Green giants

Roasted Winter Vegetables 2
This delicious roast of winter vegetables uses no less than 8 different types but you could use as many or as few as you wish and change the proportions according to your taste, your budget or what happens to be in your fridge. The important thing is to leave them a good 40 minutes in a blistering hot oven – remember, this can be your down time. Once they’re in you can pretty much forget about them until they are ready. If you can’t trust the temperature of your oven, take a peek once in a while and turn the tray around if necessary. This dish contains loads of carbs, fibre, vitamins and protein.

Serves 4-6

4-6 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
2-3 tbsp tamarind paste
1 butternut squash, cut into 8 long sections (no need to peel)
2 sweet potatoes, cut into chunks or thick slices, skin left on
12 chestnut mushrooms (they’ll shrivel but their flavour becomes veryintense)
12 new potatoes, left whole, or 2 older ones cut into chunks
3 medium courgettes, cut into chunks
3 medium carrots, cut into chunks
12 shallots or 2 or 3 red onions, cut into quarters
½ small green cabbage, cut into chunks
1 small mango, peeled and cut into 4cm chunks
8 cloves garlic, left whole
dash Tabasco
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For marinating the tofu
1 x 250g block tofu cut into 16 cubes
2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
60ml red wine or a little brandy
1 whole garlic clove, peeled and sliced

If you have time, marinate the tofu one day in advance. Place the tofu in a bowl with the 2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce, the red wine or brandy, the garlic and enough water to cover. Place in the fridge for a day. If you’re like most of us – too busy – don’t despair. Just marinate the tofu for the length of time it takes you to prepare the vegetables.

Combine the olive oil, the tamari, some of the marinating liquid if you want to (depending on how salty or strong you like it), salt, pepper and half the tamarind paste.

Stir this into the prepared vegetables together with the Tabasco.

Tip all the vegetables, the mango and the garlic into a roasting pan and roast for 40-45 minutes or until tender, browned and crisp. You don’t need to add the tofu until the veg are half done or it may go a little too chewy for your liking – though some people like it this way.

At the end, stir in the rest of the tamarind. A bowl of steaming broccoli with butter or olive oil and some toasted nuts or seeds is a good accompaniment.

Nadine Abensur is the author of Cranks Fast Food (Cassell)