3 New Veggie Recipes We've Tried Lately

Plus a new approach to using our cookbooks

Over the summer holidays, we had friends stay with us at our beach house, and it turned into a long, delicious weekend of feasting. We took turns cooking, sharing meals, and swapping favorite recipes. One evening, our friend Aaron mentioned that whenever he gets a new cookbook, he flips through it, dog-ears the recipes he wants to try, and then sets out to make them.

It’s such a simple habit, yet somehow, we’d never thought to do it ourselves. We’ve always treated our cookbooks more like cherished coffee table books than the practical resources they are. Why not jot notes in the margins or fold down the pages of recipes we want to try?

Michael was inspired, and this small idea sparked a New Year's resolution to use our cookbooks more often and to be more adventurous in the kitchen. He’s since gone through our collection, dog-earing pages left and right, and as a result, we’ve been cooking—and discovering—so many wonderful new meals.

Here are three recipes we’ve tried recently and absolutely loved (all featuring eggplant, coincidentally!):

1. Baked aubergines, chickpeas and tomatoes served with flatbreads and tahini yoghurt from Meera Sodha’s new cookbook, Dinner. (You can also find this recipe on The Guardian website here.)

We really loved this meal with its combination of flavours. The kids especially loved the flatbreads — they were light and fluffy and surprisingly easy to make (we’ve made them three times since!).

2. Spiced Split Lentil Soup with Fried Eggplant from Julia Ostro’s cookbook, A Year of Simple Family Food

   I love a soup that’s elevated with toppings, adding contrast in both flavor and texture. This one was beautifully spiced, rich, and comforting—but the real magic was in getting a little bit of everything onto your spoon - the crispy fried eggplants, herbs, nuts (we used pecans instead of walnuts) and a bit of the yoghurt. Yum.

   

   

3. Ratatouille Galette with anchovy and ricotta from Julius Roberts’ new cookbook, The Farm Table (do you love him as much as I do?)

   I’ve always found the idea of making puff pastry a bit intimidating, but this recipe proved just how simple—and rewarding—it can be. The rustic, free-form folding takes the pressure off perfection and skips the hassle of blind baking, making it an easy yet impressive dish. Plus, it was absolutely delicious. (We made two to feed our big family.)

It’s easy to fall into a cooking rut, so get those cookbooks out and start dog-earing! Also, I’d love to hear what recipes you’ve tried lately, what cookbooks you’re loving at the moment, or any other cooking inspo you want to share.

And if you’re looking to add more simple vegetarian meals to your meal planning, I’ve shared more than a dozen of our favourite go-to dinner recipes here in my archive. Michael and I have included a short video tutorial for each recipe as well as a downloadable recipe card to save to your phone for whenever you’re in the grocery store in need of dinner ideas! Subscribe now for full access to an archive of recipes and helpful tutorials.

Courtney xx