Roasted Butternut, Pear and Blue Cheese

Have I mentioned that I love butternut? I adore it in all it's forms - roasted, stuffed, turned into a soup, you name it, I've tried it. In my opinion butternut tends to get a bad rep because of it's high carb content, but really people, these are goooood carbs. Say it with me now: not all carbs are created equal!



That said, I of course have no problem with indulding in the "bad" kind every once in a while... That aside though, this sweet and salty combo really hits the spot. And the fact that it's a nutrition powerhouse? Well that's just the cherry on top!

Roasted Butternut, Pear & Blue Cheese

Adapted from The Noshery

Serves 4 - 6 as main dish (8 as side-dish)

1 large butternut (approx 1.1kg), cubed

2 small red onions, cut into large chunks

3 medium pears, cut into large chunks

1 tbsp grainy mustard

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp freshly chopped sage

50g blue cheese

50g trailmix (almonds, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries)

1. Arrange butternut, onions and pears in a large ovenproof casserole dish. Add mustard, oil, sage and salt to taste and massage through the vegetables to distribute evenly. Bake at 180C for about 50 minutes, or until the butternut is soft.

2. Crumble blue cheese over the vegetables and return to oven for another 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

3. Serve warm, scattered with the nuts, seeds and dried cranberries.

Nutritional info (per serving as main dish): Calories 270.8, Total fat 10.3 g, Saturated fat 2.7 g, Polyunsaturated fat 0.5 g, Monounsaturated fat 2.9 g, Cholesterol 7.5 mg, Sodium 149.2 mg, Potassium 774.9 mg, Total carbohydrate 42.8 g, Dietary fiber 10.6 g, Sugars 2.3 g, Protein 7.0 g

Good source of: Vitamin A 309.9 %, Vitamin C 62.0 %, Manganese 22.7 %, Magnesium 18.1 %