‘Yesterday at lunch I was surrounded by a variety of homemade chilli, bolognese, soup, sandwiches and a very fancy Shakshuka’

For a long time I never brought my lunch to work. It felt too much like being in school and this notion of deciding today what I wanted to eat for my lunch tomorrow just seemed daft. But after working for a couple of years (and living through a recession) I realised that bringing my lunch to work meant I could save myself a lot of money and make more healthy food choices in the process.

So now it’s a rare occasion that I don’t bring my lunch with me and, in addition to the monetary and health benefits, there’s a certain sense of camaraderie with my co-workers who do the same. Whether it’s trying to beat the queue for the microwave, sampling other people's soup or exchanging recipes, there’s a nice sense of community about it all.

Yesterday at lunch I was surrounded by a variety of homemade chilli, bolognese, soup, sandwiches and a very fancy Shakshuka (a Middle Eastern dish consisting of tomatoes, peppers lots of spices and eggs, apparently).

This time of year my lunch tends to be soup and my favourite kind at the moment is squash and cumin (recipe below). I’d love to tell you what type of squash it is, but my Dad grows a variety of them and he’s never quite sure what he’s planted. The recipe works for most varieties.

Squash soup

Ingredients
1 medium squash
1 litre of chicken stock
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
Glug of olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoons of chili flakes
A good pinch of salt and pepper

Method
Pre-heat the oven to a medium-high temperature (I set my fan oven to about 180 degrees). Cut the squash into quarters (I leave the skin on as it's easier to peel when it's cooked), arrange in a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, then roast in the oven for around 40-50 minutes.
Once the squash is cooked through, leave to one side to cool before peeling off the skin. In a pan, heat some olive oil, then gently cook the garlic and onions until soft but don't allow them to colour. Stir in the chili flakes and ground cumin then pour in the stock and allow to simmer gently before adding in the chunks of cooked squash. Simmer gently for around five minutes, then blitz with a hand blender or liquidiser until smooth. Return to the pan, and if it's too thick add a splash of water or milk.