[Toria]

This is a quick & easy dinner I made a few nights ago - I'll give the recipe first, then my variation:

Leftover Roast Dinner Casserole (from Woman's Weekly babies & toddlers good food cookbook - this is in the 2-3 years section)

30g butter
1 tbsp plain flour
1 cup milk
1 cup chopped cooked meat or chicken
1 cup chopped cooked vegetables
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup coarsely grated cheddar

Make a white sauce: heat butter in a small pan, add flour, cook, stirring until mixture thickens & bubbles. Gradually stir in milk, stir until mixture boils & thickens.

Place combined meat & vegetables in shallow oiled 2-cup ovenproof dish, pour sauce over the top. Sprinkle with combined breadcrumbs & cheese, bake, uncovered, in moderate oven for about 20 minutes, or until heated through & browned on top.

My variation: we had leftovers from a bbq chicken, but no leftover vegies. So, I used a bag of frozen vegetables instead. I used one of the Heinz Fresh Ideas range - Thai mix (carrots, beans, broccoli, sugarsnap peas, red capsicum & water chestnuts (but left out the water chestnuts cause I didn't think they'd taste right with the dish)). I had more than 2 cups of chicken & vegies, so I made extra white sauce & used a bigger dish.


My Pumpkin Soup (vegetarian)

Chop up pumpkin (& some sweet potato if you have some). Mix up some olive oil, ground pepper & nutmeg, toss pumpkin pieces in the oil to coat thoroughly. Bake pumpkin in a moderate oven for about 40-60 minutes (until really soft).

Roughly chop an onion or 2, coat it in the olive oil (but this time add a little brown sugar to the coating mix as well as the nutmeg). Add it to the oven tray about 15 minutes into cooking the pumpkin.

Heat up some stock in a large pot till it's simmering. Add the roasted vegetables. Use a hand blender to completely mash down the vegetables & mix until the consistency is right (I start with a little stock & add more if needed). Adjust seasoning if necessary.