Warm Autumnal Salad - because the weather won't settle...

Early Autumn - if I can even call it that, I mean, Portuguese weather has become the craziest thing ever! - always has me craving cold days, blustering winds, grey skies and heavy rains as I stick to the comfort of a cosy home and indulge in certain staples of comfort food. But early Autumn in my country does not necessarily mean the weather will beg for a sweater, or a warm throw in which to wrap myself in, or even a hearty stew on a bowl that pours heat into my belly and my hands as I gobble it down.

Despite some wind and rain, early morning grey skies and late evening cold, the daily temps around here are still pretty much mild and balmy, Spring like, begging for a long sleeved blouse and an oxford shoe instead of sandals, perhaps, but not very demanding of a coat or a scarf. And surely not quite appropriate for those thick, nourishing, packed up stews I love to indulge in, or the long cooking in the oven roasts I tend to turn to in colder months. But it also doesn't make for fresh, cold salads, either. So in order to satisfy my cravings and my needs, I had to settle for a warm Autumnal salad. It's something I do eat a lot, especially when I have leftovers from a previous roast!

I didn't have leftover roast veggies for this one, but I had steam cooked some peas and decided to add them to a few more goodies and jostle up a treat that me and amy son would get to delight in, for lunch. Seeing it was only the two of us, I could make it as vegetarian as I wanted. I raided the pantry and fridge to see what I could find and although some of the ingredients I was really eager to use were missing from my cupboards - I wanted to do this with spelt grains, but seeing I had not cooked any, they didn't go on this particular version! Another time, maybe.

I did have potatoes, and butternut squash, I had ripe tomatoes and baby onions, fresh garlic and an array of spices and herbs that were just about perfect to make this a fully satisfying and filling dish. It's the kind of salad where you throw what you have around the house, roast it all up and the add greens. I can imagine how delightful this must be with some kale, and beetroots as well. Or some courgette too, even lettuce would not go amiss here. Try some roast nuts for crunch, or seeds. Perhaps a bit of watercress, or arugulla, substitute the peas for corn, or some beans! Anything goes, really, when it comes to warm salad. And you can add grains to it, if you like quinoa or millet I'm sure they'd be perfect here.

It's absolutely up to you, what you add to the salad, but for this one I used:

• two medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• two medium tomatoes
• one very small butternut squash
• four cloves of garlic
• four small onions
• herbes de provence, pepper, salt, turmeric, paprika and olive oil for seasoning
• one cup of pre-cooked peas

Toss the veggies with the seasoning and mix well. Scatter them on an oven tray and bake at 200º for about half an hour or until they're golden and beautiful. Allow to cool for about ten to fifteen minutes. Toss in the peas and rectify the seasoning. Serve with chopped fresh mint leaves scattered over it, for cool, or a handful of nuts and seeds, pan roasted and spiced.