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...

Spanish vegetable stew

Here's another autumn dish - filling and delicious, but with a few flavours of summer in there. And it's packed with vegetables. Aubergines seem to be cheap and abundant at the moment, and this is one of my favourite ways to use them. The other good thing about this dish is that it doesn't require much preparation, just a bit of time in the oven while you get on with something else.

This is based roughly on a recipe from the Eagle in Farringdon, which was arguably the first London gastropub back in the early 1990s. I think I have been making this recipe, on and off, for the last 15 years or so.

I've called it a stew but it's also hovering near the salad zone, especially if you eat it at room temperature. I slightly prefer it hot but either will be pretty good.

Ingredients

Serves 4

Two red peppers
Two aubergines
Two courgettes
Two to four potatoes (use an all-purpose or floury potato, not new - two if they are jacket potato size, three or four if they are smaller)
Two to four onions, unpeeled (as with the potatoes, depends on size)
1 bunch fresh basil, roughly chopped
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method 

Put the whole onions, aubergines, potates and peppers in a roasting tin and cook them for 30 minutes (check them after 25, but the potatoes and onions may need longer) or until they are all soft.

Slice the courgettes into medium rounds, coat them in 1 tbsp of the olive oil and cook them in a separate tray for about 25 minutes or until soft but not burned. Take out any vegetables which are in danger of burning and set them aside while the rest finish cooking. 

As soon as the vegtables are cool enough to handle, discard the aubergine and pepper stems, the pepper seeds, and peel and trim the onions. Cut everything into rough chunks (I sometimes find it easier to do this with a pair of scissors than a knife).

Mix together with the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil and half the basil. Season to taste. Serve with the rest of the basil scattered on top and some crusty bread on the side, if you like. You can eat it hot straight away or later at room temperature.

Griddled courgettes with goats' cheese, couscous and beans

I confess to a slight love affair with griddled courgettes at the moment. Courgettes seem to be around in abundance, and griddling them in long strips gives them both sweetness and interesting charred notes.

With the help of some frozen vegetables, this easy dish took me less than 20 minutes to put together - ideal for a quick dinner after work.

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.

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.

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.)

Very green pie

This is, as the title says, a very green pie. No wonder when it's filled with punchy wild garlic leaves, earthy spinach which adds some mellowness, and sweet peas to balance out the other flavours. And of course, some feta cheese, which isn't green but adds a salty, creamy tang.

Apologies if any of you are getting bored of my springtime wild garlic dishes - but fear not, you can use extra spinach if you don't have any wild garlic.

Celebrating spring: wild garlic and pea lasagne

Yesterday was the perfect spring day - boundless sunshine, daffodils blooming and, finally, some real warmth in the air. Just being out in the countryside on a day like that is enough to bring joy to the soul. The previous day I had seen a pond full of frogs doing what frogs do in spring time, so all in all it definitely felt like nature was bursting into life.

I gained even more joy by discovering some wild garlic already looking lush and green in the Surrey Hills. I hadn't expected it to be ready for a few weeks yet - it's amazing how much earlier everything seems to be happening this year.

Here's the dish I created to celebrate springtime and the first of the wild garlic. Lasagne is often served with garlic bread, but I've put the garlic in the lasagne instead.

Risotto with peas and thyme

I think I've lost count of the number of times that a packet of frozen peas has saved the day. Versatile, cheap, almost as good as fresh, and there in the freezer when you need them  - what more could you ask for?

Last night I had very little in the fridge and even less inspiration. Peas and rice saved the day. Turning half the peas into a puree adds body to the rice and means that every grain of rice comes with the fresh, sweet flavour of peas. And my pot of lemon thyme on the windowsill turned it from a slightly pedestrian dish into something a bit more sophisticated. If you don't have lemon thyme, normal thyme will do, and you might want to add a bit of lemon zest. Or ring the changes with other herbs you have around - parsley, basil, chives...

Chick pea and spinach curry with cucumber raita

Here's a quick, healthy and cheap recipe - what more could you ask for? I've used curry powder to speed things up, but you could use a curry paste instead, or mix your own spices. I find the best approach with curry powder is to try a few brands and find one you are happy with.

This curry might be a good way to use the rest of the chick peas you have cooked for this previous recipe. Or you can use the tinned kind.

The cucumber raita is not essential, but the creaminess works really well in contrast to the curry, and it's cool and refreshing too.

