On a warm day, I love making a Summer Gnocchi Salad. A ratatouille base with golden-fried gnocchi, lots of Parmesan, rocket (arugula), herbs, and a beautiful, bright dressing, all tossed together. On cool evenings, I like to make this Zucchini Pesto Gnocchi Bake. Verdant, cozy and satisfying, this one-pan dish brimming with spinach, zucchini and basil is utterly comforting and packed with so much goodness. It is almost like a spinach and cheese quiche studded with pillowy-soft potato.

I often serve it with a side of protein, a bit of chicken to boost the meal for the family. These are my go-to easy chicken recipes that complement a gnocchi dish really well - Smoky Chicken Chimichurri Lentil Salad, Sticky Marmalade Chicken Wings and Chicken Meatballs in Marinara Sauce.

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Recipe»

Zucchini Pesto Gnocchi Bake

Serves – 4 / Prep Time – 10 minutes / Cooking Time – 20 minutes

Ingredients

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When the weather turns warm, I dream of dining at Totti’s in Sydney. I picture a lazy afternoon in their beautiful sunny courtyard in Bondi or their gorgeous, relaxed Mediterranean-inspired venue at the old Three Weeds Pub in Rozelle. The menu is the same - an exciting mix of antipasti from the shared menu with the “balloon bread”, of course! It has many names - Woodfired puff bread … puffy bread! And it is quite impossible to achieve in a home oven scenario. You would most definitely need a high-temperature, dedicated pizza oven like a Gozney or Ooni. And it is a distant dream of mine to be able to whip up a puffed, slightly charred bread in my own home.

But what is super achievable are their antipasti. The little Italian sharing dishes meant to be lapped and scooped up by said puffy bread. And they have a rotating roster of about 20 delicious dishes that change with the seasons. Because I have dined at Totti’s so many times, I have had the pleasure of sampling some gorgeous dishes that are no longer on the menu, but new ones always are.

One of my favourites was a Sweetcorn Fregola, which was not unlike my Mexican Corn Salad but more creamy and decadent, with a distinct Italian flair. I have had an incredible raw tuna dish that I recreated with my easy, delicious Tuna Tartare. Another one inspired by their Kingfish ceviche is my gorgeous Salmon Crudo, which is insanely popular and only takes 20 minutes to make. I made it most recently at a dinner party along with my Foccacia, and people just loved it.

They have this beautiful cold cucumber dish, an Italian cousin of the Smacked Cucumber Salad. It is sweet and sour pickled chilled cucumbers, dill and a soft, decadent creamy Italian Cheese. I have recreated their exact dish and am sharing it with you today. Along with one of my personal favourite Frizzled Red Beans in Olive Oil - a dish that would be deemed worthy of putting on Totti’s Antipasti menu. It is meaty red kidney beans sauteed with “frizzled” golden onion, aromatics, cups of chopped fresh herbs and a good glug of olive oil. I often eat this by the spoonful or serve it with flatbreads or focaccia at dinner parties. It is also excellent for bulking up your sandwiches or wraps.

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And now for those two gorgeous, delicious shared plates. Put these dishes on your entertaining menus this season and let me know how you go!

Recipe»

Frizzled Red Beans in Olive Oil

serves 4 / vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free

Prep Time - 15 minutes

What is “frizzling”? Oxford dictionary will tell you that it means to fry or grill

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It was my first time away from home, family, my boys, and work in almost a decade and a half. I didn’t want to go; I was very resistant. I wanted to stay back and save my marriage, my family. But I went, and it was the hardest and ultimately the most transcendent, eye-opening thing I did.

It was the first step in my journey of learning to be alone, by myself, getting used to the silence and stillness that comes from not having a companion, someone who is always around, a partner, a fallback. I found it unbearable. I still struggle with it sometimes, but back then in August, it was hard to fathom how I would ever function solo.

The retreat is a wonderfully unpolished haven of bushland. It invites you to be with yourself, sit with yourself, get uncomfortable in the silence, in the void of the day where you don’t have good mobile reception, so you resort to reading, meditating, napping, walking and looking forward to the beautiful plant-based meals offered in the communal kitchen and dining at set times - 12 noon and 6pm.

Every morning, after a yoga session in the big hall, I would go for a walk down to the billabong, and I would be met with the sign above. The first morning, I rambled along on the easy path. I was already in a lot of spiritual pain, and I wasn’t about to put myself through physical pain on top of that. After a lovely lunch of a gorgeous vegetable and tofu curry, the chef’s special pickled chilli, a fresh cucumber salad and brown rice, I retired on the balcony of my cabin with my copy of Codependent No More by Melody Beattie. I read for a solid four hours, to say I was hungry to understand what I had been through and how I could survive was an understatement.

Exhausted from reading, I dozed off and woke up with some time left for dinner. So I went for another walk. This time, I took the “harder path”. This path was set on a slope, pavers roughly hewn and lodged in the dirt wall, meandering down to the billabong. A path that would definitely be slippery and unstable when it rained. But it was a cool, dry evening at the tail end of Sydney’s summer, so I made my way down the rough trail, gingerly.

I wasn’t prepared for the view. At the height of the path as I came around a clearing between two cabins on stilts, the entire billabong became visible to me. I had already seen the billabong from end to end, but not like this. A bird’s eye view! What made it breathtaking was the vast expanse of the sky being reflected on the billabong’s surface, the cabins being mirrored in the gentle ripples of the water, and the reflection of the trees melting into the dark, murky depths of the water. It was as if the edge of the real world disappeared and fused with another world. A bigger picture with more depth, more awe, more fascination. An expansion of what I could see and take in.

It was poetic, it was symbolic, it was profound, it was liberating. I needed to take a different path, a harder path, a more treacherous path - by myself- to discover more, to live more, to expand my heart and soul. They were right with the signs - “Harder, but worth it!”

I often sat by myself sipping on herbal teas and delicious bliss balls, watching the fog envelope the long, suspended verandah, chatted to strangers at meal times and got to know them, shelled almonds with one of the chefs in the afternoon for an almond ricotta they were serving that night, exchanging stories and hearing about her horses on a farm nearby.

For the next two days, I never took the easy path to the billabong. And by the end of my stay, the harder path had softened for me and felt easier. The book was read, the silence was no longer deafening, and I felt calmer and stronger and confident that no matter how hard the path I took was, it would soften and become easier.

