You've got much better things to do than the washing up. Things like finally getting round to trying (and perfecting) the slicked-back hair look. Things like revisiting iconic British television history with a Changing Rooms marathon (loads on YouTube, you're welcome) or finally getting your side hustle (a shop on eBay selling stuff you nicked from your mum's wardrobe, what of it?) off the ground.
Basically, a busy woman like you has no business spending hours doing washing up. Which is why one-pot dinners (cooking your entire dinner in one tray or pot) are the way forward. Heck, you can even eat your dinner straight out of the pot if you really want to streamline the process.
To get you started, healthy-eating restaurant Leon has literally just released a new book on this very subject and has kindly shared a few of its vegan offerings with us.
Click through to get inspiration for your very own one-pot meal this evening – so you've got time for all the other important things you've got going on.
Avocado Pesto Pasta
Serves 4
Prep time: 8 minutes
Cook time: 8 minutes
Ingredients
450g dried linguine
2 ripe avocados
1 large clove of garlic, blanched for 3 minutes in a cup of boiling water, then crushed
3 tbsp pine nuts
3 tbsp good-quality extra virgin olive oil
3 large handfuls fresh basil, leaves only
3 tbsp freshly grated parmesan (optional – vegans can leave it out and vegetarians can use a vegetarian brand)
2 tsp lemon juice
Flaky sea salt
Instructions
1. Place the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water and cook for about 8 minutes, or until al dente.
2. Meanwhile make the sauce. You can either blitz it in a food processor, or pulverise it in a pestle and mortar – we prefer the more rugged texture you get in a mortar; if you use a food processor, be sure to stop when the sauce is a rough paste, rather than completely smooth.
3. Either way, mix together the avocado flesh, garlic, pine nuts, oil and a generous pinch of salt and process briefly. Next add the basil leaves and the parmesan, if using, and process to form a rough paste. Taste and very gradually add the lemon juice – the aim is not to make the sauce lemony, instead the acidity just brightens the flavour of the pesto.
4. Drain the cooked pasta, saving a couple of tablespoons of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the hot pan along with the sauce and the reserved cooking water and toss very thoroughly. Serve straight away.
Vegetable Tagine
Serves 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Ingredients
4 tbsp olive oil
250g cauliflower, broken into small florets
1 small aubergine, cut into 2cm chunks
1 large onion, cut into wedges
1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks
1 red pepper, seeded and cut into 2cm chunks
1 head of fennel, trimmed and cut into 2cm chunks
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 × 3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 × 400g can of chopped tomatoes
1 × 400g can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
400ml vegetable stock
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp harissa paste
Generous pinch of saffron threads
3 tbsp raisins (optional)
2 tbsp flaked almonds or pine nuts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Warm crusty white bread, to serve
Instructions
1. Heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
2. Pour the oil into a large metal baking dish with high sides (if you don’t have a big one, you may need to use two). Add the cauliflower, aubergine, onion, squash, red pepper and fennel and toss to cover with the oil. Spread out so the vegetable pieces lie more or less in a single layer. Place in the preheated oven and roast for 15 minutes.
3. Mix together the coriander, cumin, turmeric and a big pinch of salt, then sprinkle over the hot vegetables. Toss again to coat and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes.
4. Remove the tray from the oven and add the ginger, tomatoes, chickpeas, stock, garlic, harissa paste, saffron, raisins, if using, and lots of black pepper. Return to the oven and cook for 30 minutes, checking the liquid levels every now and then, and adding a little hot water if necessary. (This tagine should be neither dry nor thick.) Finally, scatter the almonds or pine nuts over the top and return to the oven for 5 minutes, or until toasted and golden, checking every couple of minutes, as the nuts can quickly burn.
5. Serve with warm, crusty white bread.
Buddha's Delight
Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
15 dried shiitake mushrooms
100g dried bean curd sticks
100g dried mung bean/ glass noodles
2 tbsp flavourless oil
1 × 4cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely sliced
3 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
3 heaped tbsp preserved red bean curd (hot or mild)
125g carrots, sliced into thin strips
5 spring onions, sliced on an angle into 2cm pieces + 1 spring onion, finely chopped, to serve
1/2 head of Chinese (napa) cabbage, thickly sliced
150g mangetout
100g ready-cooked bamboo shoots, roughly chopped
Salt
25g roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped, to serve
For the sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Shaoxing Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
3 tbsp mushroom soaking liquid (see recipe)
1/2 tsp maple syrup
Instructions
1. Two hours before you want to cook, separately cover the dried shiitake mushrooms and bean curd sticks with boiling water and leave to rehydrate. Ten minutes before you want to cook, cover the noodles with boiling water and leave to rehydrate for 10 minutes (or soak according to the packet instructions – some require longer). Drain and set aside.
2. Drain the bean curd sticks thoroughly and slice each stick in half. Drain and squeeze out the mushrooms, keeping the soaking liquid, then slice into small pieces.
3. Make the sauce by whisking all the ingredients together. As with any stir-fry, prepare all the other ingredients before you start cooking.
4. Place a large wok over a low–medium heat. Add the oil, ginger, garlic and mushrooms and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the preserved red bean curd and mash until smooth in the pan. Add the drained bean curd sticks and stir to coat, then add the carrots and spring onions (reserving the finely chopped spring onion to garnish). Cook for 5 minutes, stirring gently and often. Next, add the cabbage, mangetout and bamboo shoots and cook for 2 minutes. Finally add a good pinch of salt, the sauce and the drained noodles and toss, still on the heat, very thoroughly to coat everything in the sauce. Let the sauce cook for about a minute.
5. Divide between 4 warmed bowls and top with the chopped peanuts and reserved finely chopped spring onion.
Leon Happy One-Pot Cooking by Rebecca Seal and John Vincent is out now, published by Conran Octopus
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