Cozy Autumn Dinners
It’s early evening and you’re trudging home from work through crunchy fallen leaves in the chilly autumn air…. it’s likely that summer’s light suppers of salads and crackers just aren’t going to satisfy you now the seasons have changed! There’s a rumble in your tummy telling you what’s needed is something comforting, filling and full of flavour – robust, substantial and piping hot too!
So here are ten delicious ideas for lovely meals which tick all of those boxes, and are also nutritious, based on whole foods and without lots of processed ingredients or saturated fat. These are all tried and tested recipes which we keep coming back to – perfect, autumn fare that’s not only super-tasty but easy to make and affordable too, and will fill you and your family with excellent nutrition and a healthy glow. Why not give one or two of these a go this autumn?
Mac & cheese is one of the ultimate comfort foods. It’s the kind of dish which ignites all kinds of pleasure receptors in the brain, and a big bowl of it is simply heavenly to curl up with on the sofa with after a hard day’s work. The traditional version is full of dairy and saturated fat, but this brilliant recipe utilises the magic partnership of soaked, whizzed-up cashew nuts mixed with organic nutritional yeast flakes, which all vegans know produces a luscious, creamy, deeply savoury cheesy sauce that’s ten times better for you than the dairy version!
The brown rice and kidney beans used in this gorgeous recipe are packed with protein, which means they’re full of impressive health benefits. Protein is a potent hunger-buster, and essential for growth and repair of our body’s tissues, as well as giving us excellent protection against viruses and bacteria. This splendid, flavoursome soup is also full of fibre, which is excellent for our digestive health and superb at keeping us feeling fuller for longer. This is a prime example of a dish that’s cheap, filling, supremely yummy, and makes you feel good from the inside out!
Soya pieces are a fantastic store cupboard standby. They’re lovely and cheap, and provide a super-meaty mouth feel while also being totally vegan, low in fat and full of the excellent nutrition found in soy. This dish uses their wonderful ability to soak up flavours, combining aromatic herbs with deeply flavoursome bouillon to create a hearty, filling supper that’ll really insulate you against the cold and bring a warm smile to your cheeks!
Creamy Polenta with Roasted Tomato Sauce
There are few culinary joys finer that sitting down to a lovely hot serving of polenta. It’s a superb gluten-free option which contains plenty of antioxidants. It’s very easy to cook, needing only water (and a good stirring spoon), and is incredibly cheap and goes a long way. It’s also a great source of vitamins and minerals, and can be served with the consistency of porridge, or made into blocks and sliced and pan-fried. This delicately-spiced dish also features the deep, savoury flavour of roasted tomatoes, which are full of flavonoids and excellent at combatting toxins in the body. A little oat cream gives this dish a delicious touch of luxury. It’s a perfect, hugely filling and super-tasty supper!
Pumpkin Gnocchi with Cheezy Cashew Sauce
Here’s a fun, colourful, filling supper which looks marvellous, will delight your taste buds and at the same time satisfy even the loudest-rumbling tummy! It’s vegan, gluten-free and has loads of fibre from the pumpkin, as well as protein and healthy fats from the cashews, which whizz up wonderfully (after being soaked) into a luscious, creamy sauce alluringly flavoured with onion powder and garlic as well as a hint of nutmeg. This dish will keep for a few days in the fridge.
Barley is an ancient grain which has a long history of use in the UK and is popularly found in soups, stews and bread. It’s a great source of essential nutrients such as B vitamins and fibre, and here it’s been used as an alternative to rice in an exquisitely silky risotto. It’s an extremely satisfying and very easy one-pot dish, jazzed up with a sprinkling of chilli flakes and a scattering of rich, aromatic smoked paprika. The pumpkin provides a lovely, subtle sweetness as well as a marvellous autumnal colour and a lip-smackingly creamy consistency.
This super-satisfying dish is a mainstay of Eastern European cuisine, and combines pleasantly nutty, nutritious kasha (roasted buckwheat) with a delicious combination of herbs and spices and some tomatoes, all wrapped up in fresh cabbage leaves and simmered until tender. It’s vegan, full of goodness and feels very substantial and most welcome on a cold, icy night! Buckwheat is also an excellent source of fibre, protein, vitamins, minerals and many other beneficial plant compounds.
Here’s a fantastic dish you’ll really look forward to – it’s spicy, full of taste and inspired by the exotic flavours of Thailand. Wonderful kaffir lime leaves and coconut milk conspire with chilli flakes and lime juice to give the roasted peanuts and tofu a sauce that’s tangy, piquant and brilliantly yummy. The protein in the tofu and peanuts will really fill you up and sort you out, while the Thai red curry paste mixed with the peanut butter provides more layers of texture and deep, wonderful flavour.
Chickpeas are absolutely stuffed full of protein and fibre, which makes them ideal for satiating even the most ravenous appetites. This super-tasty curry is made with organic black Eclipse chickpeas, which give the dish its attractive look. Black chickpeas have all the health benefits of regular chickpeas, but contain higher levels of antioxidants and healthy phytonutrients such as anthocyanins, which are excellent for your blood vessels and many important biological processes in the body. Add more/hotter chillies to the curry for an extra warming kick!
Pasta e Fagioli (Creamy Bean Pasta)
Pasta e Fagioli means simply “pasta and beans”. It’s a hearty, rustic dish which is great for using up bits of pasta which may be sitting unloved at the back of the cupboard. If you have a few sheets of lasagne, or maybe some broken-up cannelloni tubes lying around, give this cheap, filling Italian peasant dish a try. Throw in some aromatic herbs and plenty of black pepper and you have a very easy, quick and immensely flavoursome one-pot meal which will give everyone smiling faces and contented bellies.