And of course, I came away with my head, heart and belly full of delicious meals made with love and care and vegetables and spices, slowly simmered and coaxed into glorious flavourful dishes (the last time I was there, I recreated their beautiful Caramel Bliss Balls that I still make every week, they are a great thing to pop in your mouth after a walk or workout!). Today’s Vegetable Korma is something I could see worthy of being served at Billabong retreat. Clever cooking, layering different techniques and building flavours through homemade pastes and slow-simmered sauces.

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Korma, derived from the Persian word “qormah” or the Turkish word “kavurma” is the peak of Mughlai cuisine and means to braise, stew or fry. Mughlai cuisine originated in the kitchens of the Mughal emperors, during the great Mughal era in India from the 1500s to 1800s.

The Mughal empire was founded by Babur, a descendant of Genghis Khan. The Mughals brought their Persian and Turkic culinary traditions to the Indian subcontinent. Known for many historical, cultural and geographical milestones and landmarks, including the famous Taj Mahal, the Mughal empire’s most notable contribution was their culinary gift to India’s rich history. Their rule ended in the late 1800s and was followed by the colonisation of India by the British Empire. Iconic Mughlai dishes like biryani, korma, and kebabs included slow-cooked meats, rich gravies, and the use of nuts, saffron, and dried fruits

Korma itself involves braising meat or vegetables slowly in a sauce that is traditionally rich with yogurt or cream, ground nuts (like almonds or cashews), and aromatic spices. Over time, korma has developed regional variations. For example, southern states may use cashews and coconut, while northern states often use almonds and dry fruits.

I make Northern and Southern versions of Vegetable Korma, and I honestly can’t decide which one is my favourite. They are both incredibly flavourful, the flavour is built on layers and precise cooking techniques. Today, I am sharing a North Indian Korma with a twist. Instead of cream or yoghurt, I am using cashew nuts and coconut milk to create that luscious base, but the rest of the ingredients and spices are an ode to the north with hints of present-day Punjabi cuisine and Mughlai cuisine of yore.

A Vegetable Korma is perfect for cleaning out the stray veggies in your fridge and is built on a base of an Indian Sofrito, if you will. Sauté and sweat the aromatics until they are translucent, fragrant and glistening. Keep coaxing the tomatoes and spices into unlocking all their flavour, and then blend them up with nuts for a rich, smooth, curry base that will happily sit in your fridge for a few days (or longer in the freezer) to whip up all kinds of delicious curries.

Recipe »

Creamy Vegetable Korma

Serves 6 / vegetarian, gluten free

Just with Chinese wok cooking, the order in which the the vegetables are cooked is important. Curries and sauces are best cooked by feel. You know it’s time for the next step when the onion is golden and soft enough to be mushed between your fingers or when the sauce turns three shades darker and pools fat around the edges. I often cook curries by feel; the time I include in my recipes is merely informative when you don’t feel like cooking with intuition. This is a meal perfect for slow Sunday cooking and quite possibly the most fragrant and flavoursome curry I have tasted in recent times.

Ingredients

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I have baked and fried, and air-fried many batches of sweet potatoes to come to this conclusion.

Homemade sweet potato fries take a lot of work to mimic the crunchy ones served at the cafes. They must be deep-fried and double or triple-fried for a similar effect.

Oven-baked or air-fried sweet potatoes are delicious and infinitely healthier.

To enjoy their short-lived crispiness, they must be eaten in the first 5 minutes after cooking.

They make the most incredible base for loaded fries and warm bowl salads like this insanely yummy Sweet Potato Salsa Bowl.

Lately, I've been really loving this loaded sweet potato bowl for a quick, light, and flavour-packed lunch. It tastes like something that would be served up at one of those food trucks at the weekend artisan markets: adventurous, street-food vibes, but all wholesome ingredients from your fridge and pantry.

Seasoned sweet potato wedges are air-fried, following some basic air-frying rules, because sweet potatoes are temperamental. They are high in sugar and starch, both of which need to be removed if you want to win the battle of crispiness. From the air-fryer, they go straight into a bowl, warm and meaty and caramelised.

A few pantry staples get added along with lots of freshly chopped ingredients, but the real flavour comes from that creamy yogurt-based salsa dressing. It brings everything together. I can see myself serving my friends this for brunch, or a bigger bowl brought to a potluck or BBQ. See my recipe notes for how to scale this recipe to be a more substantial meal and increase protein.

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Recipe»

Air Fryer Sweet Potato Salsa Bowl

Serves 2 / vegetarian, gluten-free

Ingredients

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I wanted to continue the one-pan gnocchi dish tradition in the warmer months and thus the Summer Gnocchi Salad was born.

Pan-roasted vegetables and gnocchi, grilled corn, fresh salad leaves and other bits and bobs tossed with the most delightfully tangy, summery, fresh green dressing. This is not a green goddess dressing, far from it. But it invokes memories of warm weather in its distinctive Italian flair. The salad is beautiful, barely warm, but it also tastes amazing, cold. I often bulk it up with some grilled chicken or chorizo.

A really good cast-iron pan is a must for this dish. I like to pre-heat it on the hob (just like you would for a recipe that calls for the oven). The beauty of cast-iron is that it heats up slowly but retains that high heat for quite a long time. It allows you to adjust your temperatures and continue cooking/pan-roasting your ingredients to golden, almost charred perfection without burning them. For large quantities like this, I trust my Staub cast-iron frying pan. It is a workhorse and a dream to cook in.

Corn cooked in its husk in the microwave is an amazing kitchen hack, a technique I use for my Feta Corn Salad. The sweet, tender kernels cooked in this fashion are perfect for adding to salads. But I do have a soft spot for grilled corn. Because I have induction cooking in my kitchen, I keep a camp stove handy and cook my corn and eggplants on an open fire as needed. It only takes a few minutes but adds that extra layer of flavour.

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Snow pea & Strawberry Salad / Best Asian Slaw (with secret dressing) / Super green Roasted Potato Salad

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Recipe »

Summer Gnocchi Salad With Green Dressing

Serves 2

Ingredients

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Happy Friday, the weather is amazing and the weekend is perfect for enjoying the sunshine, exploring Farmer’s Markets, bringing back a few heads of cauliflower (they are so cheap in Sydney right now!) and making today’s insanely delicious dish and perhaps a couple of these as well while you are at it - Aloo Gobi Traybake, Roasted Cauliflower With Honey & Halloumi, Caramelized Cauliflower Hummus.

I have been getting a lot of emails about the meal prep sessions, so I have put them all together in one handy spot for you to access and cook from. Each session is a timed 2-3 hour session that produces 6-7 amazing recipes that you can prep over the weekend and enjoy throughout the week.

