A Modern Way to Cook: Over 150 quick, smart and flavour-packed recipes for every day. Anna Jones

      Gently spiced sweet potato and quinoa bowls

      The first time we made this was one of those moments where a few things pulled out of the fridge were thrown together for a quick dinner and the stars aligned to make something brilliant. It is, in fact, John’s recipe. He is amazing at cooking quick nutritious food, and about the only person I know who really truly honestly in his heart of hearts would prefer a bowl of vegetables to just about anything else.

      You can have this on your table in about 15 minutes and it uses quinoa in a way I would never have considered, yet it is so good. Here, coconut and turmeric are backed up by minerally greens and a final shock of lemon. Good, quick, tasty eating.

      I use chard, but spring greens or even spinach would work just fine. Creamed coconut instead of coconut milk gives a more intense flavour and lends itself well to quick cooking.

      SERVES 3

      150g quinoa

      1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder, or ½ a stock cube

      4 spring onions

      1 clove of garlic

      coconut oil

      2 teaspoons mustard seeds (I use black)

      2 carrots

      1 sweet potato

      ½ × 200g pack of creamed coconut

      1 teaspoon ground turmeric

      ½ × 400g tin of chickpeas, or 250g home-cooked chickpeas (see here–here)

      400g bunch of chard or spring greens

      1 lemon

      Fill and boil a kettle and get all your ingredients and equipment together.

      Weigh out the quinoa in a mug or measuring jug, making note of the level it comes up to, quickly rinse it under cold water, then pour it into a large saucepan. Fill the mug to the same level with boiling water and add to the pan, then repeat so you have double the volume of water to quinoa. Add the stock powder or cube, then put the pan on a high heat, put the lid on and cook the quinoa at a steady simmer for 10–12 minutes, until almost all the water has been absorbed and the little curly grain has been released from each quinoa seed.

      Meanwhile, chop the spring onions into thin rounds. Peel and finely slice the garlic. Put a saucepan on a medium heat and add a knob of coconut oil. Throw in the spring onions and cook for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic and the mustard seeds and cook until the seeds begin to pop.

      Peel the carrots and cut in half lengthways and then into thin slices, then do the same with the sweet potato. It’s important that the slices are thin, so that the vegetables cook quickly. Add them to the pan and cook for a minute before adding the creamed coconut, turmeric, drained chickpeas, 400ml of hot water and a good pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, until the sweet potato is soft.

      Keep an eye on your quinoa – it should have absorbed all the water by now, and the little curly grain should be visible. If it is, turn off the heat and leave the lid on.

      Finally, cut the leaves off the chard or greens and shred them finely, then finely slice the stalks. Heat a tiny bit of coconut oil in a frying pan, add the stalks and fry for a minute, then add the leaves and sauté until wilted – this will take 2–3 minutes.

      Once the sweet potato is cooked, stir the quinoa into the coconut and sweet potato. Serve in deep bowls, with the chard on top, and finish with a squeeze of lemon.

      Smoky pepper and white bean quesadillas

      10 MINUTES

      Quesadillas, like a lot of Mexican food, get a bad write-up as being cheese-laden and lazy, but they are a truly quick meal, and by filling them with not just cheese they become more nourishing and much more delicious.

      Here I have stepped away from the straight-up Mexican quesadillas and introduced some Spanish flavours. Roasted red peppers, smoky paprika and white beans – it makes me think of summer trips to Barcelona, and that can never be a bad thing.

If you are vegan, leave the cheese out and double the white beans, which hold it all together; you may want to be more generous with the seasoning too. I mostly make these at lunchtime, but they are filling enough for a dinner – you might want some sherry-vinegar-dressed green salad on the side.

      If you are making these for a party, which I often do, the filling can be made in bigger batches really easily. The quesadillas can be stacked in the fridge, filled, and ready for frying.

      SERVES 2 (MAKES 1 DEEPLY FILLED QUESADILLA)

      2 spring onions

      olive oil

      ½ teaspoon smoked paprika

      50g cooked white beans

      100g jarred, roasted red peppers

      1 unwaxed lemon

      ½ a bunch of fresh parsley

      50g Manchego cheese (see note for vegans)

      2 wholemeal or seeded tortillas or wraps

      a handful of cherry tomatoes

      Get all your ingredients together.

      Finely slice the spring onions. Put a frying pan on a medium heat, add a little olive oil, the spring onions and smoked paprika, and cook for a couple of minutes, until starting to brown.

      Meanwhile, put the white beans into a mixing bowl and mash them with a fork, then roughly chop your red peppers and add half of them to the beans. Grate over the zest of the lemon, then roughly chop the parsley and add half to the bowl. Grate in your Manchego. Once the spring onions are browned, add these too.

      Lay a tortilla or wrap on your work surface. Spoon the red pepper mixture all over it, spread it evenly, then top with the other tortilla. Heat a frying pan and toast the quesadilla for a couple of minutes on each side – I do this dry, but you can add a splash of oil if you like your quesadillas crispy. If you find it hard to flip, a plate on top might help.

      While the quesadilla is toasting, roughly chop the tomatoes, mix with the remaining peppers and parsley and squeeze in the juice of half the lemon.

      Once toasted on both sides, remove the quesadilla from the pan and cut into six pieces. Serve in the middle of the table, with the salsa for spooning over.

      Green pea and coconut soup

      15 MINUTES

      When I am hungry and impatient and I have nothing in the fridge this simple soup is the recipe I turn to.

      For a really speedy soup the pan you use is important; a small deep saucepan will mean your soup won’t come to a simmer quickly, so I suggest a deep,

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