Maple peanut California wraps

      This wrap sustained me through a week in the desert, listening to music, a few years ago. Just the right combination of refreshing greens and vitamin-loaded carrot and good protein energy from tempeh and seeds.

      But the crowning glory here is the sauce – it’s one of those sauces that hits every flavour level and leaves you wanting more. It’s good on a salad too. I have to say it has been known for me to eat two of these on the trot. They are that good. Super-quick to put together, these are a weekday lunch for me at least once a week and often make an appearance in summer for supper, with some roasted sweet potato wedges.

      Tempeh is a cake of pressed soya beans. It is a great source of protein and works well in most recipes where you might use tofu. I buy my tempeh from my local health food shop. Tempeh is a fermented food, which actually makes it much easier to digest than other types of soya. Tempeh does need a bit of special treatment, such as this marinade, as its flavour is quite neutral. Firm tofu would work here too.

      MAKES 4 WRAPS

      4 wholemeal tortillas

      2 carrots, grated

      4 tablespoons mixed toasted seeds

      4 handfuls of salad greens

      FOR THE TEMPEH

      1 tablespoon maple syrup

      1 tablespoon soy sauce

      1 tablespoon olive oil

      1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

      200g tempeh, cut into 1cm slices

      FOR THE PEANUT DRESSING

      2 tablespoons all-natural peanut butter

      2 teaspoons miso paste

      2 teaspoons soy sauce

      2 tablespoons maple syrup

      2 tablespoons tahini

      juice of 1 lemon

      Mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, olive oil and vinegar in a bowl. Add the tempeh and turn to coat in the marinade. Leave to one side.

      Next, make the dressing. Whisk all the ingredients together, with a tablespoon of water if it’s too thick, taste and check for balance, then set aside.

      Heat a dry pan and fry the tempeh for a couple of minutes on each side until browned and starting to caramelise.

      Warm the tortillas – I do this by holding them with tongs over a gas flame for a few seconds, but the oven or a dry non-stick pan will do too. To assemble each wrap, place some tempeh on each tortilla, top with a quarter of the grated carrot, seeds and greens, then add a quarter of the dressing. Repeat with the rest of the wraps.

      HUMMUS

      If your house is anything like mine, or those of most of my friends for that matter, then a lot of pots of hummus find their way into fridges and on to tables. I usually make my own, as I like being able to adapt the flavours to what’s going on at the time, seasons, moods and what else is in the fridge. The chickpea/tahini format can get a bit samey, so here are some offbeat versions you won’t find in the shops. The principle can be followed with pretty much anything, as long as you keep to roughly the same quantities of beans/citrus/seasonings below.

      These recipes are a great way to use up leftover beans.

      All these keep in the fridge for 5 days. Each recipe makes a good jarful.

      DATE AND BLACK SESAME

      •

      1 × 400g tin of cannellini beans, drained

      1 tablespoon olive oil

      4 medjool dates, roughly chopped

      juice of ½ a lemon

      ½ tablespoon miso paste

      sea salt

      2 tablespoons date syrup

      2 tablespoons toasted black sesame seeds

      If you don’t have date syrup handy, a drizzle of dark honey or dark agave syrup would work really well. Well-toasted white sesame seeds will work here if you can’t get black ones.

      Put your beans into a food processor with the olive oil, dates, lemon juice, miso and a pinch of salt and whiz to your preferred consistency. Taste, add more salt if necessary, and loosen with a bit of water or more olive oil if it looks too thick. I go for a good bit of whizzing, as I like a light and fluffy result, but some like more texture – you decide.

      Once the texture is how you like it, scoop it into a bowl, drizzle over the date syrup and sprinkle with the black sesame seeds.

      BLACK BEAN AND PUMPKIN SEED

      •

      1 × 400g tin of black beans

      1 green chilli, destalked and roughly chopped, plus more chopped chilli to finish

      a small bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped, plus more chopped coriander to finish

      grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lime

      1 tablespoon maple syrup

      a good handful of pumpkin seeds

      sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

      a good drizzle of olive oil

      A classic Mexican combination for a reason – this is very moreish and great with the homemade tortilla chips.

      Put everything apart from the extra chilli and coriander into a food processor and whiz together until it’s the texture you like. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed, and loosen with more oil or water if it’s too thick.

      Scoop into a bowl. Mix the extra chilli and coriander with a little olive oil and drizzle on top.

      BUTTERBEAN, ALMOND AND ROSEMARY

      •

      1 × 400g tin of butter beans, drained

      grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

      a handful of whole almonds

      2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked

      2–3 teaspoons almond milk or water

      sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

      a good drizzle of olive oil

      a few whole almonds, toasted and chopped, to finish

      Here the rosemary and almonds come together in an Italian way. This is a good start to a meal, with some griddled olive-oil-drizzled toast. I make mine with untoasted nuts, but toasted nuts add smokiness, so try both.

      Put all the ingredients apart from the toasted almonds into a food processor and whiz until it’s as smooth as you like. Add a little extra water if needed until it’s a good consistency.

      Top with the chopped almonds and another drizzle of olive oil.

      PEA AND GREEN HERB

      •

      300g frozen peas

      a small bunch of fresh mint

      a small bunch of fresh basil

      2 tablespoons good extra virgin olive oil

      grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

      sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

      Who says you can’t make hummus with peas? Not me. Slather this on bruschetta