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My favourite salty, briny, fresh and bright Cauliflower Steak of all time has officially been dethroned by today’s dish. Thick-cut cauliflower slices smothered in a luscious, creamy miso marinade and roasted to golden (charred-edge!) perfection. Served on top of what can only be described as the most decadent form of rice you will ever taste, good enough to eat on its own and absolutely addictive.

Japanese cuisine really shines in its balance of sweet and salty. Opposing flavours melded beautifully for an eating experience unlike any other. Japanese Garlic Fried Rice is a perfect example of creating that beautiful symphony of flavours using simple fridge and pantry ingredients. The short-grain sushi rice simmers and bathes in a bath of bubbling golden butter and sweet caramelised garlic and onion, which coaxes the starch and plumps each grain into an umami bomb. Tossed with greens and seasonings, this rice has you begging for more.

The dish really feels indulgent and decadent, and would make an amazing dinner party offering without any of the fuss. In the last couple of years, I have switched to a more omnivorous diet and have prioritised protein and carbs in all my meals. This means a dish feels more intentional and complete rather than just focusing on the vegetable itself. I always pair it with a few slices of cold, silken tofu (refreshing and protein-packed!) or a couple of boiled eggs or slices of smoked salmon or canned tuna to make sure I am getting everything I need when I sit down for lunch.

I often make the cauliflower steak on its own for a snack. Super easy and great in the oven, but spectacular on an open-fire grill or barbecue!

The whole dish freezes really well, the finishing sauce can be stored in the fridge for 1-2 months and dolloped on when ready to serve. I have swapped cauliflower for chicken, and the dish is as good, super versatile and always a hit!

If you are planning to make the cauliflower and rice this weekend, I would suggest taking your time. It is one of those dishes that can feel really meditative, perfect for a Sunday with some amazing tracks playing in your kitchen.

More Printable/Downloadable Member Cauliflower Recipes

Cauliflower Agrodolce, Best Cauliflower Tacos, Korean Air-Fried Cauliflower, Moroccan Chickpea Cauliflower Salad, Sticky Wok-Fried Cauli With Asian Spices.

Recipe»

Miso Cauliflower Steak With Japanese Garlic Fried Rice

Serves 4 / vegetarian + gluten free

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I often wonder if the meaning of getting older and more settled into yourself means that you allow yourself to have set views on life’s simple pleasures. Like adopting a favourite pasta shape and being unapologetically fanatic about it. Pasta shapes wasn’t something I spent my days thinking about in the past. But I do now. And it is a source of anticipation and joy in my cooking and eating journey, especially when I dine out and come across a pasta on the menu that I haven’t tried before.

At Ripples in Chowder Bay, along the beautiful waters of the Sydney harbour, I had a beautifully verdant pasta dish. The long, flat, scalloped-edge pasta strands reminded me of the frills and ruffles at the hem of my favourite dress. But the most memorable part of that dish was the silky, velvety, umami-rich green spinach sauce the pasta was tossed in. It was so incredibly rich in flavour.

It wasn’t the best of nights for so many reasons(I would love to go back and truly experience this beautiful little restaurant), but the dish was a silver lining. Something I couldn’t stop thinking about. I tried to recreate it many times over the last year, and eventually I got there. My biggest hurdle was trying to source that beautiful pasta - Mafaldine. Also known as reginette (little queens) or mafalda, this pasta, which is an ode to the Princess Mafalda of Savoy is characterised by its long ribbon shape and ruffled, wavy edges. It is ideal for thick sauces that want to coat and stick, and make each mouthful a flavour explosion.

I often find the pasta in long strands or in short pieces. Regardless of the length, the final result is always enticing. If you can’t find Mafaldine, try plain old fettuccine instead. Another trick I learnt was to use a fluted pie/pastry cutter to cut fresh lasagna sheets into strands with ruffled edges. A great hack indeed!

Spinach is definitely the star of the show here. It is worth all the extra effort to source bunches of English spinach. Funnily enough, it was the only spinach I grew up with back in India and throughout my first few years of living in Singapore. Baby spinach was unheard of. English spinach is robust with thicker stems and leaves, and responds really well to gentle poaching in vegetable stock. This doesn’t mean you can’t use baby spinach. If you do, remember to reduce cooking time by half, as baby spinach leaves are much more tender and delicate and hardly need any time to cook.

Spinach has a sweet, earthy flavour that becomes more robust as it cooks. Cooking time is essential not only to retain its beautiful colour but also all the powerful ingredients contained in its leaves. Aromatics like onion and garlic are great ingredients to complement and elevate the flavour of spinach. Along with a bunch of other greens, I also use two specific spices in this recipe that make this spinach sauce incredibly rich and tantalising.

It’s a great green sauce to have in your repertoire. And you can get really creative with it. Toss pan-fried gnocchi through it or add grilled chicken or golden-fried halloumi to it.

Recipe»

Spinach Mafaldine Pasta

Serves 2

Ingredients

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If you are in Sydney, you know it was HOT today! A fitting end to summer as it was the last day of the season. It isn’t my favourite season. I don’t fare well in the heat. I don’t sweat much, so my body burns on the inside and threatens to explode with heat.

One day a few years ago I pushed myself at the gym and ran too hard for too long, my skin broke out in blisters. Big, angry, red welts that only calmed after a cold shower and copious amounts of ice cubes rubbed on my arms.

True Story!

So I was prepared. I wasn’t going to cook. Instead, I was going to spend my day in post-production (writing, editing, photos and videos) and preserve my energy. And I had my “hot day” salad ready to go. This Green Asian Noodle Salad is perfect on a scorcher of an afternoon and a meal prepper’s dream.

Everything stays in the fridge and you just toss it all together when you want to eat. Cold, refreshing, fresh, packed with crunch and that slurpy, mouthy Thai salad dressing that makes this a salad you will want to make again and again!

One of the things that endlessly fascinates me is how food preparation is so unique to different cuisines. Almost like architecture. There is much to observe, glean, learn, execute and enjoy.

Asian Noodle Salads are slender and dainty. With long strands of silky noodles intertwined with vegetables and aromatics that mimic the shape and form of noodles. Wispy herbs tossed through and resting gently on top. Everything elongated with pointy ends and sharp angles as if cut by ninjas with their samurai swords.

I won’t write much (preserving energy, remember?). Instead, I’ve got a little photo essay going on in this dispatch to explain all the different elements of the salad and how I prepare them. So buckle up and make this tonight. You probably have everything in your fridge and pantry.

