What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals?
In our household we follow a largely plant-based routine — roughly three vegan days a week, three vegetarian, and an occasional day with fish. After completing a year with the Dr Tim Spector ZOE programme, both my wife and I became used to eating for gut health, routinely scoring 80–100 on the app.
Our kitchen is always full of fresh vegetables, pulses, legumes, nuts, fermented foods, mushrooms, and homemade or local sourdough.
From that rhythm, three meals have become firm favourites:
Mushroom Omelette with Smoky Beans & Greens A simple, deeply satisfying staple. We use a mix of mushrooms (sometimes including foraged ones), folded into an organic-egg omelette, served with smoky mixed beans, peppery rocket and sprouted beans, plus a spoon of kefir and a scattering of seeds.
Winter Veggie Burger Feast Our plant-based burger is a festive creation in itself — a rich mix of beans, roots, greens, herbs and, as Christmas approaches, walnuts. We serve it with a crisp green-leaf salad, roasted chickpeas for crunch, and a beetroot–cauliflower roast.
Baked Wild Salmon (a rare treat) We only buy wild salmon and have it perhaps once a month — sometimes less. Baked simply, it’s paired with whatever fresh vegetables have arrived in our weekly box. It’s a nutritious, mindful treat rather than a staple.
These dishes capture the way we cook now: mostly plant-based, full of variety, fermented foods, fibre, and whole ingredients — and always with something green on the plate.
Christmas Veggie Burger
A richly spiced, nut-studded, plant-based burger with a warm festive flavour.
Ingredients
Seasoning
Salt & black pepper 1 tsp cumin ½–1 tsp cardamom 1 tsp turmeric Chilli (to taste) Fresh coriander (a handful, chopped) Fresh thyme (several sprigs)
Vegetables & Base
1 cup mushrooms 2 medium aubergines 2 leeks 1 celery rib 1 red pepper 3 cloves garlic 1 cup pearl barley 1 tin chickpeas or 1 tin kidney beans ¼–½ cup flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp Marmite or Vegemite 3 cups Panko breadcrumbs 1 cup mixed nuts (pistachios & pine nuts, or hazelnuts)
Method
Roast the veg (the flavour base).
Wrap the aubergines and mushrooms in foil with a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Bake at 180°C for 30–45 minutes until the aubergine collapses into soft pulp.
Slow-cook the aromatics.
In a frying pan, gently cook the chopped celery and sliced leeks in a little oil until soft. Add the crushed garlic and cook for 2–3 minutes more.
Toast the nuts.
Spread the mixed nuts on a tray and bake until lightly golden and fragrant. Set aside to cool.
Cook the pearl barley.
Rinse, cover with water, bring to a boil, then simmer for about 25 minutes until tender.
Create the burger base.
In a food processor combine: – the drained chickpeas (or kidney beans) – flour – baking powder – the roasted aubergine pulp – roasted mushrooms – 1 tsp Marmite/Vegemite Blitz to a thick, slightly textured paste. Add the nuts. Grind the toasted nuts finely, then add them to the food processor and pulse to combine.
Season generously.
Add salt, pepper, turmeric, cardamom, cumin, chilli and chopped fresh coriander.
Fold in the cooked pearl barley and the softened leek–celery–garlic mix. Rest the mixture. The mix is now prepped. You can refrigerate it for up to 24 hours, or proceed straight to cooking.
Add the crunch.
Just before shaping the burgers, fold in a generous amount of Panko breadcrumbs. (This ensures a crisp crust and helps the patties hold their structure.)
Cook.
Fry the burgers in a little oil until both sides are golden brown. Transfer to a 180°C oven for 10–20 minutes to cook through and firm up.
Leave a Reply