The more I cook simply the more I realise food doesn’t need to be complicated or made from far-flung ingredients to do us good. It’s the quick-to-make, everyday meals we eat on, say, Tuesdays and Wednesdays that make a difference in our lives.
There has been a real shift in the way we look at food. More people are conscious of what they’re putting in their shopping baskets. For the first time in two generations, home cooking is firmly back in fashion and an ever-increasing number of people are actively choosing to eat a diet centred on vegetables on a least a few days a week.
This is the food that makes me happy. The sort that drives my cooking, led by flavour, texture and a deep love and respect for food.
Black-eyed beans with chard and green herb smash
This is a super-quick stew which has its roots in Palestine. Pick your chard colour here – the clean green Swiss or the sweet-shop neon Bright Lights chard. It is not often that one vegetable provides such a rainbow of options.
Black-eyed beans were often overlooked in my kitchen in favour of earthy black beans, buttery cannellini or plump butter beans. No longer though, as black-eyed beans are a new favourite. Sometimes, I like to top this with tahini for an extra layer of flavour.
Serves 4
For the beans
leek 1
coconut oil or olive oil 1 tbsp
garlic 2 cloves
chilli powder or chopped dried chilli a good pinch
black-eyed beans 2 x 400g tins
vegetable stock powder 1 tsp, or stock cube ½
nutmeg a good grating
unwaxed lemon ½
Swiss or rainbow chard 200g bunch
For the herb smash
fresh coriander a large bunch
green chillies 2
garlic 2 cloves
shelled walnuts 30g
runny honey or maple syrup 1 tbsp
good olive oil 2 tbsp
lemon juice of half
Fill and boil a kettle and get all your ingredients together. Put a large saucepan on the heat.
Wash and finely slice the leek. Add to the saucepan with a tablespoon of coconut or olive oil and cook for a couple of minutes until soft and sweet. Finely slice the garlic and add to the pan with the chilli powder or dried chilli and cook for a couple of minutes, until the garlic is beginning to brown. Add the black-eyed beans with their liquid, the stock powder or cube and 200ml of hot water from the kettle and bring to a simmer. Grate in the nutmeg, squeeze in the juice of half the lemon, add the squeezed lemon half to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes or so. Meanwhile, strip the leaves from the chard stalks. Finely slice the stalks and add them to the pan, then finely shred the leaves and put to one side.
Put all the ingredients for the herb smash into a food processor and blitz until you have a smooth grassy paste. Season well with salt and pepper.
Once the beans are soft and the liquid has reduced to a thick soup-like consistency, stir in the chard leaves, season well with salt and pepper and leave to cook for a couple of minutes. Scoop into deep bowls and spoon over the herb smash.
Carrot and chickpea pancake with lemon-spiked dressing
This is a light but hearty pancake made from chickpea flour and grated carrots. I made these a lot while staying with my sister in California, and they are what Californian cooking is all about for me – delicious, nourishing, light and bright. Chickpea flour is cheap and easy to find; it will be in the Indian section at the supermarket and may be called gram flour.
The batter keeps well in the fridge until the next day, if necessary, though you may need to loosen it to pancake-batter consistency with a little more water or milk. For a vegan version, make the sauce using soaked and blitzed cashews in place of the cottage cheese.
Serves 2
For the pancake
chickpea flour 150g
milk of your choice (I use unsweetened almond) 230ml
extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp
carrots 2, medium
ghee or coconut oil
For the sauce
cornichons 8
green chilli 1
fresh parsley a few sprigs
fresh dill a few sprigs
cottage cheese or Greek yogurt 4 tbsp
vegetarian Worcestershire sauce ½ tbsp
chilli sauce a splash
unwaxed lemon zest of half
To serve
sprouted seeds and pulses a couple of handfuls
baby salad leaves a few handfuls
First, make your batter. In a large bowl, sift the chickpea flour and a generous pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Whisk in the almond milk and olive oil and let the mixture sit, covered, while you make your sauce.
