onions 3
pak choi 125g
enoki mushrooms 100g
Thai basil a small bunch
a lime
light soy sauce
Bring a medium-sized pan of water to the boil. Add the sugar snaps or shelled peas and let them boil for two minutes, then lift them out with a slotted spoon and drop them into a bowl of cold water.
Warm the stock in a large pan. When the stock is hot, add the miso, stirring until it has dissolved. The stock should be very hot but not boiling. Finely slice the spring onions and add half to the stock. Halve the pak choi and push the pieces down into the stock. Remove and discard the roots from the enoki mushrooms, then add to the stock too.
Tear up the Thai basil leaves. Squeeze the juice from the lime. Divide the hot broth between four bowls, and add the remaining spring onions, the peas, basil leaves and the lime juice. Pass soy sauce around at the table, leaving everyone to season as they wish.
• Clear, light, gentle. I look upon this as something for those moments when you want a bowl of soup that is quietly sustaining rather than filling. A full-flavoured vegetable stock is essential, as is a generous hand with the seasoning. I tend to use chicken stock for this. I would leave the addition of soy sauce to individual diners. Just a little for me please, as I find soy sauce all too easily dominates everything in its path.
The comfort of grains. The sweetness of ripe fruit. The vibrancy of lemon and parsley.
Serves 2–3, as a main dish
vegetable or chicken stock or water 75ml
bulgur wheat 50g
radishes, mixed colours 20
nectarines, ripe 2
parsley 100g
juice of a large lemon
watercress 50g
Bring the stock or water to the boil. Put the bulgur in a heatproof bowl, pour over the hot stock or water, then set aside.
Trim and thinly slice the radishes and put them into a mixing bowl. Halve the nectarines, discard the stones, then finely dice the flesh into (roughly) 1cm cubes. Add to the radishes, then remove the parsley leaves from their stalks, chop finely and fold in.
Season the radishes and nectarines lightly with salt, then add the lemon juice. Drain any excess liquid from the bulgur, run a fork through the grains to separate them, then fold into the salad. Pile the watercress onto a serving dish, then spoon the bulgur on top and serve.
• Tabbouleh, of which this is a version, comes in many guises, but the most interesting are those that have far more parsley than grain. The herbs and fruit lend an essential lushness.
Gentle spice for a summer’s evening.
Serves 2–3 with rice or flatbread
For the spice mix:
garlic 2 cloves, peeled
ginger 20g, after peeling
ground turmeric 2 teaspoons
garam masala 2 teaspoons
ground coriander 2 teaspoons
ground cumin 2 teaspoons
cardamom pods 6
ground chilli 1 teaspoon
groundnut or olive oil 4 tablespoons
double cream 250ml
aubergine, medium 1
vegetable oil 3 tablespoons
paneer 200g
cashew nuts 100g
natural yoghurt 150ml
coriander leaves a small handful
Make the spice mix by grinding the garlic, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, ground coriander, cumin and the black seeds from inside the cardamom pods to a paste in a food processor or blender. Add the chilli and groundnut oil. Cook the paste over a low heat for four or five minutes, then stir in the double cream and a little salt. Set aside.
Cut the aubergine into 3cm cubes, then fry in the vegetable oil till soft and golden. Tear the paneer into rough pieces and add to the aubergine with the cashews, letting the nuts and paneer colour lightly. Add the warm spiced cream to the mixture, get it hot, then remove from the heat and stir in the yoghurt and the coriander leaves. Serve with warm flatbread.
• I sometimes add a pinch of sugar to the spice paste, softening the spices and producing a more mellow flavour.
• Rather than aubergine, I often use brown chestnut mushrooms instead, slicing them thickly and frying them in the oil before adding the paneer.
The crunch of carrots. The warmth of radish and the honey-sweetness of ripe papaya.
Serves 4
radishes 12
carrots, medium 3
papaya, ripe 350g
coriander leaves from 12 bushy stems
micro herbs 2 handfuls
Thai basil leaves 15
For the dressing:
palm sugar 3 teaspoons
rice vinegar 2 tablespoons
a juicy lime
lemon grass 2 stalks
fish sauce 3 teaspoons
Make the dressing: crumble the palm sugar into a small mixing bowl and pour in the rice vinegar. Halve the lime – I like to roll it on the work surface, pressing down firmly as I do so before slicing, you get more juice that way – then squeeze the juice into the sugar and vinegar. Season with salt and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Place the lemon grass on a chopping board and bash firmly with a rolling pin to split and crush the plump end of the stalks. Add them to the dressing with the fish sauce and leave for thirty minutes to infuse.
Halve the radishes and put them into a bowl of iced water. Scrub or peel the carrots, then shave them with a vegetable peeler into long thin shavings. Add them to the radishes.
Shortly before serving, when the radishes and carrots have spent twenty minutes in the iced water and the dressing is well infused, peel the papaya and discard the black seeds and fibres. Slice the fruit into small, thick pieces about the size of a stamp and put them in a large mixing bowl.
Pick the leaves from the coriander and add them to the papaya together with the micro herbs (leaves and stalks) and the whole