Full of beans: six hearty, fibremaxxed vegetable recipes

The Guardian

6 hours ago

Many of us are looking to eat more legumes, beans and pulses, and not just because TikTok has deemed eating fibre 'super-cool'. From stuffing vegetables with slow-cooked lentils to switching out meat for brussels sprouts in a comforting winter pie, these recipes are both full of fibre and extremely tasty.
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Sodha remembers barely coming up for air between mouthfuls when she first ate this risotto. She describes it as 'wildly pink', savoury and rich, yet zingy and sweet. Coconut milk and marsala are stirred into the arborio rice to create a creamy base. Sodha recommends making the effort to find fresh curry leaves for their 'citrus and smoky notes', which she uses in the spiced lime beetroot topping.
Crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside, Shepherd's mustard gratin is equal parts tasty and nutritionally dense. The food writer promises happy diners when it hits the table. Spinach, leeks and a variety of beans are cooked down with garlic to make a soft and tender filling. This is combined with a tart cheesy mustard sauce that gets nice and melty after 25 minutes in the oven.
Hasselbacking the eggplant creates lots of places for fragrant curry paste to nestle, says Bhogal. Drizzled in coconut oil, the eggplants are then smothered in the paste then baked in the oven. Shrimp paste, lemongrass, lime leaves and tamarind concentrate are then blended together to make the jammy paste. You can sub the shrimp paste with miso to make it vegetarian. To take the edge off the tangy and salty taste, it's finished with a toasted coconut peanut crust. Serve with roti, parathas or rice.
This nutritionally dense meatloaf – with lentils, chickpeas and kidney beans – can be made with ingredients you probably already have in the pantry. Whiz onion, celery and carrots with walnuts and day-old sourdough to make the crumb. Then beans, lentils and quinoa are combined in a food processor to create the mixture, which is then transferred to a baking tin to cook nice and slow in the oven. Schofield's homemade barbecue sauce is brushed on top for a smoky-sweet taste. She serves hers with a simple rocket salad.
Root vegetables can be used in many ways, but have you ever tried stuffing them? Sykes stuffs squash with lentils cooked with winter veggies (carrots, leeks, celery) plus garlic and herbs to make a fragrant savoury stuffing. There are two ways to stuff the squash, but as long as the stuffing makes it inside it's good to go. Finish it with a mixture of creme fraiche, cheese and breadcrumbs for a soft golden top.
In Zaslavsky's twist on a classic shepherd's pie, she replaces the meat with velvety leeks and fat brussels sprouts, with plenty of quark (a slightly acidic cottage cheese) and butter. Tarragon gives the filling a zesty 'lick of liquorice'. The pie is then topped with cheesy, mustardy mashed potato. It requires a kilogram of potatoes, so Zaslavsky recommends planning ahead and making a double batch if you're already making a meal with mash. Any leftover tarragon can be popped in sparking water for an 'excellent' beverage pairing, she says.