Where's the Sun Gone Salad

What on earth has happened to the weather?! My superfood salad was like a sundance welcoming the spring but now it's just grey and wet and I have been forced to revert to the winter comforts of warm roasted veg and salty pancetta with my goats cheese.

The ingredients list seems pretty long but you'll most likely already have many of the staples so for me it came in at a not too shabby £6.72 (for 3 people)!

1. First things first, preheat your oven to 180c
2. Now cut your butternut squash in half and scrape out the seeds

3. Cut it into wedges and add to a roasting tin
4. Add the cloves from a head of garlic and a few sprigs of rosemary
5. Coat it all with oil, followed by a sprinkling of herbs (I used thyme and nutmeg) and salt

Make sure to really coat everything in the oil - especially the garlic as it easily burns... much like a scot

The squash takes 50 minutes, the peppers 30 minutes and the tomatoes 15, so...

6. 20 minutes into your butternut squash cooking, add your pepper to the roasting tin
7. 15 minutes later, add your tomatoes

8. Whilst those are roasting away, chop up an onion to get long slices
9. Fry in pan with some oil, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar and a few pinches of salt until caramelised

10. Put your pancetta in a dry frying pan and cook on a medium heat until it looks something like this

11. While these are frying, get on with your vinaigrette (see point 7 of this link for instructions)

Time to layer up your salad!

Caramelised onions, pancetta, vinaigrette...

 ... and your peppers, butternut squash, garlic, crumbled goats cheese and tomatoes to finish!

This salad is laden in feel-good food but it's all pretty nutritious. It's jam-packed full of antioxidants from the salad, butternut squash, onions, peppers and tomatoes. It's high in fibre and it's gluten free. An added bonus is that both butternut squash and goat's cheese are lower in calories than their potato/cow's milk alternatives.

And then... well... the pancetta, everything in moderation right?!

SERVES 3 (...or 2 gluttons)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 bag of watercress, spinach & rocket salad

Roasting

• 1/2 butternut squash
• 1 red pepper
• 1 vine of tomatoes
• 1 head of garlic
• 3 sprigs of rosemary 
• a sprinkling of some herbs (I used thyme and nutmeg)
• 3 glugs of olive oil
• a pinch of salt

Caramelised onions

• 1 red onion
• 1 glug of olive oil
• 2 big pinches of sugar
• 3 glugs of balsamic vinegar
• 2 glugs of red wine vinegar  

The rest

• 130g pancetta

• 100g soft goat's cheese    

Vinaigrette

• 1 teaspoon french mustard
• 1/3 lemon, juice
• 3 tablespoons olive oil