Beans and squash

August 25, 2007

I was listening to an ABC radio programme this weekend about how we could go about reducing our carbon footprint. An environmental scientist, Rebecca Blackburn  explained cows and sheep produced methane and said livestock were responsible for 18% of the greenhouse gas emissions. One of her suggestions for how we could go about reducing their own carbon footprint was to reduce the amount of red meat we were eating. She wasn’t recommending we turned vegan or vegetarian but suggested at least one meatless day each week.

There were, she said, lots of good vegetarian meals out there. We could, for example, replace our red meat meal with a feta cheese and zucchini frittata. Excuse me? What does she think feta cheese is made of? It’s made of milk.  Cow’s milk, sheep’s milk, goat’s milk. Whatever milk, feta still comes from an animal that belches methane.

There are, however, plenty of good sustaining vegetable main courses that can help us do our bit for the planet, though I am not yet prepared to haul my laden granny trolley two kilometres home from the farmers’ market on foot.

Butternut squash and pumpkin are good for adding substance to a dish. While tomatoes aren’t brilliant at this time of the year, they can be improved if they are skinned and cored then baked in the oven to drive off some of the moisture and concentrate the flavour. I still haven’t managed to work out when the borlotti bean season is. Every month or so fresh ones pop up at one of my favourite market greengrocery. While their sheer beauty is alluring, they lose their dappled pink colours on cooking and canned borlotti beans do just as well.

Beans and squash

1 large onion, quartered then finely sliced
olive oil (about 1/4 cup for the whole recipe)
750g butternut squash or waxy pumpkin, skinned and roughly chopped into 2cm chunks
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon dried oregano
750g medium sized tomatoes, skinned, cored and halved
small handful basil leaves
salt and pepper
500g round green beans, topped, tailed and cut into 2cm lengths
1 can borlotti beans, drained and rinsed

Saute the onion over a gentle heat until tender using 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Spread in the bottom of an ovenproof dish.  Top with the tomato halves, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and torn basil leaves and bake for 30 minutes at 200C..

Place the squash or pumpkin in a large bowl, drizzle with some of the oil then turn over several times to coat. Mix together the paprika, cumin seeds and oregano then sprinkle over the squash, tossing to ensure each piece gets some. Place in 5cm deep ovenproof dish and bake at the same time as the tomatoes.

Meanwhile place the green beans in boiling salted water and cook for five minutes. Drain and refresh in cold water.

After 30 minutes, combine the tomatoes, fresh and canned beans, and add to the squash. Adjust seasoning. Place back in the oven and bake for a further 5-8 minutes until all are piping hot. Garnish with fresh basil leaves.

This can be served with saffron rice or couscous.

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