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Agrodolce is a famous Italian sauce punctuated by its agro (sour) and dolce (sweet) flavour. It is sticky and tart and jammy. Just like life. An Agrodolce Life! Sweet and sour and delicious with all its sticky, messy bits.

Agrodolce is made by reducing sugar or honey with vinegar and sweet dried fruit like currants, and cherries into a perfectly balanced tart concoction that is exquisite for coating roasted veggies.

And although onion, pumpkin, sweet potato are roasted veg gold, I am not so sure that they belong with agrodolce. You see, the sweetness of this gorgeous condiment needs a deep savouriness to balance all the sugar. And what is more savoury in the roast vegetable department than cauliflower? A Cauliflower Agrodolce is the perfect symphony of textures, flavours and mouthfeel. This is a truly easy and divine dish, made for sharing!

I’ve been testing agrodolce sauce and agrodolce relish for various projects and thought that an agrodolce salad dressing might be lovely to have on hand. Hence this recipe was born. This sticky, sweet, sour and tart warm dressing (yes, it is cooked!) is perfect for all the warm salads you might want to make. Cauliflower is most definitely the favourite to take this glamorous dressing out for a spin.

And if you haven’t yet, you must try my recent warm salads,

Cabbage & Potato Baked Salad, Spicy Fried Potato Salad, Healthy Dill Potato Salad, Buttery Mexican Corn Salad, Taco Rice Salad, Corn Chaat and Brown Rice Biryani Salad.

Roasting Cauliflower

I have shared so many different techniques and ways of roasting cauliflower here on Live More Veg - Air-Fried, Wok-Fried and Oven Baked. But today’s recipe has another clever little trick for maximizing caramelization.

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Last week, I created and tested 7 new recipes (for work and the blog). I cooked them multiple times. And then I cooked all our regular meals and (lunches and dinners and hot snacks) while ticking off some of the special meal requests on the “Recipe Request” list I have put up for the family. These extra things I cooked were elaborate. They have to be because they are special requests. Fancy mains and decadent desserts. There is no in-between.

I roughly estimated my cooking and prepping to clock over 50 hours last week. That is my definition of being cooked out. I found myself struggling for fresh inspiration while writing the newsletter. Several times during the last week, I almost shared a new recipe and then the enthusiasm escaped like steam from a puffed bread.

When in doubt, I always turn to two things I know are my comfort companions. Potato and spice. Potato is nature’s great soother. You’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t get lulled by its big, cosy, carb-shrouded hug. Add a bit of crunch and a bit of spice and you’ve got an instant mood-lifter.

There is clever science behind pan-fried potatoes that look like the crunchiest golden wedges you might have ever had. The crunch is real! And to be able to do it in a pan in just 20 minutes is a game-changer when you don’t want to have a hot oven on.

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If there was a word to describe Tiktok, it would be “trendsetter”. And although I am never really on the platform as a creator (I have 76 measly followers and am starting to post on there, so give me a follow if you are on Tiktok!), I follow a lot of food accounts and see emerging trends all the time. One such trend is - baked salad! Baked salads went viral a little while ago, made famous by the inventor of the butter board herself - Justine Doiron (Justine Snacks Substack).

The idea is that you bake (almost) everything that goes in the salad in the oven and toss it all together.

Hmmm, wouldn’t that be just regular old “Roast Veggies” then? my skepticism kicked in.

But the more I created and tried different recipes for “Baked Salads”, the more convinced I became that it was the only way to enjoy a salad on a cold night or when you wanted something warm and light on a cool night.

You see, I don’t get excited about the prospect of just eating roast veggies for dinner. Neither do I like the washing up of a dozen dishes after a meal has been cooked. I hate that with a penchant! But if you said that we were having “Baked Salad” for dinner, I would be your best friend for life. It sounds incredibly special, doesn’t it? It is an idea that builds on the roast veggies. You bake things in the oven. While they are baking, you cook something on the cooktop, maybe open a can from the pantry, chop a few crunchy fresh elements and mix a killer dressing.

When the things are baked, you add the cooked things, the pantry things and the fresh things and the dressing ON THE TRAY that was just baking in the oven and Voila! You have a gorgeous, delicious salad that is not only nutritionally dense but has protein, carbs, fiber and most importantly - flavour!

Biggest pro? No big washing up!

I make an Indian Cabbage & Potato Sabji quite often. A sabji is a dry Indian curry. It is my mum’s favourite sabji. I make it as a means to feel closer to my mum who lives in India while I am in Sydney. Cabbage and potato cooked with spices until it is caramelized with a “lid steam” method that I grew up with.

This baked salad is an ode to those textures and flavours but with twist! Caramelized cabbage is a whole new beast in the animal kingdom. If you haven’t tried it yet, I must insist that you do. It transcends into a silky smooth vegetable with sweet, caramel and nutty tones. My baked salad has golden roasted potatoes for heft (and good carbs!), black beans and quinoa for comfort (and protein!), alliums for sweetness and spice, and of course a lusciously thick creamy dressing. Because a baked salad needs to be hearty, the dressing needs to stick to your ribs.

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When I have a hot minute in the afternoon - say I am making a cup of coffee or refilling my water bottle, I’ll mix an Asian stir-fry sauce in a glass jar and pop it in the fridge. It only takes a minute. And can be used in so many delicious ways. It is seriously underrated.

Because this stir-fry sauce can live in your fridge for weeks and gets a veggie-loaded dinner ready in under 10 minutes (I have timed myself! If I do things very slowly, it takes 8-10 minutes. At my fastest, it only takes 5 minutes :)). I have two such Asian stir-fry sauces memorized. My little secret weapon in the kitchen, one of my many go-to dinner savers.

These sauces are lighter, healthier, and brimming with flavour. And today I am sharing those sauces with you and a clever way to pack an additional 5-6 veggies at any meal with a family favourite recipe - Veggies In Hot Garlic Sauce. All you need is a side of carbs - noodles, rice or thick golden oven-roasted potato wedges!

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Raw Or Cooked Vegetables? Which is Better?

It is a common misconception that raw vegetables are healthier for you and that cooking them destroys all the beautiful nutrients they offer. Although both have their pros, eating lightly cooked vegetables regularly is immensely beneficial to your health.

Cooking certain vegetables breaks down their cell walls and releases more antioxidants like lutein (amazing for eye health), beta carotene (reduces oxidative stress in the body) and lycopene (great for skin and heart health).

So for eg, eating cooked spinach gives you higher calcium and iron while also reducing oxalic acid which interferes with the absorption of calcium. Win-win!

