In Family, Australian cook and food writer Hetty McKinnon, who is now based in New York, sympathises with the daily meal-time struggle.
''My mother would often say that thinking of a dish to cook was much harder than actually making it. I wholeheartedly agree.''
She has learnt that cooking for the family is made easier by drawing on ''classics'' - meals that can be pulled together from memory with minimal effort and ingredients.
For McKinnon, developing a repertoire is key - the dishes you can shop for without a list, that are adaptable, that you can cook consistently with aplomb and serve time after time to an appreciative audience.
What she was served growing up at her mother's table influences and inspires her the most.
''While I am a mother who is very different culturally to the one I grew up with, it is my mum's love of feeding that fuels me.''
McKinnon bases many of her dishes on vegetables with the aim of showing vegetables can be a full-sized meal.
''I venture deeper into family life, offering recipes and tips that will, hopefully, tempt everyone around the table, young and old to eat green.''
She has discovered her kids don't love herbs as much as she does, so she uses fewer herbs or hides them in sauces or dressings.
''My kids are now devouring plant-packed meals that they previously deplored.''
In Family, McKinnon provides tips on how to get children to eat more vegetables and she has divided her book into chapters based on recipes - salads, soups, pasta, bakes, Asian dishes, eggs and sweets.
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Grain bowl with crispy Brussels sprouts and sauce gribiche
A salad dressing made of eggs is some kind of wonderful. Sauce gribiche is a masterful French concoction, similar to mayonnaise, but using cooked egg yolk rather than raw.
It is savoury and tart, a daring balance of acid and fat that is brightened with the addition of cornichons and capers. The French like to serve sauce gribiche with veal head, but I will settle for a grain bowl.
It's a lively sauce that is amazing served with just about any roasted vegetables, particularly crispy potatoes, asparagus, or even straight up, on a piece of toast.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
330g (1½cups) pearl barley or farro
1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock
extra-virgin olive oil
500g Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1 Tbsp chopped chives
juice of ½ small lemon
sea salt and black pepper
Sauce gribiche
3 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled
2 tsp dijon mustard
80ml (⅓ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp capers, rinsed and roughly chopped
6 tiny cornichons or 1 small gherkin, finely chopped
1 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
sea salt and black pepper
Method
Rinse your chosen grains and place them in a saucepan set over a medium heat. Cover with the stock, bring to the boil and cook for 20-25 minutes, until the grains are tender. Drain.
Make the sauce gribiche by removing the egg yolks from the boiled eggs.
Chop the egg whites into small cubes and set aside. Mash the yolks together with the dijon mustard in a bowl. Drizzle in the olive oil and whisk together until emulsified, then slowly stir in the vinegar until well combined.
Add the capers, cornichon or gherkin, chopped egg whites and parsley. Season with sea salt and a good turn of black pepper. Taste and adjust the salt, pepper and vinegar if necessary.
Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat, add a good drizzle of olive oil and toss in the Brussels sprouts. Season with a pinch of sea salt and cook for 3-4 minutes, tossing the pan often to avoid burning, until the sprouts are crispy and tender.
To serve, place the grains in a serving bowl and add the spinach leaves, Brussels sprouts and chives. Season everything with sea salt, black pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil. Toss together gently and spoon over the sauce gribiche to finish.
Tips: The sauce gribiche can be made two days ahead and stored in the fridge. You can also use other herbs such as dill, chives and chervil, and you can replace the vinegar with lemon juice. If you like your Brussels sprouts extra crispy, you can deepfry them. Farro or pearl barley can be made ahead and chilled in the fridge for days. It can also be frozen.
Substitute: Brussels sprouts for broccoli, kale, asparagus, cauliflower or potato.
Turmeric chickpea soup with charred Brussels sprouts
Turmeric is a spice that has worked its way more and more on to my plate, and into my heart. It's a big flavour, with a smokiness and pungency that is hard to quell. When I use turmeric, I go all in. I commit to the big flavour and counterbalance it with a hint of sweetness.
In this soup, the sweetness of falling apart chickpeas and coconut milk balances beautifully with the earthy aromatics of turmeric. Top it all off with the mustard notes of charred brussels sprouts and a generous handful of shallots and coriander, if you like.
Serves 4 gluten free and vegan
Ingredients
1½ cups (300g) dried chickpeas or 750g cooked chickpeas (about 3 drained cans), rinsed
extra-virgin olive oil
1 large brown onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1½ tsp ground turmeric (or 2 Tbsp freshly grated turmeric root)
1 thyme sprig
1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock
400ml (1 can) coconut milk
250g Brussels sprouts, each cut into 6 wedges
big handful of chopped shallot and coriander leaves (optional)
2 Tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted
sea salt and black pepper
Substitute: Brussels sprouts for broccoli rabe, broccoli or cauliflower.
Method
If you are using dried chickpeas, place them in a bowl and add enough cold water to cover by 5cm. Leave them to soak overnight, then drain when ready to use.
Add a drizzle of olive oil to a large pot over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, turmeric, thyme and a pinch of salt and cook for 3-4 minutes, until the onion is soft. Add the chickpeas along with the vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1½-2 hours, until the chickpeas are very soft and falling apart - if you are using canned chickpeas, simmer for 30 minutes only. Discard the thyme sprig and stir in the coconut milk.
While the chickpeas are cooking, make the charred Brussels sprouts.
Heat a frying pan over a high heat, add a big drizzle of olive oil and add the Brussels sprouts to the pan. Season with sea salt and black pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until the sprouts are charred and slightly crispy all over. Set aside.
Using a hand-held blender or food processor, puree the soup, working in batches if necessary and adding a few tablespoons of water if too thick, until the soup is smooth and silky. Season well with sea salt.
To serve, ladle the soup into serving bowls and top with the charred brussels sprouts, shallot and coriander, if using. Sprinkle each bowl with pumpkin seeds.
Tip: This soup can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the fridge - without the Brussels sprouts and herbs - for 2 days. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
