I love a big meal-sized salad! Flavoured with green chilli paste, this steamed salmon salad is healthy, flexible and easy to prepare

This rolled beef dish is easy enough to serve for a mid-week meal and pretty enough to present at a dinner party. Steak is rolled with pesto and steamed in the Varoma over stock, which is then the base for a mustard sauce.

In its most simple form, this is a yoghurt soup that’s thickened with rice. In the traditional version, chickpeas are incorporated into the soup - I’ve turned them into a golden topping instead, brightened with kale and chilli. I get really excited about reworking simple ingredients for new pleasures. The components of this dish are humble and modest but each finds new potential in this recipe, and thus new opportunity for diner pleasure.

Succulent lamb shanks, the goodness of barley, root veg and greens, and the bright zing of dill oil add up to a sustaining and satisfying casserole.

I first made this soup for a friend who wasn’t well and needed a chicken soup cure! I can’t promise this soup will cure all ills but it is simple and nourishing with comforting tones and a cheery promise of sunshine. These flavours and textures remind me of suburban Chinese restaurants, though I don’t at all pretend my version is traditional. I make my own creamed corn but you can also use tinned. As with all homemade dishes, the quality of the ingredients shines through. Great chicken and stock will make a big difference to the end result.

When I think ‘vegetables’ and ‘comfort’ it’s not long before I think of creamed corn. Once heated, the starches in corn kernels thicken, turning the mixture into a creamy yellow custard. It’s delicious by itself with butter, as a side dish for sausages or grilled meats, and as a comfy bed for roasted or steamed vegetables.

I recently had the pleasure of joining Miznon chef Afik Gal for a hummus workshop / worship at the Mount Zero factory in Melbourne. We were joined by 20 or so hummus acolytes with a passion for perfect puree. Afik made a batch of hummus in a mortar and pestle and another big batch in the Thermomix. One of his main messages was to make hummus that you think is delicious, adjusting lemon, salt and consistency as you go.  This is Afik's recipe but this is your hummus!

During lockdown, when I was shopping for my parents, they always put kohlrabi on their shopping list. This tart, earthy yet slightly sweet member of the cabbage family isn’t a vegetable I often bought, but I started getting one for them and one for me, gaining a new appreciation for it along the way.

Fall-apart spiced meat, a tart and zesty salsa, grilled greens all tucked into a taco - this dish is a winner! It's great for a family meal but I've also served it for casual gatherings with all the fixings laid out for people to make their own tacos. The flavours are brilliant! Thanks to Hagen's Organics for the inspiration! The video is from when I made this dish on Justine Schofield's Everyday Gourmet.