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Welcome to the first member recipe of 2024. Today’s recipe is a very special everyday dal topped with golden pan-fried veggies. This dal follows the Ayurvedic style of cooking and eating, is deeply nourishing for your body, is incredibly delicious and creamy and very easy to make. I call it a Retreat Dal and it is inspired by dals I have eaten at wellness and yoga retreats over the years.

Is it dal, daal, dahl or dhal?

There is almost thrice the number of people searching for “dhal” on Google than there are for “dal”. But does it mean that “dhal” or “dahl” is the correct term for slow-simmered lentils that are an everyday staple in Indian homes? No, it doesn’t. The search habits prove that. The searches on Google mostly come from people who want to learn how to make it or are looking for a recipe, not people who have grown up eating dal every day and have a multitude of versions from their families and friends.

The most accurate spelling is dal. The most accurate pronunciation is daa-l.

The d is a “soft d” where the tip of your tongue touches and lies flat against the back of the front top teeth in the roof of your mouth, your jaw relaxed. There is no hard emphasis on the “d” (this is the d sound you make by pressing the tongue against the gummy middle roof of your mouth and widening your jaw). There is also no “dh” sound in dal.

I was born and brought up in India for the first two and half decades of my life. “Dal” or very occasionally “daal” were the only spellings I ever saw in magazines, cookbooks, restaurant menus etc.

A contributor on Reddit describes it quite accurately here

While there is no correct spelling in English as such, I have found Dal and Daal to be commonly used.

I would avoid "Dhal" because it encourages an Anglophone speaker to say it with an aspirated "dha" ( धा) sound, whereas the syllable is sort of dental "da" (दा) sound in very many desi languages such as Hindi--Urdu, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Nepali as far as I can tell.

(For similar reasons, I avoid spelling Gandhi as Ghandi---the second spelling was sometimes used for his name historically, but it encouraged the wrong pronunciation).

When writing for fellow Indians or people from neighbouring cultures, I tend to write "Dal" but I sometimes use "Daal" when writing for Westerners because I want to avoid it being read out as "dull" by those who are completely unfamiliar with the cuisine.

Try Some Of My Dal Recipes

Rainbow Veggie Dal | Tomato Garlic Dal | Spinach Dal | Turmeric Dal | Red Lentil Veggie Dal | Vegan Dal Makhani

What is the right way to cook dal?

Indians swear by their pressure cookers. The whistling sound starts emanating from various kitchens in city apartment blocks from as early as 4 am. Tiered steel containers, some filled with raw rice and water and some filled with lentils and water are lowered in pressure cookers. It only takes 12-15 minutes for rice to steam and lentils to be pressure-cooked to perfection.

Once the raw lentils are pressure cooked, they are added to a “tadka” - a ghee-based fry-up of spluttering whole seeds and aromatics. Finally, spices and water are mixed through and the dal is allowed to simmer for 10 minutes for all the flavours to come together. This is the traditional method of cooking a simple everyday dal.

I was about 6 years old when I first learned to cook dal in this fashion in my mum’s kitchen. In the absence of a pressure cooker, a pot is used to simmer dried lentils, salt and water to a textural mush (almost like cooking pasta al dente). A tadka is then added to the top and stirred through.

There are a couple of different methods that each household follows to make their dal. Here are the 4 most common techniques of cooking dal.

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It is my last official day of work for 2023 and I am SO EXCITED! I can’t wait to wrap up cooking, writing and photographing for work. So I can go straight to cooking and photographing for leisure.

This week my 2023 Christmas cookie boxes were packed and delivered. With 10 varieties the box looked truly full and festive. We now have 7 containers of these delicious Christmas cookies that will tide us through the holiday season. I made the following,

• Homemade Chewy Caramels

• Lemon Almond Wreath Cookies

• Greek Almond Crescent Cookies

• Pistachio Amaretti (recipe below)

• Shortbread (recipe below)

• Cranberry & Pistachio Shortbread (recipe below)

• Matcha, Citrus, Cocoa & Spice Galaxy Cookies (my recipe)

• Lebkuchen Stars & Marzipan Crescents (from “Advent” Cookbook)

• Miso & White Chocolate Cookies (from “A Good Day To Bake” Cookbook)

Christmas is only two days away and the year has truly flown. I like to treat Christmas as any other Sunday - relaxed, easy, and hardly any cooking at all! Being in the Southern Hemisphere, Christmas always comes with the promise of a hot scorching summer day. But funnily enough, as the day itself dawns, it is usually cloudy, overcast, drizzling with a distinct chill in the air. The closest we will ever get to a cold (definitely not white!) Christmas here in Sydney. This means it is the perfect weather to have a cold salad for lunch and a comforting pasta for dinner.

It must be noted that I call myself a lazy cook (Nick says I am efficient but let’s go with lazy). I find the quickest, shortest, and most fuss-free way to do things in the kitchen, especially when entertaining. This is what a stock standard non-traditional Christmas menu looks like at ours every year, with a couple of new additions now and then.

My Christmas Menu

Breakfast

Panettone French Toast - I buy Panettone to eat and to bake with. Christmas morning breakfast is usually thick slabs of panettone dredged in a whisked egg, cream, vanilla, sugar and salt concoction and pan-fried in butter until golden. Served with whipped cream, fresh berries and some maple syrup! Simple but oh so special.

Lunch

Cold Asian Tofu - Several slabs of silken tofu on the ready. Dressing prepared ahead of time (To make this, I usually just mix light soy sauce, minced garlic, sesame oil and 1-2 teaspoons of Lao Gan Ma Chili Oil in a bowl.) When its time to serve, drizzle dressing over tofu slabs, garnish with spring onion, coriander and sesame seeds. Yum!

Prawn Mango Salad - Christmas is not Christmas without this gem of a salad. A lovely punchy Nam-Jim style dressing prepped ahead is all you need. Buy cooked prawns and toss them up with freshly sliced mango, cucumber, bean sprouts, cos lettuce and drizzle the dressing on top. Everyone loves this! Recipe Here »

Crab Fried Rice - I have a handwritten recipe for this that I have been using for years. I use cooked crab meat to stir through my basic fried rice recipe.

Dinner

I make the recipes below by feel. I have been making them for many years, only once a year at Christmas but I follow the same recipe every year.

Seared Scallops in Cauliflower Puree

Brown Butter Lobster Pasta

Dessert

Burnt Basque Cheesecake - This reader-favourite recipe can be made up to 2 days in advance. It ages like fine wine. Just blend, pour and bake. Ready in 25 minutes! For a festive twist, top with bright red berries, drizzle of fresh passion fruit pulp and dust with icing sugar or chocolate drizzle.

