Seamus Mullen's kale salad with apple, toasted pecans and yoghurt and dill vinaigrette

I've never really 'got' kale but this delicious salad would convert anybody. AND it's healthy too!

I've added some notes about how they've adapted the recipe at Mullen's restaurant Sea Containers. Given that fresh herbs are scarce and expensive at this time of year you might also want to cut back on the number you use (apart from the dill).

Kale salad, apple, toasted pecans and yogurt and dill vinaigrette

Serves 4

1 bunch Cavalo Nero, Dinosaur kale or Tuscan kale

A handful of dandelion leaves if available

1 oz spiced, caramelized pecans*

1 apple, thinly sliced (they used Golden Delicious, apparently)

1 small serrano chile, sliced as thinly as possible

1/2 an avocado, cut into 1/2” pieces

2 oz yogurt and dill vinaigrette (see below)

a good handful of fresh herbs - Mullen recommends cilantro (coriander), basil, dill and mint. Gus, his sous chef, used chives, parsley and chervil

For the yogurt and dill vinaigrette:

1/2 cup (4 fl oz) full fat yogurt or kefir

1 clove garlic, grated

6 tbsp fresh dill

zest and juice 1 lemon

1 tbsp champagne or moscatel vinegar

1 tsp honey

1 cup (8 fl oz) extra virgin olive oil

salt

fresh ground pepper

Combine all ingredients except oil, whisk together, then drizzle in oil until emulsified.

Process

Strip the leaves off the stalks and cut the kale into a paper thin chiffonade. Combine all the ingredients, season with salt and pepper and plate in a small bowl (see above. (I suspect you need to let it rest for half an hour or so to soften as you do a slaw.) Garnish with fresh herbs and fresh cracked pepper.

* in the recipe Mullen says "toasted in brown butter, tossed in sugar, cayenne, ground coriander and sea salt" but his chef Gus says he dips the nuts in whisked egg white, rolls them in a mixture of onion and garlic powder, cayenne, curry powder, salt and turmeric then roasts them briefly at 165°C. Or use any spiced nuts recipe you like. Or buy them ready made.

What to drink: I found an Austrian grüner veltliner paired very well with this but so would an apple juice. (See my pairings for kale).

Obviously the picture at the top of the page looks more stylish but yours - and mine - will look more like the dressed salad in the bowl.

Carrot and beetroot borscht

New year tends to mean two things - frugal living and healthy eating - and this recipe my eldest daughter Jo devised when she was a student ticks both boxes. Best, of course, with organic veg if you can get hold of them.

Serves 4

3 tbsp organic sunflower or organic rapeseed oil
4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, finely chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 medium carrots (about 175-200g), well scrubbed or peeled and grated
3 medium beetroot (about 300-350g), peeled
1 fresh tomato, skinned and roughly chopped (optional but good)
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
750ml vegetable stock mixed with about 1/2 tsp brown miso or, at a pinch, Marmite
a handful of beet greens, washed and shredded
salt, freshly ground black pepper and sugar or vinegar to taste

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large saucepan or casserole and fry the bacon for a few minutes until the fat begins to run. Stir in the onion, turn the heat down, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes then add the remaining oil and the grated carrot, pop a lid on the pan and continue to cook over a low heat. Halve the beetroot, slice thinly then slice across into short batons. Tip the beetroot and tomato, if using, into the other vegetables, stir, add the thyme and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to the boil then cook until the vegetables are soft (about 20 minutes). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add a little sugar if you feel it needs it or a few drops of vinegar if you think it needs sharpening up. Add the shredded greens, cook for a couple more minutes and serve. Good with rye or sourdough bread or crispbread spread with a soft cheese like Quark or goats cheese

What to drink: Assuming you've given up booze for a few days I'd go for water or a dry-ish apple juice. Otherwise a nicely chilled pilsner would be perfect

Frying pan Turkish flatbreads

Today marks the start of Organic September and what better way to kick it off than this great recipe from much-acclaimed vegetarian cookery writer Anna Jones, author of A Modern Way to Cook

Anna writes: "The part of east London I live in is full of Turkish cafes. They turn out charcoal-baked flatbreads and insanely good salads, and although meat is front and centre in Turkish food, there are some amazing vegetable dishes too. Here is a quick way to make my two favourites at home."