Finely chop the cornichons and the green chilli. Chop the leaves of the parsley and dill. Put all this into a small bowl with the cottage cheese, Worcestershire sauce, chilli sauce and lemon zest. Mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Peel and grate the carrots and stir them into the batter. Place a large non-stick frying pan on a high heat and add a teaspoon of ghee or coconut oil. Add the batter and allow it to cook for 4-5 minutes, until the pancake is set around the edges and starting to brown and crisp. Place a plate on top of the pancake then cover your hand with a tea towel and flip the pancake onto the plate. Slide off the plate back into the pan and cook on the other side for 4-5 minutes.
Cut the pancake into slices and top with sprouted seeds, salad leaves and spoonfuls of the sauce.
Frying pan Turkish flatbreads with spoon salad
The part of east London I live in is full of Turkish cafes. They turn out charcoal-baked flatbreads and insanely good salads, and although meat is front and centre in Turkish food, there are some amazing vegetable dishes too.
Here is a quick way to make my two favourites at home. Amazing, fluffy, quick Turkish flatbreads from the frying pan, topped with caramel onions and smoky red peppers, and my favourite ever salad – sometimes called ezme salad, but I prefer its other name: spoon salad.
I use Turkish chilli here, which has a milder flavour, somewhere between a chilli and a red pepper, but if you can’t find it, use regular dried chilli flakes, more sparingly. Similarly, if you can’t get pomegranate molasses a 50:50 mix of good balsamic and honey will do.
These flatbreads are brilliantly flavour-packed as they are, but sometimes to mix things up I add some crumbled feta on top.
Serves 4
For the flatbread
spelt flour 200g, plus extra for dusting
baking powder 1 tsp
Greek yogurt 200g, or warm water 150ml
For the topping
red onions 2
red peppers 3
olive oil 2 tbsp
dried Turkish chilli flakes 1 tsp (see above)
green chilli 1
fresh mint a small bunch
For the salad
red onion 1
lemon 1
ripe vine tomatoes 5
fresh mint a small bunch
fresh parsley a small bunch
sumac 1 tbsp
harissa or Turkish chilli paste 1 tsp
pomegranate molasses 2 tbsp
extra virgin olive oil
Get all your ingredients together. Put all the flatbread ingredients into the bowl of your food processor and pulse until the mixture forms a ball. If you don’t have a food processor, this can be done in a bowl using a fork to begin with, followed by your hands, but it will take a little longer.
Dust a clean work surface with flour and tip out the dough. Knead for a minute or so to bring it all together. Put the dough into a flour-dusted bowl and cover with a plate. Put to one side to rise a little for 10-15 minutes. Don’t expect it to rise like normal dough, but it may puff up a tiny bit.
To make the topping, heat a frying pan on a medium heat, then finely chop your onions and red peppers and put them into the pan with 1 tablespoon of oil. Cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes, until soft and sweet, then add the dried chilli. Chop the fresh green chilli and mint and add to the pan along with a final tablespoon of oil. Stir, then take off the heat and season well.
Next, make your salad. Finely slice the onion and put it into a bowl with the juice of half a lemon and a good pinch of salt. Scrunch with your hands, then leave to pickle.
Chop the tomatoes roughly, then roughly chop the leaves of the fresh herbs. Put them into a bowl with the spices and pomegranate molasses and add the lemon-pickled red onions. Season well with salt and pepper and add a little more lemon juice and a good drizzle of olive oil, balancing out the flavours until it tastes great.
Now back to the flatbreads. Put a large frying pan or griddle pan (about 22-24cm) on a medium heat.
Dust a clean work surface and rolling pin with flour, then divide the dough into four equal-sized pieces. Using your hands, pat and flatten out the dough, then use the rolling pin to roll each piece into about a 20cm round, roughly 2-3mm thick.
Once your pan is hot, cook each flatbread for 1-2 minutes on each side, until nicely puffed up, turning with tongs. Spread with the onion and chilli mixture while hot, and serve straightaway with spoonfuls of salad.
