A Modern Way to Eat: Over 200 satisfying, everyday vegetarian recipes

Pomegranate molasses is traditionally used here to add a sweet piquant roundness. Most larger supermarkets and Middle Eastern shops stock it, but if you can’t get your hands on it you can substitute a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and a tablespoon of date syrup, dark honey or agave syrup.

MAKES A GOOD JARFUL, ENOUGH FOR A CROWD TO DIP INTO

75g shelled walnuts

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 × 200g jar of roasted red peppers, or 3 freshly roasted red peppers, peeled, deseeded and chopped

2 slices of good brown bread, whizzed to breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons good-quality tomato purée

2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

1 teaspoon Turkish chilli flakes (see here) or a pinch of normal chilli flakes

juice of ½ a lemon

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preheat your oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/gas 7.

Put the nuts and cumin seeds on to a baking tray and roast for 6 minutes, until the nuts are just starting to turn golden and the cumin smells wonderful and has released its oils. Tip into a food processor and add the red peppers. Blitz to a paste, then add the breadcrumbs, tomato purée, pomegranate molasses, chilli flakes, lemon juice and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Blitz again until smooth.

With the mixer on, slowly pour in the oil and blitz until really smooth. Taste, season if needed, and blitz again. Keep tasting and balancing the flavours – you may need a bit more lemon juice, or more molasses and seasoning. Get it how you like it. This will keep well in the fridge for at least a week.

Ways to use your muhammara:

· For breakfast, spread on toast and topped with a poached egg.

· As a marinade for tofu or vegetables for barbecuing.

· Let down with a little oil as a dressing for roasted root veg, beetroots and squash.

· Piled on the side of a plate of lentils or beans, with a little yoghurt and some herbs.

Maple peanut California wraps

This wrap sustained me through a week in the desert, listening to music, a few years ago. Just the right combination of refreshing greens and vitamin-loaded carrot and good protein energy from tempeh and seeds.

But the crowning glory here is the sauce – it’s one of those sauces that hits every flavour level and leaves you wanting more. It’s good on a salad too. I have to say it has been known for me to eat two of these on the trot. They are that good. Super-quick to put together, these are a weekday lunch for me at least once a week and often make an appearance in summer for supper, with some roasted sweet potato wedges.

Tempeh is a cake of pressed soya beans. It is a great source of protein and works well in most recipes where you might use tofu. I buy my tempeh from my local health food shop. Tempeh is a fermented food, which actually makes it much easier to digest than other types of soya. Tempeh does need a bit of special treatment, such as this marinade, as its flavour is quite neutral. Firm tofu would work here too.

MAKES 4 WRAPS

4 wholemeal tortillas

2 carrots, grated

4 tablespoons mixed toasted seeds

4 handfuls of salad greens

FOR THE TEMPEH

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

200g tempeh, cut into 1cm slices

FOR THE PEANUT DRESSING

2 tablespoons all-natural peanut butter

2 teaspoons miso paste

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons tahini

juice of 1 lemon

Mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, olive oil and vinegar in a bowl. Add the tempeh and turn to coat in the marinade. Leave to one side.

Next, make the dressing. Whisk all the ingredients together, with a tablespoon of water if it’s too thick, taste and check for balance, then set aside.

Heat a dry pan and fry the tempeh for a couple of minutes on each side until browned and starting to caramelise.

Warm the tortillas – I do this by holding them with tongs over a gas flame for a few seconds, but the oven or a dry non-stick pan will do too. To assemble each wrap, place some tempeh on each tortilla, top with a quarter of the grated carrot, seeds and greens, then add a quarter of the dressing. Repeat with the rest of the wraps.

HUMMUS

If your house is anything like mine, or those of most of my friends for that matter, then a lot of pots of hummus find their way into fridges and on to tables. I usually make my own, as I like being able to adapt the flavours to what’s going on at the time, seasons, moods and what else is in the fridge. The chickpea/tahini format can get a bit samey, so here are some offbeat versions you won’t find in the shops. The principle can be followed with pretty much anything, as long as you keep to roughly the same quantities of beans/citrus/seasonings below.

