Greenfeast. Nigel Slater

soft pillow of egg. A tangle of vegetables.

       Serves 2

      edamame beans, podded 200g

      spring onions 8

      pak choi 200g

      garlic 3 cloves

      large green chillies 2

      groundnut oil 4 tablespoons

      bean sprouts 200g

      eggs 6

      nigella seeds 2 teaspoons

      coriander a handful

      Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the edamame and boil till tender – about eight minutes. Drain and refresh in a bowl of iced water.

      Finely chop the spring onions, discarding the roots and any tough dark green leaves. Shred the pak choi. Peel and thinly slice the garlic. Finely slice the chillies.

      Warm half the groundnut oil in a large, shallow pan, fry the spring onions, garlic and chillies till soft, then add the shredded pak choi and lastly the bean sprouts, tossing them in the hot oil and cooking for three or four minutes till softened.

      Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly with a fork. Add the cooked and drained edamame, the fried vegetables and aromatics. Season with a little sea salt and black pepper and fold in the nigella seeds and coriander.

      Warm the remaining oil in a large metal-handled frying pan, pour in the omelette mixture and fry over a moderate heat for about eight minutes, until the edges have set and the middle is still almost liquid. Heat the oven grill. Place the frying pan under the grill and continue cooking for two or three minutes until the centre of the omelette is lightly set. (Ideally, it should be a little baveuse, verging on the point of setting.) Cut in half and serve.

      • To the basic mixture you can add pretty much any vegetable you have to hand, from fried mushrooms to steamed shredded cabbage. The cooking time is brief, so most vegetables will have to be lightly cooked first. Brassicas such as long-stemmed sprouting broccoli work very well, as do any late autumn beans. I especially like steamed mustard greens.

FENNEL, PEAS, HALLOUMI

      Fresh green flavours for a golden autumn day.

       Serves 2

      fennel 300g

      olive oil 3 tablespoons

      halloumi 250g

       For the dressing:

      frozen peas 250g

      basil leaves 30g

      mint leaves 20g

      olive oil 150ml

      Trim and thinly slice the fennel, no thicker than a pound coin. Warm the 3 tablespoons of oil in your largest frying pan, place the fennel in the pan in a single layer, then season lightly and cook until the fennel is light gold on the underside. Turn each piece over and continue cooking until soft and translucent.

      Slice the halloumi into pieces slightly thicker than the fennel and place them in the pan, tucking them in wherever there is a gap, overlapping where there isn’t. Let the cheese toast and turn patchily gold.

      Put the frozen peas in a colander and run them under the cold tap for a few minutes till they have defrosted. Let them drain. Whizz the peas, basil and mint leaves and the oil in a food processor till almost smooth – a slightly rough texture is good – then spoon over the cheese and fennel and serve. If you have a few fennel fronds, add them at the very end.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES, PISTACHIOS, GRAPES

      Golden carbs. Black grapes.

       Serves 2–3

      a lemon

      Jerusalem artichokes 200g

      shallots, small 6

      black grapes 150g

      olive oil 3 tablespoons

      golden sultanas 4 tablespoons

      shelled pistachios 4 tablespoons

      parsley leaves a handful

      Halve the lemon and squeeze the juice into a bowl. Peel the Jerusalem artichokes, then cut into rounds approximately 0.5cm thick. Put the artichokes into the bowl with the lemon juice and toss together. This will prevent them going brown.

      Peel the shallots and cut them in half from stem to root. Halve and deseed the grapes. Warm the olive oil in your largest shallow pan. Add the artichokes and shallots to the hot oil, turning them over when their underside is golden and they are starting to soften.

      As the artichokes become tender, add the grapes and sultanas and lastly, the pistachios and parsley.

      • Small potatoes can successfully replace the artichokes. You could also use parsnips. I find it best to use parsnips that have been steamed for ten minutes before frying. They are more tender that way.

      • Should you find it easier, you can roast the artichokes instead of frying them, adding the remaining ingredients to the pan once the artichokes are golden.

MUSHROOMS, HUMMUS, HERBS

      Creamed chickpeas. Sizzling mushrooms.

       Serves 2

      double cream 250ml

      chickpeas 1 × 400g can

      coriander leaves and stems 10g

      dill 15g

      parsley 10g

      king oyster mushrooms 400g

      olive oil 4 tablespoons

      butter 30g

      garlic 4 cloves

      Warm the cream and drained chickpeas in a medium-sized saucepan for five minutes over a moderate heat. Tip them into a blender or food processor with the coriander, dill and parsley and process to a thick cream. Transfer back to the saucepan and season.

      Slice the mushrooms into 1cm-thick pieces. Warm the olive oil and butter in a shallow pan, add the slices of mushroom and cook till golden on both sides. You may need to add a little more oil. As each mushroom browns, remove to a plate or piece of kitchen paper.

      Peel and thinly slice the garlic, cook briefly in the pan until it turns gold, then return all the mushrooms to the pan. Warm the hummus, spoon onto plates, then add the sizzling mushrooms and garlic.

      • Mushrooms, fried with butter and garlic, are just one possibility here; the soft, herb-speckled purée lends itself to sitting under deep-fried artichokes or roast parsnips, baked tomatoes or wedges of baked cabbage.

      • Such purées can be made and kept in a