Bronwyn from Fuel Your Family is back this morning with three fabulous recipes. I can personally recommend each of every one of these delicious morsels. They are super quick to knock up and taste divine with the squash one taking the top spot as my absolute favourite. Over to Bron…

So we all know we need to eat more vegetables on a daily basis and if you are anything like me just knowing that is not exactly motivation enough to actually follow through. I get a lot of enjoyment out of eating, and plan on keeping it that way.

So one of the ways that I love adding more vegetables in is through dips. Children love dips too (little Miss 3 eats beetroot dip with a spoon, but is not a fan of beetroot just on her plate). I made the pumpkin dip for Healthy Schools Week last week, served with carrot, cucumber and red pepper sticks and it went down fabulously in all the classes from Reception to Year Six.

I tend to just experiment with vegetables and usually have at least one form of vegetable dip in my fridge at any one time. You can mix and match – beetroot works equally well in place of squash in the pumpkin dip, and roast carrot or squash in place of the beetroot in the beetroot dip. Perfect for a quick snack, or to use as a condiment for any meal.

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Pumpkin/Butternut Squash
  • 1 ½ cups of pumpkin or butternut squash
  • A cup of chickpeas
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • ½ a tsp chilli flakes
  • ½ a tsp sea salt

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This dip is actually already on the Fuel For Family website. I used butternut squash and I cook it by just slicing it in half, placing it face down in roasting dish and cooking at 180C for 30 mins or so. When it has cooled down enough to touch I remove and toss the seeds, and then scoop out the flesh. No oil or anything required – so easy. I use any leftover pureed pumpkin or squash to make pumpkin pies, pumpkin pancakes, put in a smoothie etc. It freezes well in a zip lock bag too.

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Broad Bean
  • Around 300g shelled broad beans
  • 2 tsp Extra virgin olive oil
  • A pinch of paprika
  • A good squeeze of lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper

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The broad bean dip is also an excellent accompaniment to grilled salmon. It’s also lovely on crostini with a sprinkling of parmesan. Broad beans are in season right now so should be easy to get hold of. I have always stayed away from broad beans as I was sure I didn’t like them – but the trick it appears is either to eat them young, or to remove the grey outer coat after cooking and eat the sweeter green insides. It also helps having four children to remove these all from their pods!

Shell the broad beans, put in a pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5-8 minutes until tender. Then drain and plunge into cold water. This makes the outer shell easy to remove by simply squeezing the bean gently between your thumb and forefinger.

Place the shelled broad beans into a food processor along with the remaining ingredients and puree until desired consistency. You can add a little water if required.

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Beetroot
  • 3-4 beetroot
  • 1-2 garlic cloves (optional)
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp tahini
  • 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
  • Juice of one lemon
  • A pinch of salt

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Simply take 3-4 beetroot, wash (but don’t peel – leave root intact), wrap in foil and cook in a moderate oven until tender (approx. 30 mins). Allow to cool and then peel. If you would like roasted garlic in your dip simply wrap 1-2 unpeeled cloves in with the beetroot.
Blend together the beetroot (and the peeled garlic if you choose to use) with the remaining ingredients.

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