Alan Rosenthal

If you’re short on time, baking risottos is a great way to give you an extra 20 minutes to do your other jobs as opposed to being chained to the stove adding stock one ladle at a time. This British take on the classic dish offers a refreshing change and gives you something different to do with your golden beets. ...

This bright and sunny soup will cheer up even the gloomiest of days.  Warmth comes from ginger, turmeric and a mere touch of chilli.  Enriched with coconut milk and then topped with roast chickpeas, it’s a complete meal in itself. I like my vegetable soups nice and thick and this is no exception.   Feel free to loosen it down a ...

Over the past few months, I’ve regularly been roasting lovely dry squashes and then covering in a delicious sweet and sour (agrodolce) marinade to make a wonderful side dish or starter course.  Here’ I’ve adapted that recipe for celeriac which I think works equally well. Ingredients Serves 4 as a side dish 1 large celeriac root (about 800g) Extra virgin ...

I just love creamed spinach and other green leaves; the leaves become wonderfully silky and so comforting combined with a creamy sauce. This method does, of course, add a heap of fat to otherwise calorie free leaves. However, befitting of the winter months, this dish will stoke your internal fire needed to get through the colder winter days! Serves 2 ...

We all have memories of fouls smelling overcooked sprouts but cook them properly, and a sprout is a wonderful thing!  Here, maple syrup balances any bitterness in the sprouts whilst orange zest, walnuts and Stilton bring a lovely touch of seasonality to the recipe. This simple recipe is delicious served hot as a side dish but also can be served ...

There’s something incredibly comforting and a little bit naughty about dipping crispy deep-fried cauliflower florets into rich salty blue cheese & buttery chilli sauces. Apart from the cauliflower, there really is nothing healthy about this recipe; but the occasional indulgence is absolutely fine in my book! And at this time of year, when the clocks have just gone back, it ...

RI’m a huge fan of sweet and sour flavours. There’s a natural sweetness in carrots which makes them perfect when paired with a vinegar reduction and some salty grilled halloumi for an umami kick! Ingredients 4-5 carrots ½ tsp fennel seeds, crushed 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar ½ tsp sugar   1 tbs finely ...

This super quick pasta recipe is traditionally made with orecchiette. However, I think it also teams with many other pastas very well; and I’ve used spaghetti here.  It may seem strange to boil broccoli until within an inch of its life, but it needs to be soft enough to be broken down into a thick sauce with golden garlic and ...

Squash and pumpkin are always best when they aren’t laden with too much water; the flesh will be firmer, richer in flavour and less inclined to disintegrate.  So, try to get one from a grower or grocer you trust, or spend a little bit more on a supermarket one. You can use any wholegrain you like here but I particularly ...

This recipe is inspired by kuku sabzi, an amazing Persian style frittata packed full of fresh green herbs and aromatic cinnamon, cardamom and cumin. Traditionally the recipe should also contains a few tiny dried rose petals, but those are harder to come by so I’ve left them out of this recipe; feel free to add a sprinkling of these ground ...

WI love cooking with beetroot leaves, it’s such a waste to throw them away!  They taste a little like chard but have sweeter notes and work really well when wilted in warm salads such as this recipe.  You could, of course, use chard or spinach, but if you have beetroot leaves knocking around, give it a go! Serves 2 Ingredients ...

This fresh salad is perfect when fennel is young and tender. Make sure you trim off any tough outer leaves before slicing.  The salad pairs beautifully with grilled oily fish like salmon or mackerel; the gentle acidity, fruitiness and acid in the salad perfectly balancing the rich oils from the fish. You can, of course, swap out the oil and ...

This quick and simple recipe is a great way to use any soft green leaves you may have in the fridge. In the height of summer, there are all sorts leaves available to us so feel free to use the likes of kale, cavolo nero or spinach if you can’t get any chard. The slight bitterness from the leaves balances ...

It's now 8 months since I moved away from the corporate 9-6 world. I ‘d planned, of course, to write a regular blog about my ongoing progress on the path to sustainable self-employment; but I’m afraid I’ve failed miserably at that. Indeed, over the past few months, I’ve learnt to set myself more manageable goals to avoid the inevitable frustration ...

This recipe is perfect for the early summer when cavolo nero or kale is in plentiful supply.  The salty acidity from the cheese, lime and capers works so well with the slightly bitter minerality of the dark green leaves, rich in iron.  The trick here is to add enough of the pasta cooking water to ensure a creamy light sauce ...