DAILY DINNERS

Donna Hay shares her favourite veggie recipes in this meat-free masterclass

Australian food writer Donna Hay has taken a fresh, inventive look at how vegetables can be prepared and cooked. The result? Deliciously healthy recipes full of flavour that refuel and re-energise, too

SERVES 4

● 2 litres good-quality vegetable stock

● 240g frozen peas

● 900g broccoli (about 2 heads), roughly chopped

● 100g spinach leaves, roughly chopped

● 120g ground almonds

● 1tbsp finely grated lemon rind

● 1tbsp lemon juice

● 12g flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped

● 8g mint leaves, roughly chopped

● Sea salt and cracked black pepper

● Plain Greek-style yogurt, to serve

● Sliced seeded nut bread (see recipe), to serve (optional)

1 Place the stock in a large saucepan over high heat and bring to the boil. Add the peas and broccoli and cook for 5min or until just tender. Add the spinach, ground almonds, lemon rind and juice, parsley, mint, salt and

pepper and cook for 1min or until the spinach is wilted.

2 Using a hand-held stick blender, carefully blend the soup until smooth. Divide between serving bowls and top with yogurt and pepper. Serve with bread.

Cook’s notes

This soup is my absolute stand-by saviour. I’ll often make a large batch and freeze it in single portions to either take to the studio for lunch or as a late-home nutritious dinner. It’s such a warming feel-good meal. I use ground almonds to thicken the soup, and to add essential nutrients. To make this recipe nut-free, swap the ground almonds for 200g pumpkin seeds instead, blitzing them in a food processor until ground, or add 300g drained silken tofu just before blending – delicious.