A comforting bake made with roasted vegetables, spinach, chickpeas, tomatoes, and spices. Very easy and a real crowd-pleaser.

THE FRUGAL COOK

This scrumptious comfort bake is from The Frugal Cook by Fiona Beckett. 

Fiona writes over at Matching Food & Wine.

She is one busy lady, as well her website, she's also authored and co-authored 23 cookbooks and is currently wine columnist for The Guardian and Guardian Green, contributing editor to the wine magazine Decanter and wine writer for Fork magazine. 

Way back in 2008 Fiona got in touch with me asking if I would like to review her new book The Frugal Cook. 

It sounded great and I was happy to oblige. 

It never did turn up and I forgot all about it. Roll on three years and I'm browsing through the shelves of my local library and I come across it. 

After a flick through I decided it was well worth a read and to share with you.

The Frugal Cook was relevant in 2008, but I would say it's still relevant now. 

We all need to tighten our belts and think more carefully when shopping, including food shopping. 

This isn't a vegetarian cookbook, but it does have enough recipes and ideas to be worth buying. 

Fiona gives us a thrifty tip with each recipe and advice on how to have a thrifty store cupboard and fridge along with ideas for leftovers as well as information on how to be energy efficient. 

SWEET POTATO, SPINACH & CHICKPEA BAKE

I really loved this recipe as soon as I saw it and it has proved to be as good as it looks. 

I've made this several times now and we all enjoy it. 

One night when my friend was coming to dinner I made it and spooned it over potato wedges, topped it with cheese sauce and grated cheddar and popped it back into the oven to brown. 

Mmmmmmmm, that was so good! 

Just perfect for a dull, dreich evening, served with salad and garlic bread. 

My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Also try Vegan Sweet Potato & Spinach Enchiladas

HOW TO SERVE SWEET POTATO, SPINACH AND CHICKPEA BAKE

    This delicious bake is very versatile. There are lots of ways you can serve it. Here are a few ideas.

1. Spooned over a fluffy baked potato while it's still hot
2. Served hot or cold with couscous
3. Served hot with rice and a dollop of mango chutney
4. Served hot over potato wedges and topped with a dollop of sour cream
5. Spooned over potato wedges, topped with cheese sauce, grated cheddar and baked until the cheese has melted
6. Piled on top of fries and topped with grated cheese and a dollop of sour cream and guacamole (we call this dirty fries
7. Served cold on pitta with salad and a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce
8. Served on a wrap with cream cheese and salad

HOW LONG WILL THIS BAKE KEEP?

This bake once cool, can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

I've never frozen it so I won't give you advice on that.

MORE SHEET PAN DINNERS TO TRY

• Roasting Tin Balti Potsto Bake
• Sheet Pan Aubergine & Chickpea Bake
• Sheet Pan Vegetable Fajitas
• Spiced Roasted Vegetables with Rocket

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dinner

vegan

Yield: 4-5

Author: Jacqueline Meldrum with kind permission

Sweet Potato, Spinach & Chickpea Bake

A comforting bake made with roasted vegetables, spinach, chickpeas, tomatoes and spices. A real crowd-pleaser.

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 40 Min

Ingredients

Moroccan Spice Mix

• 3 tsp ground cumin 3 tsp dried coriander  
• 5 tsp ground turmeric  
• ½ to 1 tsp chilli powder or hot paprika 

Savoury Bake

• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 3 medium onions (peel 2 of them and cut into wedges, set the other aside for the sauce) 
• 450g (16oz) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks 
• 2 red peppers, quartered, de-seeded and cut into thick strips 
• 2 large cloves of garlic, crushed 
• 3 tsp Moroccan Spice Mix (method below) 
• 400g (14oz) can whole or chopped tomatoes 
• 250ml (9fl oz/1 cup/ 1/2 pint) vegetable stock 
• 400g (14oz) can of chickpeas drained 
• a good handful of fresh spinach leaves  
• a generous pinch of sugar (optional) 
• salt and pepper 
• 1 small carton of sour cream (see notes for alternatives) to serve (optional)

Instructions

Spice Mix

1. Add all the ingredients to a tub or jar. Fix the lid on and shake to mix. It's as easy as that. 
2. Keep leftover spice mix in a small airtight tub in your store cupboard ready to use.

Savoury Bake

1. Preheat the oven to 200c/180c fan/400f/Gas 6. Spread out the onion wedges, red pepper and sweet potato on a sheet pan or in a roasting pan in a single layer.   
2. Drizzle with a little oil and season with salt and pepper.  
3. Roast for 20 minutes. 
4. While the vegetables roast, peel and roughly chop the other onion.  
5. Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion until beginning to soften.  Add the garlic and spice mix and stir well.  
6. Add the tinned tomatoes and their juice, breaking them up if necessary with a wooden spoon and cook for 5 minutes. 
7. Stir in the stock and the chickpeas and season with salt pepper and a pinch of sugar.  
8. When the vegetables in the oven are roasted, pour over the spiced tomatoes and chickpeas and mix well. 
9. Turn the oven temperature down to 190c/170c fan/375f/Gas 5 and cook for another10 - 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
10. Just before the end of the cooking time wash the spinach, remove any tough stalks, and stir them into the bake. Return to the oven for the rest of the bake time. 
11. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.
12. Enjoy!

Notes:

You can keep any leftover spice in a dry, airtight container for months and use it as you need it.

If you can't find vegan sour cream, you could use vegan creme fraiche or vegan plain yoghurt instead.

This bake, once cool, can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

I've never frozen it so I won't give you advice on that.

Calories

406.05

Fat (grams)

14.05

Sat. Fat (grams)

2.22

Carbs (grams)

66.13

Fiber (grams)

15.67

Net carbs

50.46

Sugar (grams)

19.02

Protein (grams)

14.47

Sodium (milligrams)

324.42

Cholesterol (grams)

1.88