Anna Jones - A Modern Way to Eat

· As a marinade for tofu or vegetables for barbecuing.

· Let down with a little oil as a dressing for roasted root veg, beetroots and squash.

· Piled on the side of a plate of lentils or beans, with a little yoghurt and some herbs.

Maple peanut California wraps

This wrap sustained me through a week in the desert, listening to music, a few years ago. Just the right combination of refreshing greens and vitamin-loaded carrot and good protein energy from tempeh and seeds.

But the crowning glory here is the sauce – it’s one of those sauces that hits every flavour level and leaves you wanting more. It’s good on a salad too. I have to say it has been known for me to eat two of these on the trot. They are that good. Super-quick to put together, these are a weekday lunch for me at least once a week and often make an appearance in summer for supper, with some roasted sweet potato wedges.

Tempeh is a cake of pressed soya beans. It is a great source of protein and works well in most recipes where you might use tofu. I buy my tempeh from my local health food shop. Tempeh is a fermented food, which actually makes it much easier to digest than other types of soya. Tempeh does need a bit of special treatment, such as this marinade, as its flavour is quite neutral. Firm tofu would work here too.

MAKES 4 WRAPS

4 wholemeal tortillas

2 carrots, grated

4 tablespoons mixed toasted seeds

4 handfuls of salad greens

FOR THE TEMPEH

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

200g tempeh, cut into 1cm slices

FOR THE PEANUT DRESSING

2 tablespoons all-natural peanut butter

2 teaspoons miso paste

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons tahini

juice of 1 lemon

Mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, olive oil and vinegar in a bowl. Add the tempeh and turn to coat in the marinade. Leave to one side.

Next, make the dressing. Whisk all the ingredients together, with a tablespoon of water if it’s too thick, taste and check for balance, then set aside.

Heat a dry pan and fry the tempeh for a couple of minutes on each side until browned and starting to caramelise.

Warm the tortillas – I do this by holding them with tongs over a gas flame for a few seconds, but the oven or a dry non-stick pan will do too. To assemble each wrap, place some tempeh on each tortilla, top with a quarter of the grated carrot, seeds and greens, then add a quarter of the dressing. Repeat with the rest of the wraps.

HUMMUS

If your house is anything like mine, or those of most of my friends for that matter, then a lot of pots of hummus find their way into fridges and on to tables. I usually make my own, as I like being able to adapt the flavours to what’s going on at the time, seasons, moods and what else is in the fridge. The chickpea/tahini format can get a bit samey, so here are some offbeat versions you won’t find in the shops. The principle can be followed with pretty much anything, as long as you keep to roughly the same quantities of beans/citrus/seasonings below.

These recipes are a great way to use up leftover beans.

All these keep in the fridge for 5 days. Each recipe makes a good jarful.

DATE AND BLACK SESAME

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1 × 400g tin of cannellini beans, drained

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 medjool dates, roughly chopped

juice of ½ a lemon

½ tablespoon miso paste

sea salt

2 tablespoons date syrup

2 tablespoons toasted black sesame seeds

If you don’t have date syrup handy, a drizzle of dark honey or dark agave syrup would work really well. Well-toasted white sesame seeds will work here if you can’t get black ones.

Put your beans into a food processor with the olive oil, dates, lemon juice, miso and a pinch of salt and whiz to your preferred consistency. Taste, add more salt if necessary, and loosen with a bit of water or more olive oil if it looks too thick. I go for a good bit of whizzing, as I like a light and fluffy result, but some like more texture – you decide.

Once the texture is how you like it, scoop it into a bowl, drizzle over the date syrup and sprinkle with the black sesame seeds.

BLACK BEAN AND PUMPKIN SEED

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1 × 400g tin of black beans

1 green chilli, destalked and roughly chopped, plus more chopped chilli to finish

a small bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped, plus more chopped coriander to finish

grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lime

1 tablespoon maple syrup

a good handful of pumpkin seeds

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

a good drizzle of olive oil

A classic Mexican combination for a reason – this is very moreish and great with the homemade tortilla chips.

Put everything apart from the extra chilli and coriander into a food processor and whiz together until it’s the texture you like. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed, and loosen with more oil or water if it’s too thick.

Scoop into a bowl. Mix the extra chilli and coriander with a little olive oil and drizzle on top.

BUTTERBEAN, ALMOND AND ROSEMARY

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1 × 400g tin of butter beans, drained

grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

a handful of whole almonds

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked

2–3 teaspoons almond milk or water

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

a good drizzle of olive oil

a few whole almonds, toasted and chopped, to finish

Here the rosemary and almonds come together in an Italian way. This is a good start to a meal, with some griddled olive-oil-drizzled toast. I make mine with untoasted nuts, but toasted nuts add smokiness, so try both.

Put all the ingredients apart from the toasted almonds into a food processor and whiz until it’s as smooth as you like. Add a little extra water if needed until it’s a good consistency.

Top with the chopped almonds and another drizzle of olive oil.

PEA AND GREEN HERB

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300g frozen peas

a small bunch of fresh mint

a small bunch of fresh basil

2 tablespoons good extra virgin olive oil

grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Who says you can’t make hummus with peas? Not me. Slather this on bruschetta or spoon it on top of a simple risotto; leftovers can even be stirred through pasta. Kids love this one. Sometimes I add an avocado for a bit of extra creaminess. Broad beans work just as well here. I use fresh peas in springtime – the rest of the year, frozen peas are your friend.

Pop the peas into a bowl and cover them with hot water from the kettle. Leave them to sit for a minute, then drain. Put them into a food processor with everything else and whiz until you have a bright green paste (a hand blender works well too), then taste and season with more salt and pepper or lemon if needed.

Homemade tortilla chips with charred chilli salsa

These tortilla chips are a massive hit every time I make them. So much so that I have taken to making them every time anyone comes round – even the sniff of a visitor and these are in the oven and I’m whizzing up some salsa. I love the compliments. I sort of feel a bit guilty about how much people like them, as they are so easy a five-year-old could make them. Which makes people love them even more.

These can be made easily with tortillas, wraps, round pittas, leftover chapattis, whatever you have to hand. Corn tortillas are my choice. Below is my favourite way to flavour them, but most spices work really well: cumin and coriander are favourites, and a bit of lemon zest and some chopped thyme or rosemary also goes down well.