Quick Prep Curried Parsnip, Quinoa and Lentil Bake

Healthy, filling & perfect on a winter’s day, this quick prep vegan curried parsnip, quinoa and lentil bake is definitely a favourite family dish.

This is one of my ‘quick prep oven recipes’, meaning that although the total time taken from start to finish is longer than many of my other recipes, the actual time you need to spend on the prep work is only a few short minutes.

This means you can make it super fast then pop it in the oven and forget about it until it’s ready, freeing you up to spend your precious time on something else. Perfect!

Warming flavours

This vegan curried parsnip, quinoa and lentil bake hits all the right notes for a perfect warming winters’ dish. It’s packed full of protein with the quinoa and lentils as well as the healthy parsnips and spinach which altogether, take you very far towards hitting your five a day target of fruit and veg, making it a brilliantly healthy and filling option that the whole family can enjoy.

The rich curried flavor complements the sweetness of the parsnip really well, but as the recipe uses only mild curry powder, it has a lovely subtle flavor so even people who don’t like ‘spicy’ food should happily eat it. Of course, if you’re spice fans in your house you can use a hotter curry powder instead to give it some extra ‘kick’ if you fancy it!

Time saving tips

The parsnip is the real star in this quick prep vegan curried parsnip, quinoa and lentil bake as it blends so brilliantly with the creaminess of the coconut and the spicy curry flavours. To really make sure the preparation time is brief, I fully advocate not bothering to peel the parsnips.

Most of the time these days in the shops, root vegetables have been washed extremely thoroughly so as long as there’s no visible dirt, you’ll be fine to give them a quick rinse under the tap instead of peeling them.

Not only does leaving the parsnips unpeeled save you precious time, but it actually increases the nutritional value overall as it has been found that that vitamin content of parsnips tend to be most highly concentrated around the skin of the vegetable.

This is true for many other types of root vegetable too so bear this in mind whenever you find yourself incorporating them into a dish. Of course, you can feel free to peel your parsnips if you would prefer, but this will add a little bit extra to your prep time.

I’m a huge fan in my cooking of using lentils and pulses as they are readily available in tins, they are cheap, filling, healthy and require very little cooking, making them perfect ingredients for so many different types of quick recipe, which is why you’ll find them in this quick prep curried parsnip, quinoa and lentil bake recipe. Check out some of my other pulse based quick recipes such as my 5 Minute Green Lentil Dip and my 10 Minute Vegan Chilli recipe.

Pulses are also fantastically healthy! They’re especially rich in protein and fibre, which we all need as part of a healthy, balanced diet.

Lentils come especially in handy in this recipe as act kind of as a ‘weight’ to hold down the other ingredients in the roasting tin, ensuring everything gets cooked nice and evenly in the liquid so the parsnips come out lovely and soft.

So many traybake recipes have the (often unavoidable) step of having to turn the ingredients halfway though the cooking time to ensure everything cooks evenly but that isn’t necessary in this vegan bake – you literally just leave it alone for the whole of the cooking time, then remove it from the oven and serve, freeing you up to get on with other important tasks whilst your dinner takes care of itself. So handy!

Spinach is another healthy and delicious ingredient featuring in this recipe and I really love using this vibrant and healthy vegetable in many of my other dishes, such as in this 10 minute salmon and spinach pasta recipe. Not only is spinach packed full of vitamins and fiber, it adds a lovely green vibrancy to many dishes that might otherwise be not so colourful.

Spinach is a perfect ingredient in quick recipes because it cooks down so quickly and does not require very much pre-preparation at all – so no chopping required. As an extra advantage, pre-bagged spinach is often prewashed meaning you don’t even usually need to wash it at home yourself. Just remove it from the bag and quickly throw it into your dish. Fantastic!

A final word now on the minced garlic. I fully advocate using pre-minced garlic that you can easily purchase in jars or squeezy tubes from many stores. It has a long shelf life, tastes perfectly great and slashes your preparation time significantly. You can feel free to chop your own garlic if you’d prefer but this will add to the prep time of course, so why not make life easier for yourself?

Quick Prep Curried Parsnip, Quinoa and Lentil Bake – Step by Step

Serves 3-4

STEP BY STEP METHOD

1) Preheat the oven to 210C / 190C fan (410F / 350F fan)

2) Start by putting one vegetable stock cube in a jug and make up to 1 pint with boiling water. Stir to dissolve the cube.

3) Put 5 tablespoons of quinoa in the bottom of a medium casserole or Pyrex dish – size approx 25cm (10 inches) in diameter. The dish doesn’t have to be this exact size although can’t be too much larger or smaller, otherwise the ingredients may not cook properly and the final dish may end up either too dry or too runny.

4) Chop 2 large parsnips – clean but unpeeled – into 1-2cm (0.5–0.75 inch) chunks and place these on top of the quinoa. You can peel them if you would prefer, but (as discussed above) keeping them unpeeled increases the nutritional benefit of the parsnips and of course, saves you valuable time in the preparation of this dish.

5) Roughly tear about 80g (2.8 oz) of spinach with your hands and scatter this evenly on top of the chopped parsnips.

6) Next, scatter one 400g (14 oz) can of drained green lentils, plus one 215g (7.5 oz) can drained chickpeas evenly on top of the spinach.

7) In a large jug / bowl, whisk together the pre-prepared stock with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, one 250ml (8.5 oz) pack of coconut cream, 2 teaspoons of mild curry powder, 2 tablespoons of either golden syrup or maple syrup (whichever you have to hand), 1 teaspoon of minced garlic (I use the store bought pre-minced kind as it’s much quicker) and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. It’s important to whisk it as this is the best way to combine all the ingredients. Simply mixing it with a spoon may result in some lumpy bits of coconut cream remaining. A hand-held whisk is perfectly fine, no need to use an electric one (unless you really want to).

8) Pour this mixture into the casserole dish on top of the all other ingredients. The dish might look quite “flooded” but don’t worry – it’ll cook down and the liquid will be absorbed during the cooking process.

8) Bake uncovered in the oven for approx 1 hour until golden. There’s no need to turn it during the cooking process as it should cook evenly without any intervention.

9) Remove from the oven and leave for 10-15 mins to settle / cool a little, then serve!