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

100g cherry tomatoes

1 × 400g tin of cannellini beans

a dash of balsamic vinegar

a few sprigs of fresh thyme

Finely chop the shallot or onion, put it into a hot pan with a little oil, and cook for 4–5 minutes, until browned.

Meanwhile grate your sweet potatoes into a big mixing bowl, add a good pinch of salt and pepper, the cumin seeds and the eggs, and mix together well.

When the onions are beginning to brown, add the smoked paprika and cook for a minute. Roughly chop the tomatoes and add to the pan, then drain the beans and add these too, along with a splash of balsamic and the leaves from the thyme. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the tomatoes have broken down.

Heat a little oil in a large frying pan. Divide the sweet potato mixture roughly into 4 and use your hands to make a rough patty, then carefully put into the pan to fry. Do this with the rest of the mix, so you have 4 patties. Cook on a low to medium heat for 4–6 minutes, until golden brown, then use a fish slice to carefully flip and cook for another 4–6 minutes. As they cook, use the fish slice to gently push down on them to pack everything together.

Serve the hash with the beans and, if you like, a fried egg or some dressed leaves.

Kale, sumac and crispy rice salad

25 MINUTES

This is an amazing salad based on one I ate at an incredible neighbourhood café in LA. Sqirl is one of those places where you want every single thing on the menu, right down to the drinks. On my last trip to LA I ate there five times. For someone who doesn’t like routine that’s pretty solid. This is a play on what was my favourite thing on the menu. It has inspired flavours with sumac and lime, and textures with kale and crispy rice.

I am going to ask you to cook your rice three times here, which may seem crazy, but it’ll create perfect little pops of crunch against the rest of the salad. This is a great way to use up leftover rice too – just skip the first cooking stage. It’s also really good topped with a softly poached egg or some feta and flatbreads if you are hungry.

Bear in mind that if you use brown rice it will take about 20 minutes to cook.

SERVES 4 AS A LIGHT MEAL, 2 AS A MAIN

100g basmati rice (I use brown)

a bunch of curly kale, green or purple (about 200g)

the zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

3 spring onions

2 tablespoons coconut oil

the zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lime

1 tablespoon sumac (optional)

2 tablespoons good olive oil

1 teaspoon runny honey

6 medjool dates

Fill and boil a kettle and get all your ingredients and a large frying pan together.

Cook the rice in a small saucepan of boiling salted water until cooked – this will take 10–15 minutes.

Meanwhile, pull the kale from its stems and shred the leaves with a knife or tear into small pieces with your hands. Put the leaves into a bowl, then add the zest and juice of the lemon and a good pinch of salt and scrunch it in your hands for a minute to break it down a little. Chop the spring onions finely and add them to the bowl.

Once the rice is cooked, drain it well. Put a large frying pan on the heat and when it’s hot, add the rice with no oil and dry-fry for a couple of minutes to get rid of any moisture.

Remove the rice from the pan, then put the pan back on the heat, add half the coconut oil at a time and fry the rice in two batches until starting to turn lightly brown and really crispy. Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with salt.

Now make your dressing. Put the zest and juice of the lime into a screwtop jar with the sumac, if using, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add the honey and a pinch of salt and pepper. Put on the lid and shake to combine.

De-stone and roughly chop the dates and add to the kale. Once the rice is almost cool, add it to the kale and toss in the dressing.

Lemongrass, peanut and herb bun cha

20 MINUTES

You can’t live in east London and fail to be inspired by the endless and sometimes brilliant Vietnamese restaurants that line the streets of Hackney. Outside London, though, it’s harder to lay your hands on the bright fresh food I love so much.

This bun cha is a fragrant, delicate rice noodle salad. I have taken the original Hanoi recipe and made my own chilli-spiked tofu version, half noodles, half salad, all flavour. I eat this when it’s hot or when I need something clean and cleansing. Here many of my favourite things jump into the same bowl: crispy tofu, bright and zippy vegetables, grassy avocado and sprightly herbs.

If you can get your hands on them, some Vietnamese herbs would take this bun cha to the next level – Vietnamese basil, mint, coriander and pasilla – but I’ve kept it simple with some mint and coriander here.

SERVES 2

FOR THE TOFU

200g firm tofu

1 red chilli

1 clove of garlic

½ a stalk of fresh lemongrass

1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari

1 lime

1 tablespoon peanut butter

coconut oil

FOR THE NOODLES AND VEG

125g rice vermicelli

½ a small iceberg lettuce