These recipes are a great way to use up leftover beans.

All these keep in the fridge for 5 days. Each recipe makes a good jarful.

DATE AND BLACK SESAME

•

1 × 400g tin of cannellini beans, drained

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 medjool dates, roughly chopped

juice of ½ a lemon

½ tablespoon miso paste

sea salt

2 tablespoons date syrup

2 tablespoons toasted black sesame seeds

If you don’t have date syrup handy, a drizzle of dark honey or dark agave syrup would work really well. Well-toasted white sesame seeds will work here if you can’t get black ones.

Put your beans into a food processor with the olive oil, dates, lemon juice, miso and a pinch of salt and whiz to your preferred consistency. Taste, add more salt if necessary, and loosen with a bit of water or more olive oil if it looks too thick. I go for a good bit of whizzing, as I like a light and fluffy result, but some like more texture – you decide.

Once the texture is how you like it, scoop it into a bowl, drizzle over the date syrup and sprinkle with the black sesame seeds.

BLACK BEAN AND PUMPKIN SEED

•

1 × 400g tin of black beans

1 green chilli, destalked and roughly chopped, plus more chopped chilli to finish

a small bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped, plus more chopped coriander to finish

grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lime

1 tablespoon maple syrup

a good handful of pumpkin seeds

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

a good drizzle of olive oil

A classic Mexican combination for a reason – this is very moreish and great with the homemade tortilla chips.

Put everything apart from the extra chilli and coriander into a food processor and whiz together until it’s the texture you like. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed, and loosen with more oil or water if it’s too thick.

Scoop into a bowl. Mix the extra chilli and coriander with a little olive oil and drizzle on top.

BUTTERBEAN, ALMOND AND ROSEMARY

•

1 × 400g tin of butter beans, drained

grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

a handful of whole almonds

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked

2–3 teaspoons almond milk or water

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

a good drizzle of olive oil

a few whole almonds, toasted and chopped, to finish

Here the rosemary and almonds come together in an Italian way. This is a good start to a meal, with some griddled olive-oil-drizzled toast. I make mine with untoasted nuts, but toasted nuts add smokiness, so try both.

Put all the ingredients apart from the toasted almonds into a food processor and whiz until it’s as smooth as you like. Add a little extra water if needed until it’s a good consistency.

Top with the chopped almonds and another drizzle of olive oil.

PEA AND GREEN HERB

•

300g frozen peas

a small bunch of fresh mint

a small bunch of fresh basil

2 tablespoons good extra virgin olive oil

grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Who says you can’t make hummus with peas? Not me. Slather this on bruschetta or spoon it on top of a simple risotto; leftovers can even be stirred through pasta. Kids love this one. Sometimes I add an avocado for a bit of extra creaminess. Broad beans work just as well here. I use fresh peas in springtime – the rest of the year, frozen peas are your friend.

Pop the peas into a bowl and cover them with hot water from the kettle. Leave them to sit for a minute, then drain. Put them into a food processor with everything else and whiz until you have a bright green paste (a hand blender works well too), then taste and season with more salt and pepper or lemon if needed.

Homemade tortilla chips with charred chilli salsa

These tortilla chips are a massive hit every time I make them. So much so that I have taken to making them every time anyone comes round – even the sniff of a visitor and these are in the oven and I’m whizzing up some salsa. I love the compliments. I sort of feel a bit guilty about how much people like them, as they are so easy a five-year-old could make them. Which makes people love them even more.

These can be made easily with tortillas, wraps, round pittas, leftover chapattis, whatever you have to hand. Corn tortillas are my choice. Below is my favourite way to flavour them, but most spices work really well: cumin and coriander are favourites, and a bit of lemon zest and some chopped thyme or rosemary also goes down well.

Eat these with anything you can dip them into. In my house most often it’s this smoky salsa but mashed avocado, hummus and spice-spiked yoghurt are also really good. Try the Indian mashed avo here with chips made from chapattis and spiced with coriander and some lemon zest, for another brilliant combination.

