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Anna

Anna Jones is a cook, writer, the voice of modern vegetarian cooking and the author of the bestselling One: Pot, Pan, Planet, A Modern Way to Eat, A Modern Way to Cook and The Modern Cook’s Year.

Her books are sold in ten countries. One: Pot, Pan, Planet was a Sunday Times bestseller and The Modern Cook's Year won the coveted Observer Food Monthly Best New Cookbook Award and The Guild of Food Writers Cookery Book Award. Her previous books have been nominated for the James Beard, Fortnum & Mason, and Andre Simon awards.

Anna believes that vegetables should be put at the centre of every table and is led by the joy of food and its ability to affect change in our daily lives. She lives in Hackney, East London, with her husband and two children.

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All summer salad

This is a salad I make from May to September, while the days are warm. I start making it as the asparagus and new potatoes arrive, and stop when the nights begin to draw in, varying the vegetables with the seasons. Its flexible. Its fun. It requires no oven.

If you don’t eat eggs then some chickpeas or butterbeans from a jar will work really well instead.

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White bean stew for web copy
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White bean and pickle stew

I put pickles on pretty much anything. During my second pregnancy I panicked on getting near to the bottom of my last jar of Marks & Spencer’s mustard seed gherkins.

Most of the time pickles, gherkins and cornichons are eaten cold, to make the most of their crunch and acidity. But they keep their crunch when added to soups and stews, bringing texture anda hit of sour interest. Here they sit next to onions, beans and greens and a smattering of dill to make a quick stew that tastes much more layered and complicated than it is to make.

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One-pot orzo with beetroot, thyme and orange

This orzo cooks all in one pan to a satisfying deep purple with the spoonable feeling of a risotto. You can use any colour of beetroot you like here; I love the deep magenta of the red ones but yellow and pink work well too.

Recipe from my book: 'One Pot, Pan, Planet'

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Squash lasagne for web
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Quick squash lasagne

Pasta has my heart like nothing else. My love affair with it was cemented when making stuffed agnolotti, caramelle and everything in between in restaurant kitchens, but it started with something simpler: my mum’s lasagne. This lasagne is something slightly different but still as nostalgic and comforting. It is the quickest I’ve made, ready for the oven in 10 minutes (not the hour it normally takes), yet there is still a rich deep tomato sauce and those crisp, baked edges to fight over.

I don’t pre-cook my lasagne sheets as they cook in the sauce and I like them a little al dente. If you prefer them softer you could use fresh pasta sheets here. This recipe was originally inspired by one of my all- time favourite cooks, Heidi Swanson of 101cookbooks.com.

Recipe from my book: One: Pot Pan Planet

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