Tiramisu (Gingerbread Tiramisu) - No ordinary Tiramisu, this was a staple at my Christmas dinners or New Year’s Eve get-togethers for almost 10 years. A no-cook, make-ahead recipe - this Tiramisu is extra delicious because it is layered with crushed gingernut biscuits, making it taste all sugar and spice and extra nice!

More …

Drink

15-Minute Festive Fruit Punch - This is not only fun to make but looks sensational. You’ll need a big punch bowl or a wide barrel-shaped glass container/big ol glass cookie jar. You layer it with sliced green apples, pitted lychees and lots of strawberries and add your liquid. Looks gloriously like Christmas in a jar!

Espresso Tiramisu Martini - A martini that tastes like Tiramisu? Sign me up!

Easy Starters

Italian Tuna Tartare - A 5-minute starter with a restaurant-style wow factor! Fancy it up with caviar sprinkled on top. Serve with simple water crackers or thinly sliced olive sourdough.

Oysters With Mango & Chilli Dressing - If you can find a bag of frozen mango (or fresh mangoes!), you can make this easy dressing. It is slurpy and delicious and tangy and perfect for topping your oysters.

Salads

Pipiranna - Cold Spanish Seafood Salad. No cooking is required, just chop and mix!

Watermelon & Feta Salad - This gorgeous salad looks like Christmas on a plate. Bright juicy red cubes of watermelon scattered with white feta cubes, orange slices, sharp kalamatta olives, pickled onion, mint, rocket and a simple dressing. Swap feta for pan-fried halloumi and take it to the next level!

Super Green Roasted Potato Salad - Roasted potatoes with a green, briny, olive and caper-infused dressing that does wonders for the palate and cuts through the richness of all the big mains. I love how green and fresh and zingy and easy this one is!

Halloumi Lentil & Roasted Eggplant Salad - This looks super festive studded with pomegranate or cherries (whatever is in season!). Salty fried halloumi, creamy lentils, perfectly roasted eggplant, lots of herbs and a lemony dressing. 25 minutes to a bowl of substantial salad goodness!

Sides

Beetroot Carpaccio With Broccoli Crumb - Fancy veggie side with zero efforts. Delicious and looks sensational!

Crispy Bay Roasted Smashed Potatoes With Creamy Green Sauce - Yum, yum, yum! No description is required.

Sicilian Pan Roasted Chilli Garlic Brussels Sprouts - This is a 10-minute side dish like no other. 5 minutes on the day if you prep ahead. How great is that? Sticky, caramelized Brussels sprouts, pinenuts, mustard, raisin, garlic, chilli …. is your mouth watering yet?

Mains

Zuppa Di Pesce - My Italian Seafood Soup is brimming with coastal flavours and the richness of saffron. Make the broth ahead and add seafood just before serving. Serve with crusty bread and lots of greens. A show-stopping main with hardly any fuss!

Butter Roasted Whole Cauliflower With Hot Garlic Sauce - Another show stopper veg main! Baste small heads of cauliflower with butter, wrap in foil and bake until golden. Make the sauce ahead in advance - buttery, garlicky and umami, the sauce is easily scalable for multiple heads of cauliflower. Serve on its own or alongside some green herbed rice studded with cranberries.

Kale Ricotta Gnocchi In-House Italian Sauce - Another show-stopping veggie main. Potato-free ricotta gnocchi that melts in your mouth and looks so pretty studded with the chopped kale leaves. A big wide tray of this gorgeous gnocchi swimming in a delicious homemade pasta sauce can easily become the star of the festive table.

Roasted Cauliflower & Ricotta Grandma Pie - Skip the loaf of bread or focaccia. Make this instead! A deep dish, tray pizza of a kind, topped with roasted cauliflower, creamy ricotta, olives, herbs, garlic …. perfect for tearing and sharing.

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread

Makes 16

Ingredients

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It is amazing how children pick up on the eating habits of adults without even realizing it. Picture this. Circa 1982, a five-year-old me goes to the daily farmer’s market at 5 pm after dad finishes work. Everyday! I watch my mum pick fresh produce, heckle for the right price and slowly fill up her cotton shopping bags as we meander our way through local farmers tending to their carts and baskets meticulously arranged with pyramids of gorgeous produce.

When we get back home, mum gets a couple of large bowls and puts them in the middle of the kitchen floor. We sit around the bowls at the ready, almost like some kind of seance about to happen. Mum brings the washed produce and lays it out on tea towels. And we begin our daily family bonding ritual. Peeling, stripping, snapping, picking and chopping the produce while we chat. Because I was too young to use the knife, I was always given things like podding the peas, stripping the beans or picking the leaves off bunches of spinach and fenugreek.

My dad was a serial veggie muncher (still is!). It is from him that I first learned to pop the shelled peas in my mouth when mum wasn’t looking. He would be slicing cabbage and pass me some and we would both happily munch away on the sweet and sharp brassica. And radish! Not the sweet little red radish but the spicy long Indian white radish. He would eat many slices and not even break a sweat whereas the mustard-like spiciness would almost take my head off and cause my eyes to water profusely. But I loved it! It was a sense of belonging and being in on something that made produce prepping time very dear to me.

Alas, I haven’t been able to establish a similar ritual with my own family (we have others but not a sit-down-as-a-group and prep veggies kind of ritual … because of lack of time!). But when I am in the kitchen at 5 pm promptly prepping for dinner, my family can hear my munching across the room. An act that has earned me the nickname “The Goat”.

The vegetable that I snack on the most while prepping is cabbage! My dad loves raw cabbage and my mum loves cooked cabbage. I, fortunately, love both versions. And cook with it extensively. Something new every week. A Crunchy Thai Cabbage Salad with the most beautiful orange-tahini dressing, Gujarati Sambharo - a spiced Indian stir-fry from the western Indian state of Gujarat where my family comes from, Cabbage Thoran - a delicious South Indian dry cabbage curry, Crispy Cabbage Fritters and a Jackfruit Okonomiyaki loaded with cabbage.

But one of my recent favourite things to eat a whole head of cabbage is this gorgeous Japanese Roasted Cabbage - gnarly, charred, roasted cabbage wedges drizzled with my go-to Japanese sauce that is so delicious, you would be forgiven for just drinking it from the bowl! A perfectly cooked buttery cabbage dish (vegan!) that only takes 5 minutes to prep and looks spectacular at a dinner party or Christmas table. All you need to do is chop the cabbage, roast it, mix the sauce and drizzle it. Can be prepped ahead and has everyone raving. It is the perfect vegetarian side.