MAKES A BIG BOWLFUL

8 tortillas, wraps, flatbreads or chapattis

olive oil

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

sea salt

FOR THE SALSA

4 spring onions

1 red chilli, pricked with a knife

20 cherry tomatoes or 8 big tomatoes

a small bunch of fresh coriander

olive oil

juice of 1 lime

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6.

Get a griddle pan on a very hot heat. Once it’s smoking hot, put the spring onions, chilli and tomatoes on the griddle and leave to char on each side. Remove the onions once they are black, then the chilli and finally the tomatoes. This will take 5 minutes or so. Transfer to a bowl to cool.

Once cool enough to handle, tip the whole lot on to a board. Use a big knife to chop everything together until you have a chunky salsa consistency, discarding the green top of the chilli as you go. When the salsa is nearly there, add the coriander and chop it into the mixture.

Put the mixture into a bowl with a good glug of olive oil, the lime juice and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Taste, balancing the flavours with more lime, salt or oil if needed.

Cut each tortilla, wrap, flatbread or chapatti into 8 triangles and scatter them over a couple of baking trays. You don’t want them to be too crowded or they won’t crisp up.

Drizzle them with oil and sprinkle over the smoked paprika and a good pinch of sea salt.

Bake for 10 minutes, until crisped and delicious. Serve piled high in bowls with the salsa.

Other ways to use your salsa:

· To top quesadillas (see here).

· To sandwich in a cheese toastie.

· To top a baked sweet potato.

· To dip potato wedges into.

· Next to a poached or fried egg for breakfast.

· To top some avocado on toast.

Spiced salt caramel popcorn

Salt-sweet caramel-coated popcorn – serve it in big bowls or in cinema-style paper containers for a proper movie night. And make lots – it goes quickly.

I love cinnamon – it’s such a comforting spice. Half a teaspoon of powdered cinnamon a day mixed into tea or hot water can help with digestion problems. Be careful to buy real or Ceylon cinnamon and not cassia. Cassia is the outer bark of the cinnamon tree – it’s darker and comes in a stick-like curl of bark. It has a punchy medicinal aroma and is used widely in America. Real cinnamon is sweeter and more calming – the sticks are lighter in colour and crumble very easily. If you buy from a good wholefood store or spice shop you should know what you are getting.

SERVES 10

a splash of vegetable oil

400g popping corn

200g unrefined light brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

a pinch of sea salt

½ a nutmeg, freshly grated

grated zest of 1 unwaxed orange

First get your popcorn popping. Heat a very large pan (make sure it’s one with a lid) on a medium heat and add a splash of oil. If you don’t have a very large pan, two smaller ones will do. Once it’s hot, add the popcorn kernels, put on the lid and turn the heat down to low. Give it a good shake every 30 seconds or so to move the kernels around and stop them burning. It will be a while before the popping starts. But when it does, it will come thick and fast, so don’t be tempted to lift the lid.

While your corn is popping you can get on with your caramel. Put the sugar into a pan with 100ml of water, place on a medium heat and bring to a simmer, being careful not to touch it. Keep it bubbling until the water has reduced and you have a deep caramel. Don’t be tempted to stir or you will end up with a crystallised caramel.

Once your popcorn has finished popping, remove it from the heat and pour it into a deep baking tray. Very carefully pour over your caramel, using a metal spoon to mix it through the popcorn – do not touch the popcorn with your hands, as the caramel will be very hot. Sprinkle over the cinnamon and salt, grate over the nutmeg and orange zest, and mix again with a spoon. Allow the caramel to cool completely before eating.

Caper, herb and soft-boiled egg sandwich

I never used to like egg sandwiches – I always veered away from them. My boyfriend John loves them, so one day I set out to make the best one he’d ever eaten. The kickback was I liked it too. Soft, just-set yolks, plenty of character from an almost tartare-style dressing and a bit of zip from some snipped green herbs. This is quick fresh food at its best. Freshly made straight on to the plate, the only way to eat egg sandwiches to my mind.

