Broccoli and cauliflower with tomatoes and cheese

Broccoli and cauliflower - humble veg that get a star billing in this dish, with delicious results.

Cooking the vegetables in the tomato sauce means they soak up some of the flavours. The olives and the cheesy topping also helps to make them moreish rather than virtuous. In fact I like to think of it as the lovechild of pizza and cauliflower cheese, but with more veggies and less fat, so you can enjoy it without too much guilt.

Ode to aubergines

Aubergines seem to be my vegetable of the moment. Maybe it's the generous plumpness, the glossy purple-black skins. Or it could be the way that cooked well, they almost collapse into a velvety softness.

But I think it's the fact that they absorb other flavours so obligingly, whilst having just enough flavour of their own. I particularly like them with spices, and / or paired with a rich tomato sauce.

The 5 best green tomato recipes

It's the time of year when anyone who grows tomatoes might have some green ones left on the plant, with no chance now of ripening. So I thought I'd put my favourite recipes in one place for anyone wondering what to do with green tomatoes. And not a jar of chutney in sight...

Green tomato and lentil curry

Here's a recipe for anyone who has unripe green tomatoes left on their tomato plants, and doesn't fancy making chutney.
And if you don't have green tomatoes, it's just as good with red ones. Or you could swap the tomatoes for spinach, or cauliflower, or whatever vegetable takes your fancy.

Easy salad for autumn

Autumn is here and sunshine becomes a precious commodity. I'm eating tomatoes while they still taste of something, but I'm all to aware that this won't be the case for much longer. Savoy cabbages are in all the shops - my favourite type of cabbage, with their crinkly leaves and a flavour that manages to be well-developed without any bitterness.
 

Salad of roasted tomatoes and rocket

Summer is fast disappearing, so I'm enjoying tomatoes while I can - they never taste the same when they haven't had the benefit of sunshine to ripen them. I find peppers to be more consistent year-round, but they still feel like a late-summer ingredient. So here's an easy salad that just needs a bit of time in the oven to draw out the sweetness and emphasise the flavour of the vegetables. Then there's some garlic and coriander to wake them up a bit more.

Five-minute salad with white beans and blackened peppers

This is a salad you can make in five minutes but it can be a meal in itself, especially with some slices of a crusty loaf alongside. And from just four ingredients.

Red peppers and white beans are a perfect pairing, the earthy beans setting off the sweetness of the peppers. I grill the peppers to soften them and add some smoky notes.

Quick and delicious: asparagus, cheese and tomatoes on toast

I realised that we're more than half way through English asparagus season, and I hadn't posted any asparagus recipes. Here is a really simple but delicious one to get you started.

This is one of those occasions when using a quality loaf of bread really does make all the difference.

Eat like an Egyptian: the ultimate home-made koshari

I have fond memories of koshari from my trip to Egypt last year. Some describe it as Egypt's national dish. It's often sold from dedicated koshari restaurants, although it's a popular street food too.

I initially was uncertain about trying it at home. Even in Egypt it's something that people buy rather than make themselves. There are quite a few ingredients to prepare separately, it seems dangerously close to hard work. But then I found myself with some leftover cooked lentils (I often cook a big batch of lentils so that I have some for other dishes) and some leftover pasta from a different meal. Suddenly koshari preparation almost seemed simple.

A hearty winter stew with lentils and greens

The idea for this stew started from a bag of greens and some slightly stale rolls. I thought of ribollita, that great Italian hearty soup based on cavolo nero, cannelini beans and bread. Why not do a version using spring greens, and lentils instead of beans, I wondered?

The end result is not really anything like ribollita, but it is a great, warming, substantial (and healthy) soup/stew, perfect for a cold night.

Green tomato burritos and a green tomato salsa

My enthusiasm for green tomatoes is undimmed. I've now discovered they make a great salsa - no need for lime juice, as the tomatoes have their own tartness built in.

The green tomatoes get a double billing here, adding depth to the smoky lentil filling as well as in the lively, fresh salsa to go on top.

There are almost endless variations on these burritos. If you don't have green tomatoes, they'll be delicious, if a little different, with red tomatoes too. You could make a quicker version using tinned black beans instead of the lentils. It's fun to play around with different toppings - guacamole or sliced avocado, grated cheese and chilli sauce are all options. Sour cream would be delicious too, but I rather like natural yogurt as a lighter alternative. 

Spiced lentils with green tomatoes

As you'll know if you read my last post, I had a bit of a glut of unripe tomatoes. After cooking them Italian-style turned out better than I expected, I decided to try an Indian-influenced approach. I thought about making a fairly dry curry with just green tomatoes, onions and spices. But I wanted something that I could scoop up with Indian breads - and this dish was perfect.