Quick-pickled roasted roots, polenta and carrot-top pesto
My new favourite thing to cook when people come round for dinner – it’s quick and satisfying but it’s also elegant, super-delicious and surprising.
I’m going to show you a couple of ways to add flavour and create interesting nuances and layers that might be new to you. First I quickly pickle the vegetables before they are roasted, giving a delicious piquant note, which is balanced by a little honey. To top it off I make a pesto of carrot tops, which taste a bit like parsley but are even more grassy and savoury – they are delicious, and it’s so satisfying to know that they have not been binned either by me or by the supermarket. If you can’t find carrots with tops, a bunch of parsley will do in their place.
Serves 4
carrots with tops 4 (see above)
beetroots 4
lemons 2
red wine vinegar 1 tbsp
runny honey 1 tbsp
polenta 250g
extra virgin olive oil
fresh sage a small bunch
parmesan or pecorino cheese (I use a vegetarian one) a grating (optional)
Preheat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7. Fill and boil a kettle and get all your ingredients together.
First, pickle your vegetables. Using a mandolin or your excellent knife skills, peel and finely slice the carrots (saving the tops for later) and beetroots and put them into a large bowl. Squeeze over the juice of 1½ lemons and add the red wine vinegar and honey. Add a couple of pinches of salt and pepper and put to one side.
Now pour 1.5 litres of boiling water into a large saucepan and bring to a simmer on a medium heat. Slowly pour in the polenta, whisking as you go. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper and continue to whisk as the mixture thickens. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and whisk it in, then leave on a very low heat to blip away, whisking again from time to time. It will take about 25 minutes to cook.
While this is happening, spread your pickled vegetables out over two baking trays, drizzle with a little oil and put into the oven to roast for 20 minutes. Reserve the pickling liquor for later.
Keep an eye on the polenta while you make a quick pesto with the carrot tops. Wash the carrot tops well and pat them dry. Blitz them in a food processor with the juice of the other half of the lemon, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of the pickling liquor and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Turn the vegetables in the oven – they should be starting to brown – and keep stirring the polenta. Pick the sage leaves from the stalks and toss them in a little olive oil.
Once the veg has had 20 minutes, scatter over the sage leaves and put back into the oven for a further 5 minutes.
The polenta is cooked when you can no longer feel the grain – check by tasting a little, but let it cool down on the spoon first, as it will be hot. Once it is ready, season well with salt and pepper and, if you are using it, grate in the cheese.
Serve the polenta topped with the roasted veg and sage and spoonfuls of the carrot-top pesto.
Fragrant herb and star anise pho
I love the idea of pho: noodles, herbs and a soothing broth. But most pho is made with a bone broth. Some places make a vegetarian version, but I have to say I have never had a good one so I’ve always felt a bit left out of the pho craze. This is a killer vegetarian version. The key here is charring the onions and garlic well first, which gives a rich, smoky flavour to the stock. I have made this for a number of pho connoisseurs and it got the seal of approval.
I often make double the amount of stock in my biggest pan and freeze half to use as a really full-flavoured addition to soups and stews. You can use normal basil here, but if you are lucky enough to be able to get your hands on them you could also use shiso/parilla and Vietnamese mint and basil.
If you are really hungry then some pan-fried tofu, tossed in maple and soy at the end of cooking, would be a good addition.
Serves 4
For the stock
onions 2
garlic 1 bulb
ginger a small hand
cinnamon a 5cm stick
star anise 4
cloves 3
coriander seeds 1 tbsp
vegetable stock powder 1 tsp, or stock cube ½
dried mushrooms (Asian if you can find them) a large handful
soy sauce or tamari 1 tbsp
carrots 4
For the rest
dried flat rice noodles or pho noodles 200g
fresh Thai or Vietnamese basil or other herbs a small bunch
fresh coriander a small bunch
pak choi or spinach 300g
sugar snap peas 200g
limes 4-5
beansprouts 200g
good chilli oil
Fill and boil a kettle and get all your ingredients together. Heat a large saucepan over a high heat.