I find yoghurt really useful in the kitchen – it makes its way into baking cakes, batters, breads. I use good organic Greek yoghurt in place of mayonnaise and in more indulgent desserts, and a natural one for breakfasts and toppings. For me it’s important to vary my diet so as not to become reliant on one thing too much, so I also keep coconut milk yoghurt on hand for days when I’m feeling like changing things up a little.

MAKES 4 SANDWICHES

6 organic or free-range eggs

6 cornichons or 2 large gherkins, chopped up small

2 tablespoons little capers in brine, or big ones chopped up

2 tablespoons Greek yoghurt

1 teaspoon good Dijon mustard

grated zest and juice of ½ an unwaxed lemon

a few sprigs of fresh dill, chopped

a few sprigs of fresh parsley, chopped

optional: 1 stick of celery, chopped up small

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 slices of good bread (I like seeded stuff)

First put the eggs into a pan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Once the water is boiling, set the timer for 6 minutes (you may need a touch longer for large eggs).

Once the eggs have had 6 minutes, drain them and put them under running cold water until they have cooled a little. Then leave them in a bowl of cold water until they are cool enough to peel.

Put the rest of the ingredients apart from the bread into a bowl and mix together. Once the eggs are cool, peel and roughly chop them and add them to the bowl. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt, pepper or lemon as needed. If your bread is super-fresh there’s no need to toast it, but if it’s a little firm, pop it into the toaster. Pile the eggs on to 4 of the pieces of toast and top with the other 4 pieces.

I sometimes add a handful of seasonal salad leaves too – pea shoots, watercress and rocket all work well.

Killer smoked tofu club sandwich

John thinks this might be the best thing I have ever made. It’s basically an assembly job, putting a few good things between two slices of bread, as a sandwich should be.

MAKES 2 HEALTHY SANDWICHES

100g smoked tofu, cut into 6 slices

1 tablespoon chipotle paste

1 tablespoon mayonnaise or vegan mayonnaise

juice of ½ a lime

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 slices of good bread (I use sourdough or a seeded bread)

½ an avocado, roughly mashed

1 little gem lettuce, shredded

8 sun-blushed tomatoes

Heat a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat, then add the tofu slices and warm them on both sides.

Put the chipotle paste, mayonnaise and lime juice into a bowl, season with a little salt and pepper if needed, and mix well.

Toast your bread, and get everything on your board ready to assemble your sandwich.

Spread 2 slices of the toast with the chipotle sauce and the other 2 slices with the mashed avocado. Top the avocado with the tofu, lettuce and tomatoes. Pop the chipotle-laden slices on top, cut in half and eat immediately.

QUICK SANDWICH IDEAS

Sandwiches are one of my favourite things. Something great happens when the right combination of fillings is sandwiched between 2 slices of bread. These are modern, veg-packed sandwiches. I use good bread – sourdough, rye, seeded or even millet.

