Moroccan Roasted Butternut, Freekeh and Feta Salad – 4sp

I’m always being asked to come up with quick and easy lunch box ideas which will last a few days in the fridge. This is a recipe I came up with after needing to use up a couple of large squash and the results were delicious.

The freekeh (a roasted grain a little bigger than giant cous cous) adds a lovely smoky flavour to the dish and the lemon lightens everything up nicely at the end. Freekeh is farily easy to get a hold of these days as they sell it ready prepared in most supermarkets (with the microwaveable rice and grains) but if you can’t find it, it can be replaced with another grain (brown rice, quinoa, bulgur wheat, whatever you fancy).

The pomegranate seeds in this dish are optional but add the most delicious fruity burst at the end of the dish.

The recipe below makes 6 generous servings but if you fancy a little more, the smart points for four servings (also included below) aren’t too many more.

Moroccan Roasted Butternut, Freekeh and Feta Salad

Serves 6 – 4sp per serving (Flex) or serves 4 at 6sp per serving

Ingredients

2 x large butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and diced into ½ inch chunks

1 x tbsp Moroccan spice mix (I used Shwartz)

1 x pack of Merchant Gourmet Ready to Eat Freekah (if you can’t get this you can use any microwaveable grain – I got mine in Sainsbury’s)

1 x 200g pack light feta cheese (I use the Sainsbury’s Be Good to Yourself Salad Cheese), crumbled

3 x roasted peppers (from a jar in brine), sliced

Large handful cherry tomatoes, halved

3 spring onions, sliced

Small pack of pomegranate seeds (optional)

Handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped

1 lemon

Large packet of salad leaves

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c.

Take a large roasting tray, add the diced BNS, sprinkle with the Moroccan seasoning, salt and pepper and toss to coat. Spray with 1kal and then pop in the oven for 35-40 minutes until the squash is soft and starting to get nice crispy edges. Remove from the oven and pop to one side.

Cook the freekeh in the microwave according to the packet instructions (mine took 45 seconds at 900w). Once cooked pour the freekeh in the tray with the BNS along with the feta, roasted peppers, cherry tomatoes, spring onions, pomegranate seeds and parsley. Toss everything together and then squeeze in the juice of one lemon.

Pop a few salad leaves in the base of each lunch box and then share the BNS mixture evenly between each. Pop in the fridge once cooled and enjoy being uber prepared for the week ahead!