To get this recipe right, I tried many different variations at different temperatures. Here are my findings

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For the past couple of weeks, I have hung up my camera as I recover slowly from a neck and shoulder injury. Instead, I have dedicated my time solely to testing and cooking in the kitchen with bouts of stretching in between chopping and stirring sessions. Every year, I start my Christmas baking by making a big batch of these rustic, salted chocolate chip spelt cookies …. you know, to snack on! It loosens up. those sleepy baking muscles and sets the tone for the festive season.

I love whole flours, unrefined sugar, herbs and spices in my bakes. Robust cakes, cookies and slices that are reminiscent of little bakeries along cobbled pathways in the heart of Europe. Bakes made for wrapping in brown parchment paper or Kraft boxes and gifting friends and families.

Today’s beautiful recipe is a little departure from fruit and veg, but what a deliciously more-ish departure it is. With the focus on dried fruit, nuts and of course, sprigs of fragrant rosemary; this divine slice begs to be baked.

My Rosemary Rum & Raisin Slice is crispy and caramelized along the edges and soft and chewy in the middle. It is fragrant (rosemary), fruity (olive oil, orange) and nutty (pecan nuts) and spiked with rum (for the holidays, of course!) and tastes like the lovechild of an Anzac Biscuit and Rum & Raisin Ice Cream. Very very hard to stop at one slice! (Downloadable & Printable Recipe for members below)

🌲 Hot Tip //

Can be baked in mini loaf pans and wrapped up whole (the size of a large chocolate bar) with Christmas twine, sprigs of rosemary and a little Christmas bauble to add to your holiday gift bags. Because who doesn’t love a homemade treat?

Rosemary Rum & Raisin Slice

Makes 24 squares / vegetarian, dairy-free

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There are a handful of ways to truly enjoy Brussels Sprouts - whole roasted/grilled/pan-fried (fat), steamed (water) and raw (acid). Done right, each of these methods yields a delicious, nutrition-packed dish that makes eating this little brassica a lot more exciting.

I love a good roasted Brussels Sprouts dish. Love Fish in Sydney does amazing Spicy Char-grilled Brussels Sprouts with black beans that I am very close to finessing and will share soon (exciting! because this is a dish that will grace your gatherings and Christmas dinner tables). But roasting, pan-frying and prepping takes some time and has to be done right - like these delicious Chilli Garlic Brussels Sprouts. And quite often, I can be a lazy cook.

So full disclosure - my favourite way to eat Brussels Sprouts is shaved and in a salad. Because it requires no cooking.

My Lemony Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad is full of texture and incredible savoury-citrusy flavours heightened by the crunch of sweet apple. We had this last night for dinner with grilled protein and it was delicious and satisfying!

I have this beautiful recipe (printable and downloadable) for all members today, further down in the newsletter. But first, an early Christmas present - from me to to you!

🎄 Christmas Comes Early

In the past year, ever since I started my paid newsletters, I have been amazed by your support. I love all your emails telling me about some of my recipes that you try for special occasions, and how you are starting to (effortlessly) eat more veg and fruit every week. It thrills my veg-loving heart and fuels my creative endeavours to bring you more exciting content. And I’ve some very exciting things brewing for next year that I can’t say just yet.

Today, I have a little token of appreciation for you being a part of my little veggie-loving community. Some fabulous discounts and options on ALL ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS, strictly for a limited time only!

What does an Annual Membership Give you?

1. Approximately 60-80 Recipes Brand New A Year! (That is a whole new cookbook!)

2. Weekly Cooking Newsletters filled with veg-inspiration and exclusive new vegetarian recipes developed for the newsletter.

3. Instant Access to the full “Live More Veg” Archive of Paid Posts & Recipes. Veg cooking techniques, meal prep sessions, veg box inspiration and ideas - all printable and downloadable!

1. Treat Yourself - For a limited time, get 20% off all new annual memberships. Instant access to the full archive of recipes and 2 years of newsletters PLUS weekly newsletters and new recipes (printable and downloadable) straight to your inbox.

20% OFF Annual Membership

2. Give The Gift Of Veg For Christmas - For a limited time, get 20% off all annual gift memberships. Instant access to the full archive of recipes and 2 years of newsletters PLUS weekly newsletters and new recipes (printable and downloadable) straight to the inbox of your friend/family. (Option to enter giftee’s email address and message at checkout. Option to buy gift anonymously)

20% Off Gift Memberships

3. Group Veg Love! - Are you looking for a cool, fabulous gift idea for a bunch of friends? A gift for everyone in your small business? Or perhaps, a gift for an entire book club/wine club/cooking club/gardening club? I have an amazing 25% off annual group memberships today! This option lets you buy a minimum of 2 annual memberships or a maximum of “as many as you like” and your whole tab is reduced by 25%! Instant access to the full archive of recipes and 2 years of newsletters PLUS weekly newsletters and new recipes (printable and downloadable) straight to the inbox of everyone in the group.

25% Off Group Memberships

If you love cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli and kale - the most famous of all Brassicas; then adding Brussels sprouts to your weekly cooking roster should be a no-brainer. Punctuated by bitter or mustard-like notes that are the trademark of this genus of plants, Brussels sprouts look like miniature cabbages and are the edible buds of the plant.

In fact, I wanted to share one of my favourite vegetable photos that I shot a few years ago. It sparks many a conversation when displayed. It also shines a light on how the brassicas are similar in form and structure.

So my question to you is,

“How many (kilos!) of Brussels Sprouts do you think there are in this picture? (tell me in the comments below) (or is it even Brussels Sprouts???)

How I Prep & Shave Brussels Sprouts

1. For shaved Brussels sprouts salad, pick larger buds that you can hold easily and grate on your mandolin or slice thinly with a knife. (I use the Borner brand that I have had for over 20 years)

2. Wash and pat dry the Brussels sprouts.

3. Hold the knobbly stalk end and carefully grate on your mandolin.

4. But if you have nightmares of shaving the tip of your finger on the sharp blade, I have a cool kitchen hack for you that will keep your fingers safe …

Read more

Today, I have a really special recipe for you (downloadable and printable). A recipe so simple, that you’ll wonder why you’ve never done it before. A Smoky Eggplant With Spicy Chickpeas & Tahini Sauce.

Ever so often I will come across a term on social media that will make me promptly Google it. Most recently, the term “Roman Empire” spiked my interest.

“What’s your Roman Empire?”

“How often during the day do you think of the “Roman Empire?”