Risotto with leeks, soft cheese and herbs

This was my Valentine's night dinner. You might not think it the most romantic meal imaginable, but I like its creamy texture, and the way the softened leeks give the dish a bit of oomph, but not too much. And then there's the cheese. You can use standard Brie or Camembert, or you can ring the changes.

Today I was admiring the cheeses at Partridges food market on the Duke of York Square, near Sloane Square. The Bath Soft (from the eponymous Bath Soft Cheese Co) is one of my favourites and is a cracking cheese to use in this risotto. Another stall featured Wildes cheeses, which were new to me but are made in Tottenham. They do a soft, mould-coated cheese which I think is probably called Londonshire, and I reckon that would work a treat here too.

Rice 'n' spice: lentil 'risotto' with roasted spiced veg

I hesitate to use the word risotto here: it's certainly not a dish an Italian would recognise. Anyway, lentils and rice are great together, so I thought I'd try to find a different way of cooking them. The result is almost a savoury porridge, with some brightly-coloured spiced vegetables on top. But if you prefer, you could just cook the rice in a separate pan and have the lentils like a daal alongside.

Feel free to vary the vegetables according to what takes your fancy and what you have around.

Nutty stuffed onions

It's not often that I can be bothered to stuff vegetables, but this simple stuffing turns onions (not, let's face it, the most glamorous vegetable) into the star of a meal.

This dish is based mainly on store-cupboard ingredients and is quite handy for using up odds and ends - like the half-used packet of nuts that's been hanging around for a little while and risks turning rancid if it's not used up soon. I've suggested hazelnuts but you could definitely use walnuts or pecans, or some other kind of nut if you fancy it. Similarly, if you've got a little bit of leftover rice, bulghur wheat or couscous, or some stale bread that can be turned into breadcrumbs - here's a dish that can use it up.

A healthy feast for January: lentils and winter veg with baked mushroom and poached egg

Lentils are a very under-rated food, I think. Healthy, filling, full of protein - they are just the thing for January when you are trying to undo the effects of Christmas excess. They soak up other flavours and there's something comforting about them. A lentil-based meal doesn't feel like self-denial in the way that a salad might.

Puy lentils are definitely the most chic and the ones you tend to see in salads and other recipes where you want the lentils to keep their shape. But actually, brown lentils do a very similar job and are much cheaper (especially if you buy them in large bags from an ethnic grocer).

This is a dish full of earthy, wintry flavours. There are a few different elements to this, but none of it is difficult and it really doesn't take too long. It's well worth spending a couple of minutes on making the marinade for the mushrooms, as the rewards in terms of flavour are enormous.

Festive veggie lunch

Here's my Christmas dinner - a fantastic squash and blue cheese Wellington. I hasten to add that I didn't make it (my talented mother-in-law did that).

You can make it ahead and freeze it, so it's ideal for entertaining when you've got lots of other things to sort out. Served with roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots and the obligatory Brussels sprouts, it was extremely good.

The filling is quite firm when cold...

Pumpkin part 1 - preparing a pumpkin the easy way, and pumpkin and chick pea tagine

My love for a bargain is alive and well, and in the days or weeks after Halloween you can usually pick up pumpkins for not much money. It's lucky that they keep quite well (especially if you store them somewhere cool) because it's taken me until now to cook something with it.

Peeling a pumpkin and removing the seeds and fibres from the middle can seem like a bit of a faff. My labour-saving tip for cooking a pumpkin is to cut it in half, take out all the seeds, and cut the whole thing into large wedges. Put the wedges on an oven tray (or two), skin side down, and bake in a medium-hot oven until the flesh feels soft when pierced with a fork (possibly 30-45 minutes, depending on the thickness of the wedges and the temperature of your oven).

Stuffed mini squash

Halloween may be a distant memory, but there are still some pumpkins and squashes around to brighten up the dark days. With different shades of orange, green and cream, they are among the most attractive of vegetables - a bowl of small ones is just as good as an ornament for the kitchen table as it is on the plate.

These miniature orange ones turned out to have a lovely, sweet flavour - much better than the larger ones sold for carving at Halloween. To make the most of their cute appearance, I decided to stuff them and serve them whole.

Cheap-as-chips chilli

People have been making meals for very little money for probably as long as money has existed. But it seems to be only recently that the idea of frugal food has made it into television programmes and cookbooks and newspaper columns.

This chilli is something I've been making on and off for years, in slightly different incarnations. As always, it depends on where you buy your ingredients from, but I costed this at about 40p a portion.