Butternut Squash and Chickpea Stew

I find one pot meals ideal for cooking the little man’s dinner – throw it all in, and then while it’s simmering I can get on with something more important – playing with the boy! Tonight’s recipe is based on one I found on Sainsbury’s fantastic Little Ones site. It’s a tried and tested recipe – he loves it.

It’s also chock full of good things. The chickpeas provide protein, iron, and fibre, and butternut squash is a good source of fibre, vitamins C, A and E, and potassium. Spinach is rich in antioxidants (as is the carrot), as well as vitamins A, C, E, B2, folic acid, iron, magnesium and omega-3!

Ingredients

Butternut squash, peeled and cubed
Tin of chickpeas, drained
1 normal sized carrot, chopped
1 onion, chopped
Small bag of spinach
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
300ml  stock (I use baby vegetable stock from Boots)
To flavour – teaspoons of cumin, coriander and cinnamon plus 2 garlic cloves, chopped

Method

I sauté the onion in some olive oil with the cumin,  coriander, cinnamon and garlic for a while, then add everything else and simmer for about 40 minutes, Right at the end I add the spinach, and let it wilt. I serve it to the little man pureed, with couscous.

This makes a big batch and it would probably freeze well, but it’s so delicious that whenever I make it my husband and I eat the rest ourselves!