Root vegetable tagine

Root vegetables might not be the most exciting things to have in the fridge, but with a bit of encouragement they can be as delicious as the most exotic ingredients. I like to roast them to bring out the sweetness, then add layers of flavour with spices, herbs and harissa paste.

The word tagine has come to apply to a wide variety of dishes, as long as they're looked in one pot, with vaguely Moroccan flavours and generally some dried fruit in the mix. Traditionally, of course, the word applies to the cooking pot itself. But for this dish any roasting tin with a couple of inches of depth will do just fine.

Charred broccoli, lentils and beetroot

Charred food seems to be all the rage right now. Charred (you might say burnt if you were being less pretentious) vegetables in particular are something that I'd barely encountered, at least outside of barbecues, until recently. Whether the trend began as an error by an inattentive chef (a bit like the legend of the origin of tarte tatin), I couldn't say. In any case, aubergines and peppers respond particularly well to this treatment - I made a very moreish baba ghanoush at the weekend whose smokiness was matched only by the kick of garlic.

But brassicas are worth trying too. Bringing a bit of char to broccoli brings out a sweetness in its stems, balanced by a hint of bitterness from the burnt patches on the florets. If you ask me, it's as glamorous as broccoli ever gets.

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.

Salty and sweet: pear and blue cheese pizza

I admit, when I first saw the word "pear" in close proximity to "pizza" I was sceptical. Fruit? Really? (I know there's a school of thought that says pineapple is an acceptable pizza topping, but I think I left that school about 20 years ago.)

But actually the sweetness of the pear is perfect with the salty blue cheese. I'm often a fan of the classic tomato sauce on pizza, but the slowly cooked onion is great for a change, and the caramelly notes adding another dimension, with the spinach as a gentle backdrop of earthiness.
 

Winter pilaff with red onions, leeks and olives

This dish was born from some huge red onions I picked up at the farmers market yesterday. Almost the size of swedes and with glossy purple skins, they were the stand-out buy on the vegetable stall, not to mention being cheap as chips (actually much cheaper, gram for gram).

Then there were the leeks that were lingering in the fridge, waiting to be used up. Both leeks and onions are faithful winter favourites, which just needed a bit of fire adding to them. Lemon zest, olives and chilli flakes did the trick, followed by toasted flaked almonds for some nutty crunch. I had some dill in the fridge left over from another dish, but flatleaf parsley, basil or mint would work nicely too.

Savoury bread and butter pudding

"Bread and butter pudding? Surely that's a dessert?" I hear you cry.

It can be a delicious main course too. It's still a great way of using up stale bread, plus any odds and ends of cheese you have lying round. Despite the name of the dish, I skip the butter to keep the fat content down, especially as I'm using cheese too.

The recipe is almost infinitely adaptable - try different cheeses, leave out the cherry tomatoes, swap the onions for leeks (in which case I would be tempted to go for a blue cheese such as Stilton), or try other vegetables such as spinach or mushrooms instead of or as well as the onions.

Black bean soup

I love all kinds of beans and lentils, but black beans aren't a variety I've cooked with too often.

I've used the canned kind in chilli in the distant past, but generally kidney beans are my go-to variety for a chilli (sometimes with chick peas too). Cannelini beans or other creamy white beans are what I turn to for dips and Italian-inspired dishes such as stews and soups. And then chick peas have all kinds of uses - in substantial salads, pasta sauces, hummus, occasionally a curry. (Writing this list, it occurs to me that it's time I showed black-eyed beans a bit of love too.)