Winter Rainbow Plate

This week it has rained A LOT. On rainy days, there’s nothing better than a warming nutritious lunch to brighten things up a bit. This is a really delicious yet really simple throw together lunch that is perfect for when you’re home. It’s also packed with colourful vegetables that provide a range of anti-oxidants and other nutrients which is just what you need at the start of winter when you may need to ward off extra bugs that may be floating around.

You could substitute any kind of vegetable really but I’m absolutely loving pumpkin, mushrooms, cauliflower and kale this week so that’s what filled my plate but let your creativity and vegetable draw guide you on this one.

As you can see I'm also pretty obsessed with this particular plate which has been a lovely holder of my lunches and dinners of late!

Winter Rainbow Plate – serves 1

1 cup pumpkin, cut into small pieces
Iodised coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbspn coconut oil or olive oil (but I LOVE the taste of pumpkin in coconut oil!)
2 Portobello mushrooms, peeled and stalk removed (save stalk for roasting)
2 tsp basil pesto
2 tsp olive oil
Iodised coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1-2 cups kale leaves, washed
Pinch smoked paprika - optional
½ cup any leftover roasted vegetables - optional (I used leftover cauliflower here)
2 slices halloumi
1/3 avocado, sliced

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Heat a pan over a medium heat and add the coconut oil. Once melted, add the pumpkin, salt and pepper and cook until golden and softened which will take about 15-20 minutes. Stir the pumpkin every now and again to ensure it doesn’t get too golden!
Place the mushrooms (including the reserved stalks) into an oven proof dish and spread each mushroom with 1 tsp of pesto, 1 tsp of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Bake for ~10 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
Once the pumpkin is cooked, place it into the oven dish with the mushrooms while you cook the kale and other vegetables if using.
Into the same pan as the pumpkin was cooked, add the kale and leftover roasted cauliflower (with a dash of smoked paprika and extra oil if needed) and cook for ~5 minutes or until wilted and slightly golden. Remove and place in the oven dish with the pumpkin and mushrooms.
Fry the halloumi slices in the warm pan until golden on both sides.
When ready to eat, place the pumpkin, kale and cauliflower onto a serving plate and top with the pesto mushrooms. Serve with the halloumi and avocado.