Chocolate I hear you say! This vibrant black chickpea, squash and pepper salad is a bold, flavour‑packed dish that brings colour and depth to any table. Sweet roasted squash, charred peppers and nutty black chickpeas create a hearty base, while a silky chocolate chilli dressing adds an irresistible mix of warmth, richness and subtle heat. Perfect as a nourishing lunch or a standout side, this salad celebrates big flavours, plant‑based protein and seasonal vegetables in one striking bowl.
Black chickpea, squash and pepper salad with chocolate chilli dressing
Roasted beetroot, lentil and pickled chilli salad
It’s autumn so it’s time to celebrate bold seasonal flavours with this roasted beetroot, lentil and pickled chilli salad. Sweet roasted beetroot pairs beautifully with earthy lentils and sharp, zesty chillies for a refreshing, satisfying bowl that’s ideal for quick weeknight meals. lunches or even as a side for meats and fish.
Carrot and Fennel ‘Beanotto’ with carrot top pesto
Carrot and fennel make a wonderfully unexpected pairing — sweet, aromatic, and earthy all at once. In this “beanotto,” creamy white beans take the place of rice, creating a silky, comforting base that soaks up the vegetables’ gentle warmth. The fennel brings it’s aniseed aroma and the carrots bring their natural sweetness, and together they create a bowl that feels both rustic and refined.
What really lifts the dish is the carrot‑top pesto: bright, herbaceous, and just a little wild. It turns what could be a simple recipe into something vibrant and full of life, celebrating the whole vegetable from root to leaf. This is thrifty cooking at its most elegant — nourishing, colourful, and quietly impressive.
Bahamian peas and rice
Bahamian peas and rice is one of those dishes that instantly tells you where it comes from — warm, savoury, and deeply tied to island home‑cooking. It’s a staple across the Bahamas, built on pigeon peas, aromatic vegetables, and a gentle smokiness from bacon or salted meat. Everything simmers together with thyme, tomato, and a touch of heat, creating a pot of rice that’s richly seasoned, comforting, and full of character.
Flemish hutsepot with potatoes and white beans
Flemish refers to the a specific group of Dutch dialects native to Flanders a northern Dutch speaking region of Belgium. Hutsepot means ‘mixed pot, and that’s exactly the spirit of the dish: simple ingredients cooked together so their flavours meld into something greater. My hutsepot with potatoes and white beans has a warm, golden colour, dotted with chunks of vegetables. It’s thick enough to mound on a spoon, but still brothy enough to feel like a stew.
Lentejas con Calabaza, Spanish Lentil Stew with Butternut Squash, Cumin, and Smoked Paprika
Lentils are a fundamental part of the Spanish cuisine, here the lentils are paired with butternut squash, cumin and smoked paprika for an easy, earthy and nourishing weeknight meal.
Antiguan Spiced Black Bean Cakes
This is the first recipe from my first ever series where I’m making a bean recipe from every country I have visited so far in my life.
First up and we are off to the sunny Caribbean to enjoy some Antiguan Spiced Black Bean cakes.
Laal Maas beans
Laal Mass beans is a fiery dish, traditionally made with lamb or mutton and translates to red meat, ‘laal’ is red, for the red fiery sauce made with dried red chillies and ‘mass’ for meat.
I wanted to create a sauce using all the traditional spices and ingredients to which I could simply add some beans, in this case some meaty butterbeans and some green beans which are perfectly happy being braised until soft.
Spanish Chicken, Chorizo and Chickpea Stew
Happily serves 4
This stew brings all the Spanish flavours and typical Spanish ingredients into one pot for you to enjoy any time of year, all that’s required is a bowl and a spoon and some chunky bread for dunking.
Poor mans potatoes, patatas a lo pobre
This classic Spanish dish is utterly delicious and addictive, one of my favourite potato dishes to make. This can be served on it’s own, with a fried egg, jamon or as a side dish to accompany any meat or fish dish.
Serves 2-3 either as a main or a side.