This is a delicious and nutritious vegan meal however if you don't want vegan, this makes a great side dish for fish, chicken, chops or steak! I also love serving this with poached eggs & avocado.

Serves 2 to 3 as a meal or 4 to 6 as a side dish

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

2 cups vegetable stock or 1 vegetable stock cube with 2 cups water

1 1/2 cups of butternut squash, cut into cubes

1 cup zucchini, chopped into medium sized chunks

4 cloves garlic, skin on

2 teaspoons capers, chopped finely

1-2 handfuls of baby spinach (or you can use baby chard or baby kale)

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons roasted unsalted almonds

Thyme, rosemary & oregano

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2) Place the squash and garlic onto a tray and drizzle over a small amount of olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and herbs. Cook for 15 minutes and then remove from the oven. Add zucchini to the tray and season as you did the squash. Return to the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until veggies are roasted. Garlic should be soft and mushy at this point, however if still hard, remove other vegetables from the tray and cook garlic longer.

3) While the vegetables are roasting, place quinoa into a pot with the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes or until cooked through.

4) For the dressing: Remove garlic from the skin and mash. Add apple cider vinegar, lemon juice & 1 tablespoon olive oil and mix through.

5) In a large bowl, add the cooked quinoa, baby spinach, roasted vegetables and the chopped capers. Pour over the dressing and mix to combine. If needed, season with salt & pepper as desired. Serve onto a plate and top with roasted almonds. Enjoy!