Eat Green advocates for a more environmentally friendly way of cooking and eating while realising that for some families cutting out dairy, meat and fish is unsustainable or unrealistic.
Instead, she has created what she calls ‘‘flexitarian’’ recipes which allow quality meat or fish to be swapped in or out.
‘‘It shows you how being more flexible in your approach to cooking is practical, enjoyable and doable day-in, day-out.
‘‘It is when we make small changes part of our daily life that we begin to make a difference.’’
Hemsley has included plenty of everyday waste-reducing tips as she goes along.
‘‘I’m far from a perfectly sustainable, self-sufficient citizen of the planet - but I try a little every day to be that bit more responsible for my impact. Collectively all of our positive adjustments will make a difference.’’
She urges people to do their best to buy responsibly grown and sustainable produce and be less reliant on the ingredients that are not like coffee, coconut, bananas, spices - see them as a treat rather than a daily snack.
Hemsley is a fan of batch booking to make most of people’s time and energy and freezing portions for another time.
Cooking in a ‘‘green way’’ does not need to cost more or be too labour intensive, she says. Stock cupboards with multipurpose dry ingredients and be inspired by the seasons as fruit and vegetables are more affordable when in season.
There is a list of the most half-eaten and thrown away ingredients and what to do with them.
And she has included a list of her ‘‘Mum’s tips’’ as she taught Hemsley not to waste food.
‘‘I hope to help you make them household habits for the whole family to get involved with at every mealtime.’’
Fried chermoula cauliflower on herby bean dip with slaw
These spiced cauliflower steaks on green dip steal the show at any dinner party, but are super simple for a mid-week dinner too. They come together in 30 minutes on the nose! If you want to get ahead, the dip and slaw can be made in advance, then dress the slaw while you’re cooking the cauliflower. You’ll want to try the chermoula-esque spice mix on everything, or you could fry it with onion for the base of a pumpkin soup.
Serves 2 with leftovers
Prep 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 medium cauliflower (about 800g), save the leaves
2 Tbsp ghee or oil
sea salt and black pepper
Chermoula spice mix
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sweet paprika
2 tsp ground coriander
chilli flakes or ¼ tsp cayenne, to taste
Herby bean dip
240g cooked white beans or chickpeas (1 × 400g tin, drained and rinsed)
1 garlic clove
2 Tbsp tahini
juice of 1 lemon
1 big handful of a mix of fresh parsley and coriander, leaves and stems roughly chopped separately
extra virgin olive oil, to serve
Slaw
¼ red cabbage (150g), finely shredded
1 green apple, cut into matchsticks
1 celery stick and leaves, sliced
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp mustard
Method
Heat the oven to fan 220degC. Slice two 2–3cm thick steaks off the cauliflower and roughly chop the remaining cauliflower florets and the leaves, keeping them separate. Mix the chermoula ingredients together.
Put the cauliflower florets in a roasting tray with 1 tablespoon of the ghee or oil, half of the chermoula spice mix, sea salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 15–20 minutes, adding the chopped cauliflower leaves halfway through and tossing everything together.
Melt the remaining ghee or oil in a large frying pan and fry the cauliflower steaks for 2 minutes on each side, then add the remaining spice mix and carefully turn again, coating the steaks in the spice. Cook for a further 2 minutes until just tender (you could now pop in the oven to keep warm).
Mix all the slaw ingredients together with the parsley and coriander leaves in a medium bowl and season to taste.
Blitz all the dip ingredients in a food processor with the parsley and coriander stems and taste for seasoning. Add 2–4 tablespoons cold water until nice and thick. Divide the green bean dip between the plates, drizzle with olive oil and top with the hot cauliflower steak and the florets and leaves. Serve the slaw on top or on the side.
Spicy sprout and mushroom noodles with five-spice
Serves 2
Prep 20 minutes
Ingredients
300g Brussels sprouts and their sprout tops, the sprouts halved or quartered if large (you want them in bite-size pieces), the sprout tops shredded
1 Tbsp oil or ghee
400g mushrooms, any type, roughly chopped
3cm piece of ginger, finely chopped or grated
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
1 fresh red chilli, seeds too, finely chopped
¾ tsp five-spice
2 bundles of noodles (I like soba)
1 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp tamari
1 Tbsp lemon or lime juice or vinegar
1 tsp fish sauce or extra tamari
2 Tbsp black sesame seeds or chopped nuts or seeds, to serve
To serve (optional)
fresh herbs such as coriander or mint
chilli garlic sauce
Method
Fry the sprouts in oil or ghee in a wok or large deep-sided frying pan over a high heat for 4 minutes. For the first few minutes, fry them in an even layer, untouched for a minute or so, then stir or shake the pan to get to the other side.
This will give you nice golden edges, which adds flavour.
Chop the mushrooms, then add them too, stir-frying for 5 minutes along with the ginger, garlic, chilli and five-spice. If you’ve got sprout tops, add them now to briefly fry.
Meanwhile, get the noodles cooking in a second saucepan following the label instructions; they should be ready once the sprouts are.
Once the sprouts are tender and the mushrooms have started to go golden and any liquid they have released has been cooked off, add the maple syrup, tamari, citrus (and fish sauce if using) to the sprouts pan and mix everything together.
Finish by adding the cooked noodles and tossing everything together for 30 seconds so the noodles pick up the flavours, adding a tiny splash of water if you need to. Serve with the sesame seeds, fresh herbs and chilli sauce (if using) on top.
Tahini choc chip cookies
The vegan version of these are just as delicious, none of us can decide which we love the most. Store these cakey cookies in an airtight container for 5 days. You could warm them briefly in the oven to give them a little crispening boost. The dough freezes well so double up and save half for a rainy day. Just defrost, then slice into portions before putting in the oven.
Makes 16 cookies
Prep 25 minutes
Ingredients
2 egg
2 tsp baking powder
4 Tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
150g light tahini
110g smooth nut butter
100g good-quality dark chocolate, broken up into squares, or chips
30g black and/or white sesame seeds
a pinch of sea salt
Method
Heat the oven to fan 170degC. Line a large baking tray with reusable baking paper.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs then mix in the baking powder, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Add the tahini and nut butter and mix together until very well combined.
Roughly chop the chocolate (if not using chips) and fold through the batter along with the sesame seeds.
Measure out 16 balls of the cookie batter, roughly 1 tablespoon each, and bake for 10–15 minutes on the lined baking tray (making sure to leave a little room between each one) until the cookies are just set.
Remove from the oven, sprinkle with a little sea salt and allow to cool on a wire rack before serving.
Flexi swap: For vegans, replace the 2 eggs with 1 large mashed ripe banana. You can also swap the nut butter for the same amount of a seed butter or tahini for a nut-free alternative.
