A Modern Way to Eat: Over 200 satisfying, everyday vegetarian recipes

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

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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

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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

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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

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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