HUMMUS

SLICED TOMATO

SUN-DRIED TOMATOES

HUMMUS

BLACK OLIVES

HARISSA

TOASTED SEEDS

VEG FULL

SPROUTS

GRATED CARROT

SPINACH

MASHED AVOCADO

CHERRY TOMATOES

PESTO

FALAFEL

FALAFEL

CAPERBERRIES

TOMATOES

HUMMUS

PICKLED BEETS

SPINACH

LEMON JUICE

ASPARAGUS

BLANCHED ASPARAGUS

PARMESAN

AVOCADO

PUMPKIN SEEDS

ROCKET

LEMON JUICE

VEG CLUB

SMOKED TOFU

SLICED CHEDDAR

GHERKINS

LETTUCE

CHERRY TOMATOES

MUSTARD

MAYONNAISE

AVOCADO

MASHED AVOCADO

FETA

CORIANDER

LIME

CHERRY TOMATOES

LETTUCE

CHILLI/CHIPOTLE

BEETROOT

COOKED BEETS

GOAT’S CHEESE

PUMPKIN SEEDS

ROCKET

LEMON ZEST

SAN FRAN

PESTO

ALMONDS

PECORINO

ROCKET

HONEY

LEMON JUICE

a bowl of broth, soup or stew

There is something about one-pot cooking that feels properly nourishing. All the goodness of every ingredient is released into the soupy liquor. Most of these soups and stews come together in under 30 minutes and require only a little bit of upfront chopping. In the colder months, I tend to make a pot of soup on a Monday night, usually a double recipe in my biggest cast-iron pot. We then dip into it for lunches and dinners for the rest of the week, varying the toppings so that boredom doesn’t creep in. We start with a chunky soup and after a couple of bowls, I whiz it up and it feels brand new.

Warming winter roots · spicy tomato broth · cleansing miso · Tuscan heartiness · just-chewy udon noodles · cleansing coconut · fragrant lemongrass · smoky chilli spice · toasted nuts · crispy fried sage · crunchy tortilla crisps

Chickpea and preserved lemon stew

This was a quick evening creation. One of those moments when the stars align, even though you haven’t been to the shops, a few ingredients jump out of the fridge and effortlessly come together in the pan to make something special.

I make this when I want the warmth of a soup but need something a little heartier. The depth of flavour from the cinnamon, preserved lemon and tomato tastes like something cooked slowly for hours, but in fact this is a really quick recipe to make, and the warming flavours of Arabic spices are all the more heartening on a cold evening.

I use Israeli (sometimes called giant) couscous here, as it’s bigger, heartier and more substantial than the finer couscous and I think stands up very well to being cooked in a stew. It is available in most delis and supermarkets, though you could swap it for bulgur wheat if you like, or quinoa if you are avoiding gluten.

A note on preserving lemons: the unique salty-but-scented zippiness of preserved lemons introduces a punchy note to this stew. Use them too in salads, to add to a rice pilaf, in spiced soups and to liven up grains and beans. They are best added towards the end of cooking. I use a super-simple variation of the classic Claudia Roden recipe to make them. Cut 4 lemons into quarters, without going all the way through to the bottom, then pack the cuts generously with sea salt. Squash them into a preserving jar, seal and leave for a couple of days so that the salt draws out the juice. Top the jar up with the juice from 4 more lemons, to cover everything completely. Leave in a cool place for a month, then they are ready to use.

SERVES 4

olive oil

1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced

2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, peeled and sliced

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 × 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1 × 400g tin of chickpeas, drained

½ a veg stock cube, or 1 teaspoon veg stock powder

1 stick of cinnamon

1 preserved lemon, halved, seeds removed

a handful of raisins

100g Israeli couscous

a small bunch of fresh parsley, leaves picked and chopped

TO SERVE

a good pinch of saffron strands

4 tablespoons natural yoghurt of your choice

½ a clove of garlic, peeled and chopped super-fine

4 handfuls of rocket

a small handful of toasted pine nuts

Heat a little olive oil in a pan over a medium heat, then add the onion, carrot, garlic and a good pinch of sea salt and cook for 10 minutes, until the onion is soft and sweet.

Next, add the tomatoes and chickpeas. Fill both cans with water and add to the pan too. Add the stock cube, cinnamon stick, preserved lemon halves and raisins. Season with salt and pepper and simmer on a medium heat for 15–20 minutes, until the tomato broth has thickened slightly and tastes wonderfully full and fragrant.

Add the couscous and cook for another 10 minutes, making sure you top up with a little extra water here if necessary. I like more of a soup than a stew, so I usually add another can of water.

Meanwhile, put the saffron into a bowl with a small splash of boiling water and allow it to sit for 5 minutes. Then add the yoghurt, garlic and a pinch of salt and mix well.

After 10 minutes the couscous should be cooked, while still keeping a little chewy bite. Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed, stir through the parsley then scoop out the preserved lemon halves and ladle your stew into bowls. Top with a crown of rocket, a good spoonful of saffron yoghurt and a pile of toasted pine nuts.