A tray bake is a great way to create a pleasing meal with minimal effort and is perfect for winter veg - lots of roots and leafy greens. Toss them together in one baking tray, add hearty pulses and some aromatics like wedges of citrus, garlic cloves or spices, close the oven and let it do its thing.

We've put together a guide to help you mix and match whatever produce you have to hand.

Pick one item (or more) from each section, throw them together in a large roasting pan. Bake for 30-60 minutes at 200C/gas mark 4 until the vegetables are soft and golden.

The roots tend to take a little longer to cook than the other ingredients, so you can put them in the oven first, while you're prepping everything else. Depending on which ingredients you choose, the mixture might start to dry out a little. If so, add 100ml of stock, wine or water.

1 Hearty vegetable
1 roughly chopped squash (you don't even need to peel thin-skinned varieties, such as delicata or butternut), deseeded
800g roots, such as beets, celeriac or potatoes, chopped into about 2cm pieces

2 Soft vegetable
4 courgettes, cut into thick slices
1 fennel bulb, sliced
2 leeks, chopped into 2cm slices
2 small onions, peeled and quartered
200g spinach, chard or kale

3 Protein add-on
400g tin of borlotti beans, chick peas, butterbeans or other pulses, drained

4 Some extra zing
A whole bulb of garlic, cloves separated but skin left on
A small bunch of basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage or a combination
A lemon or orange, quartered - or just the zest
A few dried or fresh chillies
A teaspoon of smoked paprika or mild chilli powder
Roughly ground cumin, coriander & fennel seeds