Call me crazy, but I like to think of this as a semi-virtuous winter salad. When youre surrounded by calorie laden comfort food yet cant face lettuce and dressing, this is the dish to satisfy those cravings without the often ensuing guilt. The sage and rosemary are crucial in making this recipe seasonally apt (I do try!), with the lightly toasted almonds lending some much-needed crunch for me, texture in vegan food is the key to a winning dish, and this one succeeds on all fronts. As a side or on its own, its a super-easy option when those early evenings start to creep in, and means you can settle down to a box set safe in the knowledge that your couch-potato ways are somewhat negated by this healthy evening meal. Well, sorts.

INGREDIENTS 1 squash or gourd (about 500g), peeled, halved, deseeded and cut into small chunks 2 tablespoons sunflower oil 1 sprig rosemary, leaves finely chopped 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage 250g couscous or giant couscous 200g frozen peas 60g flaked almonds, toasted 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Sea salt Freshly ground black pepper

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

Place the squash in a roasting tin, drizzle over the sunflower oil, sprinkle over the herbs and season well. Roast in the oven for 1 hour or until completely soft. Turn the oven off but leave the squash in the oven until needed.

Soak the couscous in an equal volume of freshly boiled water, cover and allow to stand for 10 minutes to absorb the liquid before fluffing with a fork.

Defrost the peas by covering them with freshly boiled water, leave for 5 minutes and then drain.

Remove the roasted squash from the oven and stir through the couscous, peas, almonds and extra virgin olive oil. Season to taste and serve warm.

SERVES 46

For some people chilli without meat just doesnt make sense (its full title is chilli con carne after all). But because its one of my favourite dishes to serve at parties, I had to find a way to overcome (and perhaps overcompensate for) the lack of flesh. Thankfully my hard work paid off and heres a gutsy chilli to satisfy all tastes in fact Ive even seen some of my meat-fiend mates go back for seconds, thirds and more.

INGREDIENTS

Read more from the original source:
'Veganuary': three mouth-watering vegan recipes