Jamie Oliver - A Modern Way to Eat - Over 200 satisfying, everyday vegetarian recipes

To my mind there is no better way to start the day than with a bowl of in-season fruit. Here are the bowls I make as the seasons change. Some can be made in a batch for quick weekday breakfasts, others can be put together in a few minutes – try with the granola here.

SPRING

APPLES · PEARS · RHUBARB ·

RASPBERRIES · EARLY STRAWBERRIES

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QUICK RHUBARB COMPOTE

for 1 person

Take 4 stalks of rhubarb, chop small and

put in a pan with 4 tablespoons of good honey, a bit of vanilla, if you have it, and the juice of ½ an orange. Simmer for 15 minutes until soft through.

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SPRING FRUIT BOWL

for 1 person

Cut up 1 apple and 1 pear, squeeze over the juice of ½ a lime, mash a handful of raspberries with 1 teaspoon of honey and mix the two together.

SUMMER

STRAWBERRIES · CHERRIES · RASPBERRIES ·

PEACHES · APRICOTS ·

BLUEBERRIES · BLACKCURRANTS

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RED FRUIT SALAD

for 2 people

Cut up 10 strawberries and 10 cherries. Add a handful of raspberries and a handful of halved red grapes. Squeeze over the juice of ½ a lemon and if you like add a little honey. Optional: sprinkle with bashed coriander seeds.

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QUICK APRICOT COMPOTE

makes a small jar

Put 250g of apricots (stoned) into a pan with 2 tablespoons of runny honey and the juice of ½ an orange. Bring to a slow simmer on a medium heat and cook for 10 minutes until softened.

AUTUMN

APPLES · PEARS · PEACHES · NECTARINES ·

PLUMS · BLACKBERRIES

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HEDGEROW FRUIT BOWL

for 2 people

Put 1 chopped apple, 1 chopped pear and 2 chopped plums into a bowl with a handful of blackberries, tear in some mint and mix well.

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ROSEWATER PEACHES

for 1 person

Place 4 peach halves on a baking tray, drizzle with honey, scatter over vanilla and some pistachios and sprinkle over a tablespoon of rosewater. Bake for 30 minutes until soft through. Serve with yoghurt or goat’s cheese and some toast.

WINTER

APPLES · PEARS · WINTER CITRUS ·

CLEMENTINES · CRANBERRIES

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ORCHARD FRUIT BOWL

for 2 people

Chop up 3 ripe pears and add the seeds of ½ a pomegranate and 4 chopped-up dates. Squeeze over the juice of 1 lime and serve.

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QUICK SPICED CLEMENTINES

for 2 people

Slice up 4 clementines and lay on a plate, sprinkle with ½ a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and drizzle with honey.

A new eggs Benedict

I’m not sure I know anyone who doesn’t like eggs Benedict, in all its rich hollandaise glory. This is how I make mine. Roasted slices of sweet potato step in for muffins, and avocado and cashews whiz up creamily in seconds with a bit of tarragon to make a killer super-light hollandaise, creamy but not too rich. The sticky onions and spinach sandwich it all together.

I like to make my hollandaise this way, as I find a butter-laden sauce too much of a treat to start the day with (delicious though it is).

In order to get a creamy sauce I soak my cashew nuts in water overnight, but, if you forget, half an hour’s soaking will do. See herefor more on soaking nuts.

For this recipe, you need to get your hands on large sweet potatoes so that they are wide enough to sit the poached egg on top.

SERVES 4

2 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced into 1cm rounds

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

olive or rapeseed oil

2 medium red onions, peeled and finely sliced

6 handfuls of spinach, washed and any big stalks removed

4 organic or free-range eggs

FOR THE QUICK HOLLANDAISE

a small handful of cashew nuts, soaked in water (see above)

½ an avocado

a small bunch of fresh tarragon or dill, leaves picked

juice of ½ a lime

Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/gas 7.

Lay the sweet potato slices on a couple of baking trays, season with salt and pepper, drizzle lightly with oil and roast for 20 minutes, until soft through and crisping at the edges.

Now on to the onions. Put a pan on a medium heat, add a little oil, then add the onions and a pinch of salt. Fry for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the onions are soft and sweet and starting to brown. Scoop them into a bowl and set to one side, keeping the pan to use later.

To make your hollandaise, blitz the drained cashews in a food processor until you have a crumbly paste. Add the avocado and most of the tarragon or dill with the lime juice and a good pinch of salt and pepper and blitz again. If you need to, loosen the sauce with a little water until it is thick but drizzleable.

Heat the pan you cooked the onions in on a medium heat. Add the spinach and a drop of olive oil and cook for a couple of minutes, until it starts to wilt but is still vivid green.

Next, poach the eggs. Heat a pan of water until boiling – I use a frying pan, but use whatever pan is most comfortable for you to poach eggs in. Turn the heat down until the water is barely blipping, then crack in the eggs and leave them to cook for 3–4 minutes. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and drain on some kitchen paper.

To serve, lay some of the sweet potatoes in the middle of each plate. Top with the onions and wilted spinach, then add the egg and a spoonful of hollandaise. Scatter over the rest of the tarragon or dill, season with salt and pepper and dig in.

Other ways to use your quick avocado hollandaise:

· Spooned over griddled asparagus.

· On top of a green spring risotto.

· On top of little smashed-pea toasts.

· Next to a simple poached egg on toast.

· In sandwiches in place of mayonnaise.

Huevos rancheros

I make this dish a lot. It’s the one thing I order without fail at breakfast tables in America. The holy trio of eggs, tomatoes and avocado never fails me. It mostly crops up at my house mid-morning on a Saturday, after a walk to the shop for the paper.

I have kept this version super-simple, as it’s a great thing to be able to throw together in a few minutes without having to dash to the shop. I use spring onions, as they are quick to cook and have a milder note, more suited to the morning I think, but they can just as easily be swapped for thinly sliced red onion. I use fresh tomatoes in the summer, but good-quality tinned ones work for the rest of the year.

The key here is cooking the eggs perfectly. I have tried a few different ways of getting just-set white and runny yolk perfection. The trick that works for me is using a frying pan with a lid and keeping the heat low so that the eggs poach and steam at the same time. I also make a version of this with roasted peppers or slices of smoked tofu instead of the eggs.

It’s really worth investing as much as you can in the eggs you buy. I always buy organic free-range. Eggs are nutrient-loaded, perfectly packaged bundles of goodness. The yolks contain all the vitamins and minerals, and by keeping them runny you actually preserve the nutrients that would be killed off by the heat if you were to cook them all the way through.

SERVES 2 AS A HEARTY BRUNCH

olive oil

4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely sliced

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika

1 × 400g tin of tomatoes, or 400g cherry tomatoes, halved

1 ripe avocado

juice of 1 lime

a small bunch of fresh coriander, leaves picked and finely chopped