New month, new menu! We love October here at Little Soap HQ- it marks such a beautiful season! The weather is still mostly mild, and the world around us is suddenly so full of colour. Perfect. And while the evenings start to draw in, we need to start re-thinking what we’re cooking and eating too. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still eat organic, seasonal produce. Here are three little super foods to eat in October. Enjoy!
Butternut Squash
This has to be one of our absolute favourite foods for October! Butternut squash is a fantastic vegetable to use in soups, salads, stews and stir fries. Its so versatile and not only that, but its also packed full of amazing health benefits too. Did you know that butternut squash can help to prevent high blood pressure, regulate the digestive system, improve eye health, maintain bone health, protect the immune system, reduce inflammation and help to lower body weight? This is one seriously super food!
So how do we like our butternut squash? This is one of our favourite dishes of all time:
Butternut squash pasta
Now that autumn is here and winter not far behind, we tend to want to stock up on carbs of an evening. And that’s no bad thing! We need a healthy balanced diet to stay healthy and well, and carbs play their part in that. We tend to go for wholewheat pasta where we can, so that its not quite so heavy- but go for what you like here. What makes this dish is the butternut squash, of course.
All you need is:
- Two tablespoons of olive oil
- One tablespoon of finely chopped fresh sage
- One large butternut squash, peeled and chopped
- One medium onion, diced
- Two cloves of garlic, crushed
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 400ml Vegetable stock
- 150g pasta- linguine works well with this dish
To make it, you need to first lightly sauté the sage in the olive oil until its crisp, then remove and sprinkle with salt. You can leave that in a bowl to one side. Then add the the butternut squash, onion and garlic to the same pan and season, Then cook, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft. Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Then simmer for around 20 minutes. By this point the liquid will have reduced by about half and the squash will be soft.
While the squash is cooking, add your pasta to a pan of boiling water and cook according to instructions. Keep a cup of the cooking water to one side. Your butternut squash can then be pureed until smooth, and seasoned to taste. Then combine everything- the squash, the pasta and the cup of water in the original pan and cook over a medium heat, stirring, for a couple of minutes. Then serve, topped with the sage and above all- enjoy!
Celeriac
This is such an underrated vegetable and its in season now, so we urge you to give it a go! Celeriac is a fantastic source of fibre, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium and potassium, and it also high in vitamins B1, B2 and E. This means that eating it can help to regulate the digestive system, maintain healthy weight loss and good bone health, whilst at the same time promoting bone and teeth formation. So a good one for kids too!
We love to keep it simple with celeriac- roasted with garlic and olive oil, pureed into a soup, or mashed with chicken and vegetables. It doesn’t need to be fancy, but it is delicious!
Chestnuts
Ah, roasted chestnuts! They make you think of Christmas, don’t they? But actually chestuts are in season right now and just perfect for those of you with a sweet tooth. Chestnuts are high in manganese, vitamin C, vitamin B6 and copper so while they may not be as super as some other nuts, they are still pretty efficient when it comes to heath benefits.
So, while chestnuts may taste good roasting on an open fire, the way we really like to eat them is quite different.
Chestnut chocolate cake
For this beautiful cake you need:
- 100 g 70% dark chocolate
- 225 g butter
- Two tablespoons raw honey/ maple syrup
- One 450-mg tin of chestnut purée
- 6 eggs
To make it you need to first of all preheat your oven to 180°C and then set to melting the chocolate, butter and honey over a saucepan of simmering water. When it’s melted, remove from the heat and stir in the chestnut puree. Then whisk the eggs and fold into the mixture. Pour the whole mixture into a 23cm tin and bake for around 40 minutes.
This cake is best served warm but just as delicious cold. Enjoy!!
What are you eating this month?
