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

olive or rapeseed oil

100g farro or quinoa

2 healthy vines of cherry tomatoes

a small handful (50g) of almonds

a few sprigs of fresh sage (about 20 leaves)

1 lemon

2 organic or free-range eggs, for poaching (more if you are hungry)

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

Place the squash and mushrooms on a tray, season, and drizzle with a little oil. Pop it into the oven for 15 minutes.

Next, get your grain on the go. Rinse it under cold water, then put it into a pan of boiling, salted water and cook the farro for 20–25 minutes, until tender, or the quinoa for 10 minutes, making sure to top up with more water as needed.

Once the squash has had 20 minutes, take the tray out of the oven and add the tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle with oil and put back into the oven for another 20 minutes.

To make the sage and almond pesto, toast the almonds in a pan until fragrant and just browning, then remove from the heat. In a pestle and mortar, bash the sage leaves with a pinch of salt. Add the almonds and bash until you have a chunky paste, then pour in 4 tablespoons of oil, squeeze in the juice of a quarter of the lemon and bash again until it’s smoothish. Season with salt and pepper, tasting and balancing to your liking. This can be done in a food processor too.

Finally, get a pan of boiling water on to poach your eggs (I use a frying pan). Turn the heat down until the water is barely blipping, then crack in the eggs and leave to cook for 3–4 minutes. Scoop out with a slotted spoon on to some kitchen paper.

Spoon the grain on to plates, pile on the sticky roasted veg, top with an egg, then drizzle generously with the pesto and enjoy at a slow pace.

food for filling a gap

If you’re going to snack, you might as well do it properly in every sense. Topping up between meals with something that is delicious, thought out and healthy stops me reaching for a chocolate biscuit. Whether it’s a simple slick of almond butter on a rice cake, or a handful of kale chips, or some homemade spicy caramel popcorn, a considered snack keeps me happy, fulfilled and full of energy. All these recipes are perfect for a crowd too – just double them up as needed to fuel a party.

Charred sweet potato quesadillas · sweet and salty crispy kale chips · the best egg sandwich you’ll ever eat · deep smoky salsa · miso-spiked hummus · jewel-coloured Middle Eastern dip · doorstep sandwiches · spiced salted caramel popcorn · maple peanut California wraps

Speedy sweet potato quesadillas

Quesadillas are an anytime meal. They take just 5 minutes to make, and everyone adores them. You can snack on them at a party, they make a late-home-from-work dinner, and they even work at breakfast with an egg inside.

These quesadillas are a bit different – the regular, white flour, cheese-loaded version doesn’t do it for me. So instead these are filled with a super-quick sweet potato and white bean mash. You will never look back.

Two types of chilli feature here, though don’t fret – they are not super-hot. I don’t like that intense chilli burn feeling. To me any food that sends your body into panic or out of balance can’t be good. But I do crave chilli, and this blend of the deep smokiness of the chipotle and the sweet raw heat of the fresh chilli packs a well-rounded punch.

Most places have started to stock chipotle paste these days, which has made its sweet smokiness more easy to come by. If you can’t get your hands on chipotle, ½ a teaspoon of hot smoked paprika will do. The Cool Chile Co ( www.coolchile.co.uk) sell a range of great chillies, including chipotle paste.

It’s worth making a mention of what chillies have hidden in their colourful little packages. They are super-high in antioxidants and vitamins, and they boost the immune system and help spike up your metabolism. Chilli magic.

SERVES 2 AS A DINNER, OR 4 AS A SNACK

olive oil

1 sweet potato, peeled and grated

1 tablespoon maple syrup

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon chipotle paste

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1 × 400g tin of white beans, drained (I use haricots)

1 avocado

½ a lime

a few sprigs of fresh mint or coriander, leaves picked and chopped

4 corn tortillas (see note here)

Heat a touch of olive oil in a pan, add the sweet potato and the maple syrup and season with salt and pepper. Add the chipotle paste and the chopped chilli and cook for a few minutes, until the potato has softened and lost its rawness.

Transfer to a bowl and add the beans, then use a potato masher to mash the whole lot up a little – you will still have some flecks of unmashed sweet potato. Season if needed.

Mash the avocado with a little lime juice and stir in the herbs. I use the potato masher again here.

Now heat a frying pan big enough for your tortillas. Lay a tortilla flat in the pan, spoon a quarter of the mixture on to one half of it, then fold over the other half. Dry fry on one side until it’s blistered and golden brown, then flip over and do the same on the other side. Keep the quesadilla warm while you do this with the rest of the tortillas.

Serve straight from the pan with the mashed avocado.

As part of a bigger meal:

· Serve with a couple of handfuls of lemon-dressed salad leaves.

· Serve with a crunchy salad of radishes, leaves, shaved fennel and coriander, and a quick tomato salsa.

Oven-baked kale chips

Kale chips have found their way over the sea from our health-conscious friends in America. They are delicious. Moreish, salty, sweet, crisp and all-round good – a super-healthy alternative to a packet of crisps. The only downside is the price tag. My top count is £8.50 for a little pot, which would last half an hour in my house.

I’ve got some raw-cook friends who make them using their dehydrator, which slowly dries out and preserves food, but don’t worry, I’m not about to tell you to go out and buy a £300 piece of kit either.

The answer is a £1 bunch of kale and the trusty oven. By cooking the chips in the oven they don’t have quite the same ‘raw’ credentials as their dehydrated brothers, but I like compromise and this is a good one – oven-baked kale for deep-fried potato.

I couldn’t decide which flavour was best, so here’s both. The miso and sesame seed version has all the sweet savouriness of a killer sushi roll. The tarragon mustard chips are sweet and fragrant. Give both a go and then try your own – stick to the formula of salt/acid/sweet and you can’t go wrong.

These are a great way to get greens haters on to the good stuff. Disguised as little flavour pop crisps, these could persuade anyone to like kale.

MAKES ENOUGH FOR A FEW FRIENDS TO NIBBLE, OR A FEW DAYS’ SNACKING FOR 1

200g curly kale, washed and spun dry (I use a mix of white, green and purple)

FOR THE TARRAGON AND MUSTARD DRESSING

1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon honey or agave syrup

½ a bunch of fresh tarragon, leaves picked and chopped

juice of 1 lemon

a good pinch of sea salt

FOR THE SESAME MISO DRESSING

1 teaspoon miso paste

1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup

juice of 1 lime

3 tablespoons sesame seeds

Preheat your oven to 120°C/fan 100°C/gas ½ and line two baking trays with baking paper.