Anna's Frying Pan Turkish Flatbreads

Ingredients

To make the flatbreads

• 200g spelt flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 200g Greek yoghurt, or 150ml warm water

To make the topping

• 2 red onions
• 3 red peppers
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried Turkish chilli flakes
• 1 green chilli
• a small bunch of fresh mint

To make the salad

• 1 red onion
• 1 lemon
• 5 ripe vine tomatoes
• a small bunch of fresh mint
• a small bunch of fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon sumac
• 1 teaspoon harissa or Turkish chilli paste
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
• extra virgin olive oil

Getting started

Put all the flatbread ingredients into the bowl of your food processor and pulse until the mixture forms a ball. If you don't have a food processor, this can be done in a bowl using a fork to begin with, followed by your hands, but it will take longer.

Dust a clean work surface with flour and tip out the dough. Knead for a minute or so to bring it all together. This is a quick flatbread recipe, so you don't need to knead it for long. Put the dough into flour-dusted bowl and cover with a plate. Put to one side to rise a little for 10-15 minutes while you do some other jobs. Don't expect it to rise like normal dough, but it may puff up a tiny bit.

To make the topping, heat a frying pan on medium heat, then finely chop your onions and red peppers and put them into the pan with 1 tablespoon of oil. Cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes, until soft and sweet, then add the dried chilli. Chop the fresh green chilli and mint and add to the pan along with a final tablespoon of oil.

Next, make your salad. Finely slice the onion and put into a bowl with the juice of half a lemon and a good pinch of salt. Scrunch with your hands, then leave to pickle.

Chop the tomatoes roughly, then roughly chop the leaves of fresh herbs. Put them into a bowl with the spices and the pomegranate molasses and add the lemon-picked red onions. Season well with salt and pepper and add a little more lemon juice and a good drizzle of olive oil, balancing out the flavours until it tastes great.

Now back to the flatbreads. Put a large frying pan or griddle pan (about 22-24cm) on a medium heat.

Dust a clean work surface and rolling pin with flour, then divide dough into four equal-sized pieces. Using your hands, pat and flatten out the dough, then use the rolling pin to roll each piece into about 20cm round, roughly 2-3mm thick.

Once your pan is hot, cook each flatbread for 1-2minutes on each side, until nicely puffed up, turning with tongs.

Spread with the onion and chilli mixture while hot, and serve straightaway with spoonfuls of salad.

What to drink: As it's still warm and summery as I'm posting this I'd go for a crisp dry white or rosé. There are in fact some good ones from Turkey (though I haven't come across many that are organic) but anywhere round the Mediterranean - neighbouring Greece, Italy or Southern France would be fine too.

Follow all the Organic September action, find recipes and features at www.soilassociation.org/organicseptember and by following #OrganicSeptember on social media. You can find more of Anna's recipes on her website Anna Jones.

Carrot pie with apple and goat cheese

This unusual recipe from Dutch cookery writer Yvette van Boven's lovely Home Made Summer is a great way to kick off National Vegetarian Week.

It's well worth getting the book for the other recipes too - including an imaginative range of drinks.

Carrot pie with apple and goat cheese

for 6 to 8 servings

8 carrots, peeled

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 fresh, tart apple, peeled, cored, and sliced as thinly as possible

4 oz (100 g) soft goat cheese

½ cup (100 g) crème fraîche

½ cup plus 2 tbsp (150 ml) carrot juice

3 large eggs

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Boil the carrots in salted water for 8 minutes, until just tender. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Halve them lengthwise and set them aside.

Grease a 9-inch (24-cm) tart pan with a removable bottom with a little butter.

On a well-floured counter, roll out the puff pastry into a nice round slab the size of the pie plate. Press the dough firmly into the plate and trim the edges neatly. With a fork, stab some holes in the bottom, then cover the dough and place the pie plate in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Arrange the onion and apple over the bottom of the pastry in the pie plate and place the halved carrots on top in a spoke pattern. Crumble the goat cheese over the pie, somewhat in between the carrots.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the crème fraîche, carrot juice, and eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture over the carrots and sprinkle everything generously with pepper.

Bake the pie on the lower rack of the oven for about 35 minutes, until golden brown.

What to drink: Almost any crisp fresh white or rosé would work with this. I'd probably go for a smooth Italian white like a Soave, an unoaked Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc or a Provencal rosé. Verdelho would be nice too. Or cider . . . yes, cider would be lovely.