Add a little spice

Roasted pumpkin with gochujang dressing, cashews and sesame

Pumpkin is such a rich and robust vegetable that it can take on lots of intense flavours and still shine. The spicy dressing, spiked with some sesame oil and a little more rice wine vinegar, balances the sweetness of the pumpkin, and the cashews and sesame seeds add crunch and nutty depth to the dish. If you're sensitive to heat you may want to omit the fried chillies as the dressing already has plenty of punch.

50g cashews

half kent pumpkin, deseeded

olive oil

salt flakes

light oil (eg, rice bran oil) for shallow frying (optional)

2 green chillies, seeds in, cut in thick rounds (optional)

2 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil

1 batch gochujang chilli dressing (above)

4 spring onions, finely sliced

1. Preheat your oven to 160C fan-forced or 180C conventional.

2. Spread the cashews out on a baking tray and roast until fragrant and golden, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Increase the oven temperature to 180C fan-forced or 200C conventional.

3. Cut the pumpkin into wedges (skin on) two to three centimetres thick, coat with oil, season and bake flat on a lined baking tray for 35 to 40 minutes - it is best to cook the pumpkin for a relatively long time so that it dehydrates and concentrates.

4. Heat a few centimetres of oil in a small pot and fry the chilli rounds (if using) briefly until they start to take on a little colour. Drain on paper towel.

5. In a small, dry frying pan, toast the sesame seeds over a low to medium flame until fragrant and golden. Toss the sesame seeds and cashews with a little oil.

6. Mix the rice wine vinegar and sesame oil with your gochujang dressing.

7. Arrange the cooked pumpkin on your serving plate and generously spoon over the dressing. Scatter over the cashews and sesame seeds, top with the spring onions and chillies (if using) and serve with any remaining dressing on the side.

Serves 6

Drink India pale ale

Cos and nashi salad with gochujang dressing, cashews and sesame

This salad was inspired by kimchi. Of course, this is not fermented (so you don't need to bury it in the garden for a couple of months), but the gochujang adds some similar flavours, and the fresh crunch from the cos makes it a lighter and fresher dish, perfect with steamed fish or simply fried chicken.

2 baby cos lettuces

1 large red chilli

1 large green chilli

4 spring onions

1 small nashi pear

1 batch gochujang chilli dressing (see above)

1. Cut the whole cos lettuces crossways into three-centimetre-wide pieces and add to a large bowl.

2. Slice the chillies (the gochujang dressing is already hot so you can reduce the extra chillies if you like) and spring onions finely on an angle and add to the cos.

3. Using a mandolin, slice the nashi pear into thin rounds, add to the bowl and toss the ingredients together. Add the dressing, toss to coat and serve.

Serves 4 as a side

Drink Oolong tea or an ice-cold beer

Gochujang chilli dressing

This spicy, savoury dressing can be used as a dipping sauce for all manner of things, or as a punchy dressing for fried or grilled meat, poultry and seafood. You can make this a little ahead of time, but it is best used fairly quickly, while the lime juice still has freshness and lift.

1 large clove garlic

6cm piece ginger

2 tbsp gochujang paste

1 tbsp light oil, such as rice bran

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp salt flakes

2 tsp castor sugar

1 lime, juiced

1. Grate the garlic very finely using a Microplane or the like into a small bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, grate the ginger very finely and, using your fingers, squeeze all the juice out into the bowl with the garlic. Discard the ginger pulp.

3. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl with the ginger juice and garlic and mix well, making sure the sugar and salt has dissolved and the gochujang doesn't clump at the bottom of the bowl. Use straightaway or store refrigerated (overnight at the most; you may need to adjust with lime juice if it's tasting flat).

Makes 1 small bowl