SERVES 4
3 red peppers
500g mixed cherry and vine tomatoes, halved
2 handfuls of Kalamata olives (about 20), pitted
2 tablespoons little capers
grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
3 tablespoons good olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 × 250g pack of halloumi cheese, cut into 12 slices
½ a bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked and chopped
½ a bunch of fresh parsley, leaves picked and chopped
½ a bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked and chopped
If you have a gas stove, turn on the hob and use tongs to balance all 3 peppers around the naked flame, turning them every few minutes until they are charred all over. This will take 10 minutes or so. They are done when they are almost completely black and they have softened and lost their rawness. If you don’t have a gas hob, use a really hot griddle pan to char them in the same way instead, or put them under a very hot grill. Once black and charred all over, put the peppers into a bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave to sit for 5 minutes.
Put the tomatoes into a bowl with the pitted olives, capers, lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper and leave to mingle while you get on with peeling the peppers. Take the peppers out of the bowl and use your fingers to peel the blackened skin into the bowl, cleaning off as much of the skin as you can. Don’t be tempted to rinse them under the tap, as this will wash away all the flavour. Deseed the peppers, cut them into 1cm strips and add them to the bowl of tomatoes.
Now heat a frying pan on a medium heat. Add the rest of the olive oil and allow to heat up, then add the slices of halloumi and fry for 30 seconds or so on each side, until they have just turned golden. Place the halloumi on a plate, then tip the tomato mixture into the hot pan and pop back on the heat for a couple of minutes to warm through and release some juices.
Finally, add the chopped herbs and halloumi to the pan and serve straight away, warm, with some good bread and spritely greens.
Celeriac soup with hazelnuts and crispy sage
Celeriac is an under-used star. I love it and champion it in my kitchen. Sometimes it’s simply roasted with salt and pepper, other times it’s smashed with lemon and thyme or just eaten raw, finely sliced in a remoulade.
Here it’s the centrepiece of a comforting soup. Apples are the perfect foil for adding sweetness, while the butter beans bring creaminess, so no need for cream or crème fraîche here. The soup can be eaten simply as it is, but have a go at the brown butter – it amps it up and makes this soup a real winner. If you haven’t made brown butter before, it’s got a deep nutty flavour which melds with the crispy sage and toasted hazelnuts to send this soup to a different dimension.
Celeriac is a bit of a beast to look at. But looks are not everything – beneath the gnarly, knobbly exterior lies a creamy white flesh with a sweet, nutty, super-savoury flavour. It packs some serious health benefits. It’s high in fibre, potassium, magnesium and vitamin B6. Peel your celeriac thickly to get rid of any green tinges around the edge and any muddy leftovers.
SERVES 6
olive oil
1 leek, washed, trimmed and finely sliced
1 celeriac, washed, peeled and roughly chopped
4 apples (Cox’s are my choice), cored and roughly chopped
a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
1.5 litres vegetable stock
1 × 400g tin of butter beans, drained
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
TO SERVE
a handful of hazelnuts
100g butter
a few sprigs of fresh sage, leaves picked
Heat a splash of oil in a large pan, then add the leek and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes, until soft and sweet. Add the celeriac, apples and thyme and cook for 2–3 minutes, then add the stock and butter beans and season well. Simmer over a low heat for 20–30 minutes, until the celeriac is tender, then remove from the heat and blitz with a hand blender until smooth.
Toast the hazelnuts in a frying pan until golden brown then remove from the pan and put to one side. Add the butter to the pan and once it is hot add the sage and fry until it is crispy and the butter is light brown. Keep the heat low for this last bit and take the pan off as soon as you see the butter turn brown, as it can burn really quickly.
Ladle into bowls and top with the sage and hazelnut brown butter.
Lemony lentil and crispy kale soup
I love this simple soup, which is somewhere between a dhal and a soup – it reminds me of the curry that is served in southern India with dosas. This soup is cleansing and clean, thanks to being spiked with turmeric and a lot of lemon. It’s what I crave if I’ve over-indulged or been around food too long (an occupational hazard – a very nice one). I serve this with a kitchari.
Turmeric is a favourite spice of mine. If I am feeling off-colour I stir a teaspoon into hot water and sip it as a reviving tonic. I love the vibrant, deep saffron-gold colour, the clean, sharp, savoury acid note and the hard-to-put-your-finger-on flavour. It’s a real star on the health front, as it is an anti-inflammatory and has anti-carcinogenic properties. What a spice.
SERVES 4–6
a splash of olive or rapeseed oil
1 leek, washed, trimmed and finely sliced
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
juice of 2–3 lemons
250g split red lentils
1 veg stock cube, or 1 tablespoon veg stock powder
4 handfuls of kale (or other greens), washed, trimmed and shredded
TO SERVE (OPTIONAL)
yoghurt, stirred with a little sea salt
Get a large pan on the heat. Add a little oil and turn the heat to medium. Add the leek and fry for a few minutes, until it has softened and smells sweet, then add the spices and fry for another couple of minutes. Squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon and stir around to lift all the spices from the bottom of the pan.
Next, add the lentils, 1.5 litres of water and the stock cube or powder and allow to bubble away for 20–35 minutes, until the lentils are cooked and the soup has thickened.
Turn off the heat and, if you like, you can blitz the whole lot to a thin dhal consistency, then squeeze in the juice of the remaining 2 lemons, tasting as you go to make sure it doesn’t get too lemony. It may seem like a lot, but you really want the lemony tang to come through.
Just before you’re ready to serve, sauté the kale in a little olive oil until it slightly softens but begins to crisp at the edges.
Ladle into bowls and top with the salted yoghurt and the crispy kale.
White