for 30 minutes or until slightly charred and cooked through.
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Meanwhile, in a large bowl, add the salad leaves, sliced cucumber and crumbled feta. Set aside.
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In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and remaining olive oil, along with a sprinkle of black pepper, and set aside.
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In a frypan over a medium heat, toast the pine nuts until golden, stirring occasionally. This should take about 3 minutes, and then remove from the heat and add to the salad bowl.
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When the pumpkin is cooked, add to the salad bowl. Pour the salad dressing over the top, and use salad servers to mix until combined. Serve immediately.
Not only does this make for a great weeknight meal, it’s pretty easy to whip up if you have the ingredients. Once you have the pumpkin in the oven, it’s just a matter of throwing the other ingredients together, and when the pumpkin is done, you just toss and serve! Although the pumpkin does take a while to cook, I would say this is a super easy weeknight meal as you can go and do other things while you wait, and you really don’t have to prepare anything all that much. I love a great meal that just comes together on a weeknight.
This salad was absolutely delicious, and completely approved by my partner. I was worried it may not be enough for him so I added some sweet potato, but he said he didn’t even really need it. The pumpkin, pine nuts and feta make this salad quite substantial and filling, and best of all it tastes great! I love a great simple meal that packs a whole heap of flavour!
What are your go to salad recipes? Now that I know my partner doesn’t mind eating them for dinner I’m keen to try some different ones and start getting creative with my cooking again!
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
