Easy midweek vegan one-pot meals that even meat lovers will adore

Celebrate the vegetables that are in season while cutting down on food waste with these gorgeous all-in-one recipes from celebrated food writer Anna Jones

One pot, pan, planet by Anna Jones, published by Harper Collins. Photography © Issy Croker

In her book, One Pot, Pan, Planet, Anna Jones has made it easy to eat delicious food, while being mindful of the planet. Containing 200 easy recipes, she limits the pans and simplifies the ingredients needed for all-in-one dinners, ensuring that dinner is just moments away.  

One-pot orzo with beetroot, thyme & orange

recipe by:Anna Jones

This orzo cooks all in one pan to a satisfying deep purple with the spoonable feeling of a risotto. You can use any colour of beetroot you like here; I love the deep magenta of the red ones but yellow and pink work well too

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 12 mins

Total Time

 22 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• a bunch of beetroot (around 650g), peeled and grated

• 300g orzo pasta

• a small bunch of thyme, leaves picked

• 3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

• 2 tbsp good olive oil, plus more for finishing

• ½ vegetable stock cube or 2 teaspoons stock powder

• To serve:

• zest of a small unwaxed orange or clementine

• 4 handfuls of rocket 100g feta or vegan feta-style cheese, crumbled (optional)

• a few handfuls of toasted chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts will all work well)

• a drizzle of olive oil

Method

1. Put the grated beetroot, pasta, thyme leaves, garlic and vinegar into a medium lidded pan with 1 teaspoon of sea salt, the 2 tablespoons of oil and 850ml water. Crumble in the stock cube or add the powder.

2. Place the pan over a high heat, cover with a lid and bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes until the pasta is cooked and all the water has been absorbed.

3. Stir it every minute or so to make sure that the pasta doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan. If the orzo looks a little thick (you want it to be the consistency of risotto) add a little more hot water.

4. Spoon onto warm plates and finish with some orange zest, peppery leaves, a crumbling of feta (if using), some toasted nuts and a good drizzle of oil.
   
   Variations 
   Squash/lemon/sage - swap in the same amount of grated squash for the beetroot, use lemon in place of the orange, and top with crispy sage leaves
   Broccoli/chilli/ oregano - swap out the beetroot for 850g of roughly chopped broccoli and use lemon in place of the orange, oregano instead of thyme, and finish with chopped red chilli and lemon zest 
   
   Extracted from One pot, pan, planet by Anna Jones, published by Harper Collins. Photography © Issy Croker