You know the problem with most “healthy” dinners. You eat a virtuous plate of something green at seven o’clock, and by half nine you’re stood at the fridge eating cheddar off the block, wondering where it all went wrong.
It doesn’t have to go that way. The trick is to stop thinking of vegetables as the bit you put up with and make them the main event, then back them up with beans, a bit of fat and plenty of punchy flavour. Here are three weeknight dinners that do exactly that. Each one takes about half an hour, uses supermarket ingredients and will get you to bedtime without a raid on the cheese.
Why do vegetable dinners leave you hungry?
Usually because they’re missing two things: protein and fibre. A plate of steamed courgette is mostly water. Lovely, but it won’t keep you going. Add a tin of chickpeas or butter beans and suddenly you’ve got protein, fibre and slow-burning carbohydrate all in one go, and it barely costs anything.
The NHS recommends adults aim for 30g of fibre a day, and most of us fall well short. Beans, lentils, wholegrains and vegetables are the easiest way to close that gap. On the 5 A Day front, a portion of vegetables is 80g, whether fresh, frozen or tinned. Beans and pulses count too, but only as one portion a day, however many you pile on.
Then there’s the bit the diet books leave out: fat and flavour. A spoonful of good olive oil, a crumble of feta, a squeeze of lemon. That’s what makes a dinner feel like a treat rather than a punishment, and you’re far more likely to cook it again.
Recipe one: charred broccoli and chickpea traybake with harissa yoghurt
Serves two hungry men, or three normal people. Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan, gas mark 7).
Cut a head of broccoli (about 350g) into florets, slicing the stalk into coins rather than binning it. Drain and rinse a 400g tin of chickpeas and pat them dry with kitchen paper. Cut a red onion into wedges. Tip it all into a large roasting tin with 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Toss well and spread it out. Crowd the tin and the veg steams instead of charring.
Roast for 20–25 minutes, giving it a shake halfway, until the broccoli tips are blackened and the chickpeas are crisp at the edges. Meanwhile stir 1–2 tsp harissa paste into 150g Greek yoghurt with a pinch of salt. Rose harissa is sold in most big supermarkets and is worth having in the fridge.
Spoon the yoghurt onto plates, pile the traybake on top and finish with 60g crumbled feta, a handful of chopped coriander or mint and a squeeze of lemon. Warm flatbreads on the side if you’re properly hungry.
Make the vegetables the main event, back them up with beans, and never apologise for a good glug of olive oil.
Recipe two: butter beans with leeks, spinach and lemon
This is the one for nights when you get in late and can’t face anything. It takes 15 minutes in one pan and tastes like something you’d pay for in a decent wine bar.
Wash and finely slice two leeks. Melt 25g butter with 1 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and cook the leeks with a pinch of salt for 6–8 minutes, until soft and sweet but not browned. Add two sliced garlic cloves and the zest of a lemon and cook for a minute more.
Tip in a 400g tin of butter beans, juice and all. The starchy liquid makes a silky sauce. Better still, use a jar of the large butter beans that most supermarkets now stock; they’re creamier. Simmer for 3–4 minutes, then stir in 100g baby spinach a handful at a time until it wilts. Finish with the lemon juice, a big grating of parmesan and plenty of black pepper.
For crunch, fry a slice of torn-up sourdough in a little oil until golden and scatter it over the top. If you’re eating with someone who insists on meat, crisp a few slices of chorizo in the pan before the leeks go in. It won’t hurt anyone.
Recipe three: green curry with courgette, peas and green beans
A Thai-style green curry is a great home for vegetables, and a decent paste from a jar does most of the work. Serves two.
Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a wok or large pan and fry 2–3 tbsp green curry paste for a minute until it smells fragrant. Pour in a 400ml tin of coconut milk (full-fat for flavour, light if you must) and 100ml water, and bring to a simmer. Add one courgette cut into half-moons and 150g trimmed green beans and cook for 5 minutes. Add 100g frozen peas and either 200g cubed firm tofu or 200g raw king prawns, and simmer for 3–4 minutes more, until the prawns are pink right through.
Season with 1 tbsp fish sauce (or soy sauce), a squeeze of lime and a pinch of sugar, then taste. You want hot, salty, sour and a touch sweet. Finish with a big handful of coriander and some sliced spring onion, and serve with brown rice for extra fibre.
A word on leftover rice, because it catches people out. Cool it quickly, get it into the fridge within an hour or so, eat it within a day, and only reheat it once, until it’s steaming hot all the way through. Rice can carry bacteria that survive cooking, so don’t leave a pan of it sitting on the hob overnight.
What should you drink with a vegetable dinner?
Green food has a reputation for being tricky with wine. It isn’t, really. Match the sauce rather than the vegetable. The harissa traybake loves a chilled, juicy red such as a Beaujolais or a Spanish Garnacha, or a dry rosé. The butter beans want something crisp and lemony: a Picpoul de Pinet, a Verdejo or an unoaked Chardonnay. Green curry calls for a touch of sweetness and aromatics to tame the heat, so think off-dry Riesling, or a cold lager.
Keep it to a glass or two. The UK Chief Medical Officers advise no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days. A large 250ml glass of 13% wine is over three units on its own. The good news is that alcohol-free beer has got very good indeed, and a chilled AF lager or pale ale is honestly a fine partner for that curry. Sparkling water with lime and plenty of ice does the job too.
In short
A vegetable dinner keeps you full when you back the veg up with beans or tofu for protein and fibre, add a bit of good fat, and don’t hold back on flavour. A harissa broccoli and chickpea traybake, a one-pan butter bean and leek supper and a quick green curry each take about 30 minutes and use ingredients from any big supermarket. Together they make a solid start on the NHS’s 30g-a-day fibre target, and none of them will send you back to the fridge at half nine.
Sources
Midcent Food & Drink
Angus Irvine writes about food and drink for men 45 and over who like to eat well but don't want a performance. Recipes that work on a weeknight, dinners worth the effort at the weekend, what to pour with them – wine, beer and the good alternatives – and the restaurants and pubs worth the trip. Without the fuss.
One of Midcent's writers. Spotted something? Write to angus@midcent.uk.
