One of the culinary terms that has stuck with me since my cookery classes at school, is the word”confetti”. Whether it is actually a technical term doesn’t really matter; it is one of those quirky, self-explanatory meanings that has lived with me for years. It aptly describes a combination of finely chopped fruit or vegetables, and I think it is very appropriate.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a Summer cookery feature for one of the magazines I freelance for; I included a “confetti” salad of finely chopped vegetables. It looked bright and tasted great; it did take a bit of time chopping everything up small, it looked spectacular.

I’m less inclined to eat a raw vegetable salad during the colder months of the year, so I have taken the same combination of vegetables and started baking them in the oven. Serve the vegetables as a side dish on their own or mix them into freshly cooked pasta. I like them stirred into freshly cooked basmati rice and served sprinkled with roasted cashew nuts. Here’s the (very easy) recipe:

Makes 8 servings

• 1 each red, yellow and green (capsicum) peppers
• 150g radish
• 225g carrots
• 150g red cabbage
• 1 red onion
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan oven, gas mark 6). Line a large baking tray with baking parchment. Halve, deseed and finely chop the peppers and put in a large bowl.
2. Trim and chop the radish. Peel and finely chop the carrots. Shred and chop the cabbage. Mix them all into the peppers.
3. Peel and finely chop the onion, then toss into the other vegetables along with the olive oil and garlic.
4. Spread the vegetables evenly over the lined baking tray and season well. Cover with foil and bake for about 45 minutes, turning occasionally, until tender. Drain well and serve.