Luckily, for a lot of us in the UK, lockdown so far has been spent in glorious sunshine; and if you’re lucky enough to have a garden, then I’m sure you too have spent hours enjoying the minutiae of  nature while basking in the warmth.

It may just be my eccentric vegan side coming out, but I’ve been getting lost in the lives, traits and habits of the wildlife in my quarantine zone. A few that have kept me entertained for hours are the local frog, Bob along with his mates, and Brazen the blackbird.

 

Bob & The Gang

Amongst the monotony of lockdown life, there came an exciting day, when a lonesome frog hopped up to the back door. I decided his name was Bob. Clearly enquiring where the nearest pond was, I pointed Bob in the direction of our carefully curated watering hole at the back of the garden. A few days later, to my delight, I saw Bob had acquired some friends, each with their own quirks. Bert, for example LOVES bubbles. He sits for hours at the bottom of the little waterfall, enveloped in pond foam, blinking serenely. Now, I love a bubble bath, so I could relate to Bert.

The rest of the gang were very photogenic, which I appreciated immensely as it took care of a sunny Saturday afternoon with nowhere to go. Unfortunately, before I was able to memorise the rest of their names (there were six frogs in total), they disappeared. I still look mournfully at the pond, hoping they’ll come back and entertain me again.

 

Brazen

I gave Brazen the blackbird his name because he was the first bird who wouldn’t fly away when I went into the garden (many of them ignore me completely now – I’m just part of the furnishings). He has proven to live up to his name consistently, deciding that the garden is his, and if so much as a sparrow decides to eat some seeds on the ground, he will turn nasty. I’ve started calling him Brazen the Bastard.

Brazen had his ego knocked a little the other day however, when a very flirty female blackbird landed in the garden, batting her eyelashes to any potential males. She stood there for a few minutes, looking around, pretending to be coy, but as soon as Brazen gave into her womanly wiles and flew down to offer her some attention she took off, leaving him looking very put out. He later took it out on a fellow male blackbird who tried to steal a worm.

Apart from blackbirds, there are sparrows, thrushes, chaffinches, robins and blue-tits, as well as the odd pigeon, which as my housemate pointed out, if you’re a sparrow it must be like a block of flats landing next to you.

 

In addition to obsessing over the garden creatures, I’m enjoying the extra time I have to get back into cooking nutrition rich dishes. I always try to use up all the food I buy, and more so now than ever. But in the panic of not wanting to waste any food, I’ve had fun experimenting with more recipes. This one was created from needing to use up butternut squash and rocket. Named hot mess, because it looks like one and our world is one right now.

Feeds Five

Ingredients

• 3 small butternut squash/ 2 large
• 100g salad leaves
• 60g rocket
• 1/2 jar of artichoke hearts
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 2 avocados
• 60g steamed beetroot
• 100g quinoa
• 1tsp sesame seeds
• 1tsp chia seeds
• 1tsp flax seeds
• 1tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 70ml olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1tsp English mustard
• 4 cloves garlic – crushed
• Pinch of salt and pepper (to taste)

I also added The Vegetarian Butcher’s ‘Little Peckers’, cut up into cubes, but you can add tofu or any meat substitute you like.

 

Method

1. First, chop the butternut squash into small chunks and place in an oven proof dish.
2. Mix together 20ml of the olive oil, turmeric, cayenne pepper, garlic salt, onion powder, and pepper and coat over the butternut squash and roast for 40-45 mins.
3. Add the quinoa to a pan or rice cooker, with 250ml water, bring to the boil and let simmer until all the water has gone (about 20 minutes).
4. Prepare your meat substitute – the ‘Little Peckers’ take 10 minutes in the oven, but if you’re using tofu I would recommend baking it for 30-40 minutes, turning occasionally until all sides are golden.
5. Cut the cherry tomatoes, beetroot, artichoke hearts and avocado and add to a large bowl along with the salad leaves and rocket. Add the seeds and, once cooked and cooled slightly, add the butternut squash, quinoa and meat substitute.
6. In a bowl, mix together the remaining 50ml of olive oil, lemon, mustard, crushed garlic and a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
7. Pour over the salad and mix together using a pair of salad tongs (or your hands, just make sure they’re clean!)

We had this with Paul Hollywood’s Ready to Bake Rustic Rolls (quite a bit of product placement in this post). And, despite my Italian snob of a boyfriend’s protests, you can put (vegan) butter on your bread, as well as use it for scarpetta (an Italian word meaning to mop your plate clean with bread).

 

Health Benefits

Butternut squash are low in calories and a brilliant source of vitamin A, C, B1, B3, B6, B9, potassium, magnesium, and manganese. Packed full of these nutrients, butternut squash helps maintain a healthy immune system, muscle, blood, bone and hair development, among many other functions.

Rocket and cherry tomatoes also contain vitamins A and C, as well as vitamin K, which helps regulate the blood and carry calcium to the bones. Artichokes are contain Vitamins A, K, along with folate, magnesium and potassium.

Beetroots are a great source of fibre, folate, manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C.

Avocados are high in omega 3 fatty acids, improving heart health, they include vitamins C, E, K, and B6, as well as riboflavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and potassium.

Sesame, chia and flax seeds all contain protein, fibre and iron. Sesame seeds contain omega 6 fatty acids, magnesium, manganese and zinc. Chia seeds are full of antioxidants, as well as being rich in omega 3 fatty acids, as are flax seeds.

Turmeric has powerful anti-inflammatory effects and is a very strong antioxidant. It is also linked to healthy brain function, heart health and can even reduce the growth of cancerous cells in the body. Consume with black pepper to help enhance the body’s absorption.