These were the questions I had encountered social media influencers asking their viewers and food influencers (Sophie Hansen mentioned it in her Monday newsletter most recently). It made no sense to me.

Upon Googling, I deciphered that a TikTok influencer was quite convinced that men often think about the Roman Empire as they are quite enamoured by Julius Caesar and the likes, by the strength and dominance of the warriors and politicians of that era. And so she urged her viewers to ask the men in their lives (husbands, boyfriends, fathers, brothers etc..) how many times they thought of the Roman Empire on any given day?

Let me pause here and mention, how ridiculous is this concept. I feel like people on TikTok and other social media platforms talk about the most ridiculous things and these ridiculous things end up becoming a meme or a permanent fixture in the pop culture landscape of our times.

I asked my guys and they were like “Huh? What? Roman Empire?”. Good lads!

Anyways, this social media occurrence and subsequent progression have given birth to the terminology “What’s your Roman Empire?” meaning “What is something you can’t live without or think about quite often?”.

For me it is a fire-roasted eggplant that has charred and absorbed the essence of smoke itself. Smoky! Something I staunchly believe should be the sixth flavour profile after sweet, sour, salty, spicy and umami.

Yes! A smoky eggplant is my Roman Empire amongst other things. And today, I have a bonus recipe for you that you NEED to make as soon as possible. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere (like me!), fire up your barbies (that is slang for barbecue here in Australia) and whack a whole eggplant on it. Or do as I do, get a $10 camping stove from Kmart and cook your eggplant on an open flame till it is charred and the skin peels away in a crackled pattern. And make this recipe that I am sharing today - Smoky Eggplant With Spicy Chickpeas & Tahini Sauce.

It has such an unusual combination of ingredients but it works. Oh, it works! Smoky roasted whole eggplant skinned to reveal the velvety flesh, presented on a bed of the most gorgeous tahini sauce scattered with spicy flavourful chickpeas. All you need is a knife and fork!

The spicy chickpeas and that tahini sauce are a vibe honestly. And if you were to switch the eggplant with anything else you might fancy (a whole roasted sweet potato? a perfectly caramelized whole cauliflower? half a sugarplum cabbage roasted and charred to black deliciousness? .. they would all work!)

But let’s also explore the different techniques for roasting an eggplant to smoky perfection, if you don’t have access to fire cooking (hello induction!)

And if you love eggplant (or aubergine as my English friends love to call it or brinjal as it is known to my Indian friends and family back in India), you must make this beautiful dish that is quite lovely to eat by itself (like a roasted eggplant salad) and adds a wow factor when served at gatherings (my photography workshop students loved eating and photographing it). Soy sauce and tahini - the best kind of fusion!

If you don’t have access to a barbecue or camping stove or any kind of gas/fire cooking, the oven is your best friend.

Always use large eggplants. Also known as Globe or American, these eggplants are large, globular and bigger than your palm. They have a lot of flesh and are perfect for roasting and making Baba Ghanoush or Nasu Dengaku (Japanese Miso Roasted Eggplant)

• First, preheat your oven to 230°C (210°Ç fan-forced) / 450°F ($10°F fan-forced)

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A good slab of fluffy foccacia or a beautifully browned ciabatta loaf calls for a sandwich. Sandwiches are the unsung heroes of lunchboxes and harried standing meals in the middle of a shoot. Yes, they are! Especially in our home.

Although I have a soft spot for a nice smoked salmon sandwich made with grain bread stuffed with pickled beetroot, dill, chilli mustard, lettuce, avocado and cucumber (this is our go-to sandwich on busy mornings), one of my favourite sandwiches to make and eat is a Smashed Chickpea & Spinach Sandwich.

A humble can of chickpeas becomes a delicious source of protein in this flavourful sandwich mix packed with other veggies (we can’t have it any other way now, can we?). The mix is pre-cooked on a hot pan until it is fragrant and ready to be stuffed in good bread or made into grilled toasties and eaten with a good tomato relish. I have even crisped this mix in the waffle maker to make the most delicious Chickpea waffles!

This chickpea sandwich mix is very different from the ones you might have tried at cafes or farmer’s markets. I use toasted whole spices in the base to not only amplify flavour but to create a bit of texture. Aromatics, ground spices and a couple of unexpected ingredients make this mix succulent and juicy.

Chickpea Recipes

Looking for delicious vegetarian chickpea recipes to make from canned chickpeas? Have a look at my collection of Easy Chickpea Recipes that you can whip up for brunch, work lunches or dinners. Packed with lots of flavour and even more vegetables, these chickpea recipes are the perfect way to add more protein to your veg meals.

Chickpea Sandwich Filling Suggestions

I love avocado and crisp Cos lettuce/Romaine in all my sandwiches. But this sandwich really benefits from subtle acidity and more crunch. Try these gorgeous fillings when you make this sandwich

1. Salad sprouts (alfalfa, radish, onion)

2. Sliced gherkins

3. Sauerkraut

4. Kimchi

5. Salsa Verde

6. Pickled Red Onion

RECIPE // Pickled Red Onion

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If you are a fan of a good savoury muffin, you must’ve already tried my really good Veggie Muffins by now. But today, I am sharing another beloved savoury muffin of mine that tastes like a really delicious quiche from that charming local deli you frequent. A Sweet Potato, Spinach & Feta Muffin!

Golden and crunchy on the outside, wonderfully sweet and savoury soft crumb studded with pre-roasted sweet potato, velvety spinach, quinoa, herbs, aromatics and a delightfully sharp and salty hit with the feta on top.

A staple lunch muffin if there ever was one. With one more week of school holidays left, you’ll thank yourself for baking a batch ow two of these. Eaten warm, torn and pulled apart by your fingers. Full of flavour, it really doesn’t need anything else but if you were to make a full meal out of it, you might want to serve it aside a nice soup like this Roasted Garlic Tomato Soup or add a dollop of pesto or a nice tomato confit.

I tried a lot of different versions of this muffin. This version was the best and so I baked it again and again. It is a healthy, well-rounded muffin. Besides being packed with veggies, it also has protein and very little fat. Can you believe this entire batch only has a quarter cup of olive oil and no dairy (apart from the feta on top)?

So let’s talk about what makes a good savoury muffin and why grating sweet potato and adding it to your batter is not the best practice.

The Secret To Good Savoury Veggie Muffins

The only sweet muffin I like is a banana muffin. I love savoury muffins more. They are not one-dimensional and I can pack them with veggies and build layers of flavour. But there is a little secret to making the best ones.

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