MELISSA HEMSLEY EATS GREEN

FOOD FOR LIFE SUPER HEAL veg THY

Melissa baked for breast care nurses

Future Dreams ambassador and celebrated cook Melissa Hemsley believes that healthy meals should be simple and tasty. Here she shares recipes from her new book, Eat Green.

‘It’s a practical cookbook stuffed with delicious, joyful, easy, everyday recipes for absolutely everyone – whether you eat meat, you’re vegetarian or something in between,’ she says. ‘I want to promote a relaxed way of cooking that teaches you how to put a wider variety of UK-grown, seasonal vegetables at the centre of your plate, eat less meat and cut right down on food waste.’

SERVES 2 WITH LEFTOVERS TAKES 30 MINS

FRIED CHERMOULA

CAULIFLOWER on herby bean dip with slaw

INGREDIENTS 1 medium cauliflower, save the leaves (about 800g) 2 tbsp ghee or oil Sea salt and black pepper

CHERMOULA SPICE MIX 2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp sweet paprika 2 tsp ground coriander Chilli flakes or ¼ tsp cayenne, to taste

HERBY BEAN DIP 240g cooked white beans or chickpeas (1 × 400g tin, drained and rinsed) 1 garlic clove 2 tbsp tahini Juice of 1 lemon 1 big handful of a mix of fresh parsley and coriander, leaves and stems roughly chopped separately Extra virgin olive oil, to serve

SLAW ¼ red cabbage (150g), finely shredded 1 green apple, cut into matchsticks 1 celery stick and leaves, sliced 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 tsp mustard These spiced cauliflower steaks on a green dip steal the show at any dinner party, but are super simple for a mid-week dinner, too. They come together in 30 minutes on the nose! If you want to get ahead, the dip and slaw can be made in advance, then dress the slaw while you’re cooking the cauliflower. You’ll want to try this chermoula-esque spice mix on everything, or you could fry it with onion for the base of a pumpkin soup.

Preheat the oven to fan 220°C/Gas mark 9. Slice two 2–3cm thick steaks off the cauliflower and roughly chop the remaining cauliflower florets and the leaves, keeping them separate. Mix together all the ingredients for the chermoula.

Put the cauliflower florets in a roasting tray with 1 tablespoon of the ghee or oil, half of the chermoula spice mix, sea salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 15–20 minutes, adding the chopped cauliflower leaves halfway through and tossing everything together. Melt the remaining ghee or oil in a large frying pan and fry the cauliflower steaks for 2 minutes on each side, then add the remaining spice mix and carefully turn again, coating the steaks in the spice. Cook for a further 2 minutes until just tender (you could now pop in the oven to keep warm).

Meanwhile, mix all the slaw ingredients together with the parsley and coriander leaves in a medium bowl and season to taste.

Blitz all the dip ingredients in a food processor with the parsley and coriander stems and taste for seasoning. Add 2–4 tablespoons of cold water until nice and thick. Divide the green bean dip between the plates, drizzle with olive oil and top with the hot cauliflower steak and the florets and leaves. Serve the slaw on top or on the side.

WASTE NOT

This dip is a delicious way to use up hardier parsley and coriander stems, saving the leaves for garnishing so there’s no waste, just like the cauliflower leaves. You could also make this with broccoli steaks, aubergine wedges or squash, sliced into half moons. Fennel and carrot would also be great in the slaw.

SERVES 4 TAKES 20 MINS

FRIDGE RAID frittata

INGREDIENTS

1 large head of broccoli, florets evenly chopped and stem finely chopped 1 small onion, thinly sliced 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 2 tbsp butter 10 eggs 2 large handfuls of grated cheese (I use mature Cheddar or you could use crumbled feta or goat’s cheese)

Sea salt and black pepper.

OPTIONAL EXTRAS

A handful of chopped fresh basil, parsley, chives or celery leaves

Chilli flakes, to taste 2 handfuls of wild garlic, chopped (when in season) The beauty of a frittata is that anything goes – really, it does! In this case, broccoli is the star, but let whatever is in your fridge take the lead. Always aim for some green as it’s often the green veg that most of us could do with more of. Not only is a vegetable frittata an easy and delicious way to start your day, but in this case you eat the whole broccoli in all its glory – stems and stalks – and, even better, everything happens in the same pan. If you’ve got cooked broccoli ready to go, then skip step 1 and save time.

And if you know you’ll be rushing out the door a lot this week, bake it in a 12-hole muffin tray at fan 170°C/Gas mark 5 for 10–15 minutes for a grab-and-go breakfast or snack.

WASTE NOT

This is divine with cauliflower too and tastes a bit like cauliflower cheese. The day I handed in this book, I made a celebratory clear-out-the-fridge frittata with two big handfuls of chopped mushrooms, shredded cabbage, a tablespoon of leftover cream, ¼ onion and a big pinch of fresh thyme leaves. It was delicious and too good not to share with you here.

MAKES 16 COOKIES TAKES 25 MINS

TAHINI CHOC CHIP cookies

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

4 tbsp maple syrup

2 tsp vanilla extract

150g light tahini

110g smooth nut butter

100g good-quality dark chocolate, broken up into squares, or chips

30g black and/or white sesame seeds

Pinch of sea salt The vegan version of these are just as delicious, none of us can decide which we love the most. Store these cakey cookies in an airtight container for five days. You could warm them briefly in the oven to give them a little crispening boost. The dough freezes well so double up and save half for a rainy day. Just defrost, then slice into portions before putting in the oven.

Preheat the oven to fan 170°C/gas mark 5. Line a large baking tray with reusable baking paper.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs then mix in the baking powder, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Add the tahini and nut butter and mix together until very well combined.

Roughly chop the chocolate (if not using chips) and fold through the batter along with the sesame seeds.

Measure out 16 balls of the cookie batter, roughly a tablespoon each, and bake for 10–15 minutes on the lined baking tray (making sure to leave a little room between each one) until the cookies are just set. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with a little sea salt and allow to cool on a wire rack before serving.

FLEXI SWAP

For vegans, replace the eggs with a large mashed ripe banana. You can also swap the nut butter for the same amount of a seed butter or tahini for a nut-free alternative.

Eat Green by Melissa Hemsley (£20, Ebury Press) is available now from all good bookstores.