Peel and quarter the onions and halve the bulb of garlic, bash the ginger until it almost starts to break up. Add the onion, ginger and garlic to the dry pan and toast until blackened and charred all over. This will take 4-5 minutes.
Next, add the cinnamon, star anise, cloves and coriander seeds and toast for a couple of minutes, stirring all the time. Now add 2 litres of hot water from the kettle, the stock powder or cube, the mushrooms and the soy or tamari and bring to a simmer. Chop the carrots into 2cm chunks and add these too. Cook for 25 minutes, until all the flavours have infused.
While the stock is simmering, put the noodles into a bowl, cover with boiling water from the kettle and put to one side. Drain after 8 minutes or following the packet instructions.
Pick the leaves from the stalks of all your herbs, quarter your pak choi and halve your sugar snap peas, lengthways.
Once the stock has had its time, sieve it into a large bowl and pour it back into the pan. Add the juice of 3-4 limes, depending on how juicy they are. Taste and adjust, make sure the lime, soy and spices come through, then add the sugar snaps and pak choi or greens and simmer for a couple of minutes, until the leaves have wilted a little.
Divide the drained noodles between four bowls and ladle over the stock and vegetables. Serve with beansprouts, herbs and the remaining lime cut into wedges, with some chilli oil for everyone to add as they choose.
Avocado, cucumber and fennel soup
This soup couldn’t be easier and is one of the quickest recipes I’ve ever made. It’s what I eat on hot days or when I feel like something light, refreshing and cleansing. I don’t think that this kind of super-fresh food should be banished from the winter though. I have been known to eat a bowl of this in front of the fire in January after the Christmas-eating enthusiasm.
I mention using avocado oil here; if you don’t have it, a good extra virgin olive oil will be great, but avocado oil has such an amazing buttery taste that it is worth searching out. Use it anywhere you might use good olive oil, to finish soups and in dressings.
Serves 2 as a meal, or 4 as a starter
avocado 1, ripe
cucumber 1
fennel ½ a large bulb
Greek or coconut yogurt 2 tbsp
lemon juice of half
ice cubes a handful
fresh dill a few sprigs
fresh basil a few sprigs
green chilli ½
pumpkin seeds a handful, toasted
extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
Get all your ingredients together. De-stone the avocado and scoop the flesh into the jug of a blender. Chop the cucumber and fennel into large pieces and add these too, along with the yogurt, lemon juice, ice cubes and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Blitz on high until you have a completely smooth pale green soup. Taste the soup and add more lemon or salt if needed; the flavour should be subtle and refreshing, with a back-note of lemon.
Once the soup is completely smooth, pour into bowls and top with fronds of dill, little basil leaves, chopped green chilli, some pumpkin seeds and a good drizzle of oil. If it’s a really hot day you can add a couple more ice cubes, too.
Buddha bowls
This is a knockout, a Rocky Balboa of a dish. A heady, peanut-spiked curry topped with a bright carrot pickle, crispy kale and a scattering of toasted seeds.
It is based on a brilliant bowl I ate at a very grey Glastonbury Festival. Knee-deep in mud, wet through after hours of biblical rain, I was getting a bit grumpy with hunger and was in need of some proper nourishment. These Buddha bowls came to my rescue. This is the version I make at home, which I love. It will taste best standing in the rain, in a field, after walking in circles for at least an hour.
This all comes together in 45 minutes but you do need to stay on top of a few things at once. This list of ingredients may look long, but I promise this is simple to make. I’ll talk you through it. If you want to do this really quickly or are feeling very lazy you could use a massaman curry paste – bigger supermarkets stock a good one. I always take the extra few minutes to make the paste, though. You can also make a double batch of the paste and freeze it.
If you can’t get unsalted peanuts, roasted salted ones will do. I rinse with cold water and drain on kitchen paper so it’s not a salt overload.
