I have two light vegetarian recipes for you this week, each of which can be prepared in advance. Biryani is a lovely Asian mixed rice dish and you could, of course, add cooked chicken or prawns, if you wish. Cauliflower is versatile and delicious and adds texture, crunch and flavour, as do the cashew nuts. You could also add some peppers.

Saffron is expensive so you could use a teaspoon or turmeric instead.

Meanwhile, the sweet potato and aubergine puy lentil bake makes a wonderful warm salad, perfect for a pleasant sunny evening. You could replace the lentils with a pouch of any pre-cooked grain, such as spelt or pearl barley.

Aubergine is a bit bland so you need a good sauce. Once upon a time we used to salt it, but you get the salty taste from the feta cheese. You could use mozzarella or a smoked cheese either. The sweet potatoes will give nice texture.

Roasting pine nuts is something we often do in the cookery school. The trick is to heat a dry pan to 180°c. Then continue with a medium to low heat and keep moving the pine nuts around the pan.

Tomatoes are in season now and they taste delicious. We have very few commercial tomato growers in Ireland, but one I admire and have mentioned before is Grantstown Nurseries in Ballygunner, just outside Waterford. It was set up by the Currid family in 1978, and today is run by David Currid and his wife Miriam.

All of their varieties have the Bord Bia Quality Assured mark.

Ingredients: Serves 4

1 large aubergine, cut into 2cm chunks

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks (you’ll need 500g)

3 small onions, cut into wedges

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

3 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 x 400g tin of Puy lentils,

drained and rinsed

100g cherry tomatoes, halved

50g sun-dried tomatoes in oil,

drained and cut into strips

2 tsp sherry or red wine vinegar

100g feta cheese

2 tbsp toasted pine nuts

40g wild rocket

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°c (400°F/gas mark 6). Tip the aubergine, sweet potato and onions into a large roasting tin. Sprinkle over the smoked paprika and season generously. Then scatter over the thyme and drizzle with the oil. Using your hands, mix until everything is evenly combined. Roast for 20 minutes.

2. Remove the roasting tin from the oven and fold in the lentils, cherry tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes. Roast for another 15 minutes, until the tomatoes have started to break down and everything is piping hot.

3. Drizzle over the vinegar and crumble the feta cheese on top. Scatter over the pine nuts and rocket.

4. Season and serve straight to the table.

Ingredients: Serves 4-6

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

A knob of butter

1 small cauliflower, broken into small florets

350g potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

1 large onion, sliced

750ml hot vegetable stock

A large pinch of saffron strands

3 tbsp korma curry paste

250g Greek yoghurt

500g basmati rice, well rinsed

100g fine green beans, halved

100g frozen peas

Juice of 1 lemon

A good handful of fresh coriander leaves

1 x 100g packet of honey-roasted

cashew nuts

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve:

Poppadums and raita

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°c (400°F/gas mark 6). Put the oil and butter in a large roasting tin and pop in the oven for 2 minutes to melt the butter. Add the cauliflower, potatoes and onion, tossing quickly to coat evenly. Season generously and roast for 15 minutes, until just beginning to catch around the edges.

2. Meanwhile, put the stock in a large jug and whisk in the saffron and curry paste until evenly combined, then stir in the Greek yoghurt.

3. Remove the vegetables from the oven and stir in the rice, green beans and peas along with the stock mixture. Cover the tin tightly with a double layer of foil and bake for 30 minutes, until the rice is tender and all the liquid has been absorbed.

4. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the biryani. Then tip out onto a large serving platter and gently fluff up the rice grains with a fork. Scatter over the coriander and cashew nuts.

5. Season and serve with a pile of poppadums and a bowl of raita.

Photographer: Philip Doyle. Food styling: Janine Kennedy.