This week, I want to embrace the colourful, exciting, wonderful world of vegetables. I want to show you that by making veg the hero, you can create meals that are just as tasty (if not more so!) than their meaty rivals. In fact, I'm a strong believer in having at least two meat-free days a week – it will save you money and helps to relieve the increasing pressure on meat farming. And, frankly, vegetables are bloody delicious.
Now, I know we all love a good roast or slow-cooked meat stew on a Sunday and I'm absolutely not saying we should compromise on that all the time, but sometimes it's nice to mix up our weekend crowd-pleasers with intensely flavoured, satisfying and indulgent meals that just happen to be meat-free, too. This week, I want to show you how to do exactly that with my amazing veggie moussaka – this classic Greek beauty is traditionally a meat dish, but with lots of veg, chickpeas and lentils you still achieve great taste and texture. Finish it with a crumbling of feta and pecorino or kefalotiri (a hard sheep's cheese you can find at some delis). I challenge you not to love this.
We all want hearty, filling meals at this time of year, much like this moussaka. To help you do that at the end of a long day, try and buy in bulk hardy, winter veg when you see a good offer – potatoes, squash and raw beets can all last a long time if stored properly, and can quickly and easily be transformed into a satisfying veggie curry, soup or chili. So even when your automatic response is to reach for the meat, try celebrating beautiful veggies, just to remind yourself how great meat-free meals can be. Enjoy!