Tomatoes three ways: a quick and easy pasta sauce

Those of you who don't grow tomatoes may never have had cause to consider what to do with green tomatoes. It's not something I'd ever thought much about in the past. But the tomato plants in our office balcony garden were being chopped down, and were still covered in green tomatoes that had never got the chance to ripen. It seemed a shame to let them get thrown away.

I'd heard of green tomato chutney, and of course the Southern dish of fried green tomatoes (as in the 1991 film of the same name). I'm sure they're lovely, but they're not really a meal in themselves. Often when I think of tomatoes I think of pasta, so I decided to see what a pasta sauce might be like with green tomatoes.

Still pretending it's summer: pasta with fresh tomatoes, green beans and herbs

This pasta dish was made to celebrate the unseasonably warm weather, and the fact that I found some vine tomatoes really cheaply in the shops.

Very soon there won't be enough sunshine for even imported tomatoes to taste of anything much, and I'll stop buying fresh tomatoes for a few months. But for now, here's a quick pasta dish that is equally good hot, or cold as a pasta salad.

You can make this in the time it takes to cook the pasta - who needs ready meals?

Roasted vegetable lasagne with goats' cheese

It's harvest time - or at least, so the Fortnum and Mason shop window tells me (I was walking past, not doing my shopping there, I hasten to add). Living in a city, you can feel disconnected from these landmarks in the food year, these rural rituals. But even I can spot all the cheap courgettes in the market, and if you have an allotment or vegetable garden, you're probably rushing to use them before they turn into marrows.

A roasted vegetable lasagne feels like a fittingly celebratory dish, stuffed full with shiny plump vegetables - not just courgettes but aubergines, onions, peppers and tomatoes. I've been making it for years. Actually, it was probably one of the first proper dishes I made without a recipe, and I've loved it ever since.

Cauliflower couscous

Cauliflower. It's never been a favourite of mine. But I'm really feeling the love for it at the moment. Maybe my taste buds have changed (matured or faded?) as I've got a little older. Maybe it's just trying some interesting new dishes - see also the cauliflower based "pizza" from last week. Not so long ago my cauliflower repertoire didn't extend much beyond cauliflower cheese, cauliflower soup, and cauliflower curry, so I've really enjoyed trying some new dishes.

One of the great things about cauliflower is that British-grown cauliflower is available almost all year round. Prices vary, but it's usually a good-value veg. I take great delight in buying two large caulis for a pound at Brixton farmers' market on a Sunday, and always pick the heftiest specimens I can find. Two large cauliflowers does tend to mean I spend most of the following week eating cauliflower - so don't be surprised to see some more cauliflower recipes on here soon.

Heat and fire: Griddled asparagus with roasted cherry tomatoes

One of the things that still fascinates me about food is the way that applying some heat can change the flavour so much. And different types of heat change the flavour in different ways.

I never get bored of steamed asparagus - and there's a lot to be said for this simple treatment that allows the vegetable to speak simply of itself. But griddled asparagus expresses itself just as eloquently, but with charred notes that bring an extra hit of umami, that sixth, intensely savoury taste. And because the asparagus hasn't been cooked in water, it keeps every bit of flavour. And then it's robust enough to marry with strong tastes like tomato, olives and goats' cheese.

Shakshouka - a kind of Egyptian omelette

Shakshouka is a dish found in several parts of the Middle East and Africa. I had thought of it as primarily Tunisian, but in my recent visit to Egypt found it popular there too. Previously, though, I have always seen it as a dish of eggs poached or baked in a spicy sauce of tomatoes or other vegetables (which is indeed delicious).

But in Egypt - specifically Luxor - the eggs were mixed in with the vegetables to give an effect which sometimes was more like a baked omelette or tortilla and other times more like spicy scrambled eggs.

Warm salad of leeks and tomatoes

I often use leeks in pies and risottos, but here's a more summery, Mediterranean way with leeks. This fairly humble vegetable pairs really well with the more bright and glamorous flavours of tomatoes and olives. Use cherry tomatoes if you can - I couldn't get hold of any on the day I made this dish.

This makes a nice side dish, or perhaps a light lunch with some crusty bread. Adding some new potatoes will make it more substantial.

How to get your 5-a-day in one go plus 5 ways to vary it

I'm trying hard to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables (especially the vegetables). This is partly because I prefer a positive approach to healthy eating - ie eat lots of good stuff, rather than obsessing about cutting out the bad stuff. Plus, as I mentioned recently, there's good evidence that eating vegetables and fruit is linked to a longer life - and that seven portions is better than five (five is the current UK official recommendation, based on the World Health Organisation.)