Fed up with green peas and over cooked broccoli?
A healthy diet is a varied diet, but it is not always easy to know how to cook tasty and nutritious unfamiliar food. Here is a few ideas on how to cook quickly and simply some of the seasonal vegetables.
Carrots in a Bag
Ingredients: 500g carrots, thyme or rosemary or mustard seeds, olive oil, salt flakes. Parchment paper.
Preheat your oven to 180ºC.
Clean the carrots – if 'fresh' carrots no need to peel them. And depending of their size, you might need to cut the carrots length-ways.
With a stapler and parchment paper, create a large paper bag (fold each side twice and staple). Pop the carrots in it, add some herbs or mustard seeds, salt, a dash of olive oil, and seal the bag with staples.
Place in the oven and cooked for 20-25 mins. Careful not to burn yourself when opening the bag.
Braised pointed Cabbage
Ingredients: 1 pointed cabbage, 300ml stock (vegetable or chicken), olive oil, salt flakes.
Remove the first layer of leaves and cut your pointed cabbage into wedges – 4, 6 or 8 depending on the size of the cabbage.
Prepare your stock (simply dilute a cube into a jug of boiling water).
In a large heavy-based frying pan with a lid, over medium heat, warm up a bit of olive oil.
Place the cabbage wedges in the pan (don’t cram it too much, make sure they all touch the bottom of the pan) and get them to a nice colour before flipping them.
Once browned on both sides, pour in a bit of stock and cover to braised the cabbage. Flip the wedges, pour more stock and cover again. When all the juice has been absorbed, check with the knife that the cabbage is cooked through. If still hard, add a bit more stock and cover. It should take between 5 and 10 mins depending on the thickness of the wedges.
Roasted Savoy Cabbage
Ingredients: 1 Savoy cabbage, 1 tsp za'atar spice blend, olive oil, salt flakes.
Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC.
Wash the cabbage under running water, remove the damaged top layer of leaves and chop the cabbage in 6 to 8 large wedges, depending on its size.
Place the wedges flat and spread out in a roasting tray, add a generous drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle some salt and a good amount of za’atar (a Middle Eastern blend of sesame seeds, sumac, herbs and spices)
Put it in the oven for 30 mins and bake until some of the leaves turn brown and crispy.
Harissa Roasted Root Vegetables
Ingredients: 3-4 beetroots, 2 sweet potatoes, 1-2 parsnips, 3 echalion shallots, 1 tbsp harissa paste, olive oil, salt, 3 tbsp fresh coriander, 1 lemon
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Clean all the vegetables and chop them in chunky wedges (no need to peel the veg except for the shallots, just brush them well – the skin is full of interesting nutrients). Place all the vegs in a roasting tray, add a drizzle of olive oil, some salt and baste with the harissa paste. Mix it all in the tray.
Put it in the oven for 45-50 mins until the beetroots are cooked through.
Sprinkle some coriander on top and serve with a squeeze of lemon (you can also add some lemon zest or, even better, some preserved lemon!)
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