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In winter I find soups are great dishes with minimal effort. I chop up some root veg, roast it in the oven until it's soft then mix it with some liquid and blend it. You can use whatever you have on hand (carrots, squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes) and you can vary the liquid as well. I usually use vegetable stock but coconut milk works well. Add some spices to the vegetables when roasting or just stick with some salt. Then just serve with the nicest bread you can get hold of and eat!
In summer, I always enjoy pasta dishes with some kind of pesto. All you need for a normal pesto is garlic, toasted nuts, oil, an Italian hard cheese and basil. Pine nuts are traditional but cashews are more readily available (and cheaper where I live). If you've got a lemon, squeeze some juice in as well. The last month or so has been wild garlic season so I've foraged for the leaves and used it in place of both the basil and garlic. Carrot, beetroot and radish leaves are good too (plus others I haven't tried that I'm sure will also work) or you can roast beetroot or pepper and blend them into the mixture. I just serve this with some pasta, vegetables and cheese (normally feta) and you can make the pesto quite quickly while the pasta is cooking.
Usually when I make soups I boil the veg in the water then blend. Does roasting it first improve the taste?
Yeah, like @[email protected] said, the maillard reaction makes stuff taste nice! Compare a boiled potato to a roast potato and see which is better - it usually takes more time to roast over boiling but it's worth it.