A Modern Way to Cook: Over 150 quick, smart and flavour-packed recipes for every day. Anna Jones
thumb-size piece of fresh ginger
200g soba noodles (I use 100% buckwheat ones)
100g kale, chard or spring greens
4 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
1 lime
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds, plus extra to serve
a small bunch of fresh coriander
Get all your ingredients together.
Peel the carrot and cut into thin rounds or matchsticks as you like, then do the same with the beetroot. Put a splash of olive oil into a frying pan, then peel and roughly chop the ginger, add to the pan and cook for a minute. Add the carrot and beetroot, a good pinch of salt and about 100ml of water and cook for 5–6 minutes, until all the liquid has evaporated and the carrot and beet have softened.
In the meantime, cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, then drain and cool in cold water.
Shred the greens and mix them with the vinegar, a pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon maple syrup. Scrunch them in your hands for a minute to mix the flavours together.
Once all the water has evaporated from the carrot and beetroot, add the sesame oil, soy or tamari, the other teaspoon of maple syrup, the juice of the lime and the black sesame seeds. Throw in the noodles and toss in the dressing to warm everything through.
Serve the noodles in deep bowls, with the pickled greens and chopped coriander leaves on top, plus some more black sesame seeds and extra limes.
Seeded halloumi and harissa rainbow bowl
20 MINUTES
This is a bowl filled with a few favourite things as well as a killer harissa dressing, burnished seed-encrusted halloumi, my new favourite grain freekeh and of course some avocado. I vary the veg I use here according to the season. I have given you my summer version in the recipe, but below are some ideas for the rest of the year.
spring – asparagus, peas, spring greens
summer – tomatoes, yellow beetroots, kale
autumn – red beetroots, grated carrot, kale
winter – have a bowl of soup
Freekeh is a type of wheat and means ‘rubbed’ in Arabic. The story goes that in 2300 BC a shed containing the harvest’s young green wheat burnt down. The locals thought the crop was ruined, but they discovered that by rubbing the burnt husk off the wheat it was still edible and in fact toasty and delicious. If you can’t get freekeh, any quick-cooking grain like millet or quinoa would work too.
SERVES 4
150g freekeh
coconut oil
300g (or a very big handful) cherry tomatoes
4 beetroots (I use yellow ones)
200g kale (I use purple)
1 lime
1 ripe avocado
200g block of halloumi cheese
2 tablespoons mixed seeds (I used poppy and sesame)
the juice of ½ a lemon
a small bunch of mint
a small bunch of dill
FOR THE DRESSING
a bunch of spring onions
1 teaspoon runny honey
1 tablespoon harissa
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
the juice of ½ a lemon
Weigh out the freekeh in a mug or measuring jug, making a note of the level it comes up to, then put it into a bowl and cover with cold water. Rub the grains in your hands, then drain and wash once more in the same way. Put the freekeh into a pan. Fill the mug or jug to the same level with water and add to the pan, then repeat so you have double the volume of water to freekeh. Add a pinch of salt and a knob of coconut oil, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes until soft but still with a little bite.
Meanwhile, finely slice and fry the spring onions in a little coconut oil until just starting to brown, then scoop them into a jug and add all the other dressing ingredients. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
Cut the tomatoes in half. Peel the beetroots and use a mandolin or your excellent knife skills to slice them very finely. Remove the stalks and shred the kale, put into a bowl with the juice of the lime and a pinch of salt and scrunch with your hands for a minute.
Cut the avocado in half and remove the stone, then, with the skin still on, use a small knife to make incisions lengthways along the avocado to form slices.
Put a frying pan on the heat and slice the halloumi thinly. Have your seeds standing by. Put the halloumi into the hot dry pan and cook until brown on one side, which will take about a minute, then flip over and brown the other side. Scatter over the seeds and turn the halloumi in the pan until it is coated with them. Take off the heat.
Once the freekeh is cooked, drain it and dress with the lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Chop the mint and dill and mix through the freekeh.
Serve in shallow bowls, topped with all the rainbow vegetables, the seeded halloumi and generous spoonfuls of the harissa dressing.
Green mimosa salad
20–25 MINUTES
My first real job as a chef was at a beautiful local old-world restaurant in Kensington called Daphne’s. It was supposed to be Princess Diana’s favourite – you get the vibe. Starched tablecloths, Chablis, and charming waiters who had been there so long they had become part of the furniture. It was perfectly calm, pretty posh, with clean, simple salads and pastas.
I worked the starters and pastry sections both at once, quite a baptism of fire. One of the things I remember most was a dressing they made, a mimosa dressing of good Chardonnay vinegar, oil and herbs. Through a hot summer I must have dressed a thousand salads with it. In summer I often crave the simplicity of it on some greens.
I’ve made this more of a meal, though, by adding eggs. The eggs are mimosa eggs – I’ve shredded them, which may sound a bit funny at first but it’s super-quick and keeps things really light and clean. If you are vegan you can boil and grate in a few potatoes in place of the eggs – it’s still delicious.
SERVES 4
6 free-range or organic eggs
500g asparagus
200g broccoli stems (purple sprouting or Tenderstem)
½ a shallot
2 tablespoons good Chardonnay vinegar (white wine vinegar will do at a pinch)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 ripe avocado
a good bunch of fresh dill or fennel tops
1 unwaxed lemon
Greek yoghurt or crème fraîche (optional)
TO SERVE
good rye bread
Fill and boil the kettle and get all your ingredients together.
Put the eggs into a small saucepan and cover them with boiling water from the kettle. Put on a medium heat and bring back to the boil, then simmer for 7 minutes.
Next, snap