Spring greens

Here's a super-healthy vegetable dish that only takes about ten minutes to make. It can be a vibrant, spring-like side dish; a topping for bruschetta; a mixture to stir into a risotto; or even a meal in its own right, topped with a poached egg and perhaps with some fresh bread on the side.

Frozen vegetables are the key to making this super-speedy, but feel free to use fresh broad beans and/or beans if you prefer.

I have to admit I rarely have the patience to remove the grey-green skins from broad beans, especially when using as many of them as this recipe does. But feel free to peel them if you wish (if you're using frozen beans, you'll need to defrost them before peeling, obviously).

Ingredients

1 bunch asparagus, 200-300g, chopped into short lengths, tips kept separate
400g frozen broad beans
300g frozen peas
200ml vegetable stock
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small bunch basil leaves, most chopped and a few left whole for garnish
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling (optional)
Freshly grated Parmesan (option)

Method

Heat the vegetable stock in a large lidded frying pan. Add the garlic and asparagus stems, cover and cook for two minutes before adding the asparagus tips.

After a further two minutes, add the frozen broad beans, then add the frozen peas three minutes later. Re-cover the pan and cook until the vegetables are all piping hot and the asparagus is cooked to your liking. Stir in the fresh basil and season to taste - you'll likely want plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle over the olive oil and add the grated Parmesan, if using.

If serving as a bruschetta topping, toast slices of ciabatta or similar bread, rub with garlic and then spoon the vegetables generously on top, along with with a good drizzle of olive oil.