Serves 4
For the paste
fennel seeds ½ tsp
coriander seeds ½ tsp
cardamom seeds from 6 pods
black peppercorns ½ tsp
ground cloves ½ tsp
ground cinnamon ½ tsp
dried chilli flakes ½ tsp
fresh ginger a thumb-sized piece
shallot 1
lemongrass 1 stalk
fresh coriander a large bunch
garlic 2 cloves
coconut oil
For the curry
new potatoes 500g
unsalted peanuts 150g
coconut milk 1 x 400g tin
tamarind paste 2 tbsp
runny honey 1 tbsp
sea salt
green beans 200g, trimmed
firm tofu 200g
fresh pineapple 2 slices
The rest
brown basmati rice 150g
coconut oil
carrots 2 medium
lime 1
runny honey a squeeze
rice wine vinegar a splash
kale 150g
mixed toasted seeds (I use a mixture of poppy, sesame and pumpkin) 50g
Fill and boil a kettle and get all your ingredients and equipment together. You’ll need a small food processor or blender for the paste, a couple of large saucepans and a frying pan.
Keeping the skin on, chop the potatoes into 1-2cm chunks. Put them into a pan, cover with boiling water, add some salt, then bring to the boil and cook until tender – this should take about 5 minutes.
Put your brown rice into another pan with twice its volume of cold water, some salt and a knob of coconut oil and put on a high heat to boil for 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye on the rice while you do your other jobs, making sure it doesn’t boil dry.
Next, make the paste. Toast the fennel, coriander and cardamom seeds and the peppercorns in a dry pan for a couple of minutes, then put into a food processor with all the other ground spices and the chilli flakes. Peel and roughly chop the ginger and shallot, discard the tough outer layer of the lemongrass and chop the inner stalk, then add it all to the processor. Cut the stalks off the coriander and add these with the garlic. Add a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil and blend on high until you have a paste.
Heat a large pan on a high heat, then add the peanuts and stir for a minute before adding the paste. Fry for a couple of minutes more, then add the coconut milk, tamarind, honey and a good pinch of salt. Drain the potatoes, add them to the sauce and cook for 5-10 minutes until it’s a good consistency.
To make the quick pickle, grate the carrots into a bowl and add the zest and juice of a lime, a squeeze of honey, a splash of vinegar and a pinch of salt. Finely chop the coriander leaves and add to the bowl, then put to one side.
Use the pan you toasted the spices in to pan-fry the kale on a medium heat in a little coconut oil, adding some salt and freshly ground black pepper, until wilted but starting to crisp.
Once the potatoes have had 5 minutes in the sauce, add the green beans. Cut the tofu into 1cm cubes, then cut the pineapple into pieces about the same size, discarding the skin. Add both to the curry and simmer for a few minutes, topping up with hot water if the curry is getting dry.
Once the rice and the curry are ready, ladle the rice into bowls and top generously with the curry. Finish off with a pinch of carrot pickle, some greens and a sprinkling of seeds.
Saffron apricots
The quickest, most exotic-tasting pudding I know, made mainly of things that sit happily in your cupboard.
I usually use the deep, dark, unsulphured apricots, as I find them more delicious and easier to digest. The cooking time for these will depend on how soft your apricots are – some are only semi-dried and will cook quicker than the harder, fully dried ones, so adjust your cooking time accordingly.
I use orange blossom water here to add a heady fragrant taste, which I love. If you can’t find it, it will work without. I serve these with a spoonful of coconut yogurt or good thick Greek stuff, and they are equally good on top of some vanilla ice cream.
Serves 2
dried apricots 100g
saffron strands a good pinch
oranges juice of 2
orange blossom water 1 tbsp
runny honey a couple of tsp
chopped pistachios or almonds optional
Put the apricots into a small pan with the saffron and orange juice and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, until the apricots have softened. Scoop the apricots out and put the orange and saffron back on the heat to reduce a little. This will take a couple of minutes.
Allow to cool before spooning the apricots and syrup into bowls. Daintily drizzle over the orange blossom water and squeeze over a little honey. Top with yogurt and some chopped pistachios or almonds, if you like.
A Modern Way to Cook by Anna Jones (Fourth Estate, £25). Click here to order a copy for £20 from the Guardian Bookshop
