Ready..Veggie or Not?

This January I have been encouraged to look at more vegetarian options for bariatric patients. Not surprising really, I think we are all turkeyed-out! Even non-vegetarians have requested some meat-free alternatives.

Well here’s one that I cooked last night that really tickled the tastebuds. It  uses shallots and butternut squash with chilli, rosemary and orange flavourings and was delicious! Shallots, to my mind, are under-used, especially when you bear in mind they are low in fat, low in calories and have twice the amount of Vitamin C than onions (which we all know helps to ward off cold and flu germs).

Unfortunately my husband still insisted on having his portion with a slice or two of leftover cooked ham…but then it did increase the protein levels! A 50g portion of lean cooked ham would increase the protein levels to 17.3 g.

BAKED SHALLOTS AND SQUASH WITH A CRISPY TOPPING

Ingredients

1 kg butternut squash, peeled and seeded

12 shallots, peeled

Fry Light olive oil spray

salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 red chilli or 1 tsp ‘lazy’ chilli, seeded and chopped

1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

100g fresh breadcrumbs

grated zest of  1 orange

Method

1.  Preheat the oven to 200 C/gas mark 6.

2.  Cut the butternut squash into large bite-sized chunks.

3.   Place the shallots in an ovenproof dish and spray liberally with Frylight. Season with salt and pepper and cook in the oven for 15 minutes.

4.  Add the squash, spray again, add half the garlic, half the chilli and half the rosemary, mixing well. Cook for a further 15 minutes.

5.  Mix the breadcrumbs with the remaining garlic, chilli, rosemary, parsley, orange zest and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon over the shallot and squash mixture, return to the oven and cook for a further 30 minutes. Cover the dish with foil if the breadcrumb topping starts to brown too much.

6.  Serve hot as a vegetarian meal or with sliced ham, turkey or other meats if liked.

SERVES 4

WLS PORTION 1/2

V  suitable for vegetarians

CALORIES:  190

PROTEIN:  6.8 g

CARBOHYDRATE:  40.6 g

FATS:  1.2 g

Image courtesy of www.UKshallot.com