The Green Roasting Tin: Vegan and Vegetarian One Dish Dinners (Rukmini’s Roasting Tin)

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Upon first read of the book, everything is presented really well, the photography looks awesome and the recipes seem to make sense. I’ve not seen anything in the vegan section that I thought I’d never cook – so that’s a big plus! The combinations look sensible and everything seems easy to follow (I have seen some criticism of the author in other books for poor proof reading of recipes – this is absolutely critical in cookbooks and something that happens all the time. I hate it when cookbooks have missing steps!)

Honestly, I wasn't sure at first you know! Vegetables take a long time to cook in the oven, and a lot of the early recipes in the book are quite meat and fish heavy (you might notice from my Roasting Tin review I used to eat fish but I don't any more), but where I think this book really comes into its own is the Lunchboxes chapter. this is not a monthly project, but a book i will dip into periodically, sharing my successes and failures as they occur.

Try these one dish veggie dinners from The Green Roasting Tin cookbook

Oh, ik moet mijn best doen om niet te beginnen kwijlen bij de cover (en foto’s binnenin) van dit geweldige boek. The infographics in this book are fantastic. I'm half tempted to rip them from the book and put them on the fridge in case of any dinner-related emergencies. It's like a connect the dots, choose your own adventure dinner. And all veg-based without being sad or boring at all. And (so many ands...) everything is perfect for leftovers, so no more sad desk lunches. I knew I was going to love Green. Green is all vegetarian and half vegan. I could eat every single recipe in this book! ( My review is here) These recipes aren't as one-dish as I'd hope, because often they are just a side dish, and you need to add a carb or another whole thing with many of the lighter salads. Rukmini is a columnist for the Guardian and BBC Gardeners' World magazine, and writes for numerous publications, including BBC Good Food magazine, Waitrose and Fortnum & Mason. She strongly believes that making time to eat well – for oneself or for family dinners – is an integral part of the day, and as a new mother with limited time but a good appetite, she’s passionate about helping other households cook great, minimum-effort dinners.

i’m not someone who needs the food i make to be pretty. i’m just me—flinging ingredients into chipped bowls in my tiny kitchen and hoping it all tastes good. i can appreciate the pretty food of others in books and on internet, and i understand that visually appealing food sells more cookbooks than ‘real-life’ food made by people like me without fancy cameras, food stylists, a tableware budget, or even adequate lighting.

The Green Roasting Tin (Square Peg) is one of a series of four cookbooks in The Roasting Tin series. Written by Rukmini Iyer and beautifully photographed by David Loftus, it is a book devoted to traybakes, divided into vegan and vegetarian sections with 75 recipes overall. Each section is divided by the time taken to complete the cooking whether 30 minutes, 45 or one hour. And to make the book even more user-friendly, a beautifully illustrated infographic section is full of ideas for how readers can design their own contents for a roasting tin whether a warm salad, stew, tart or super grain tray. This is certainly one of those cookbooks I will be returning to repeatedly and will be gifting to family members who are starting out on independent living and cooking. There was a lot I liked about this book but I have mixed feelings. Fundamentally, the style of cooking appeals to me and the recipes look genuinely appealing, interesting yet straightforward. But there were several elements that rubbed me up the wrong way. Perhaps most seriously, this is a book labelled vegan and vegetarian and it would be great for anyone wanting to build a less meat based repertoire... but actual vegetarians? The vegetarian section of the book has a lot of recipes involving a wide variety of cheeses... the majority of which are *not* vegetarian. This could lead to some awkwardnesses if lovingly and innocently prepared by people for vegetarian friends and relatives.

One of my favourite recipes from The Green Roasting Tin is the dal (it might be my favourite recipe of all the Roasting Tin books), but it takes, in total, about an hour and half once you've peeled all of those pesky, but delicious, shallots. Which means I don't cook it quite as much as I should. Some of my other favourites also have long cook times, which isn't always what you want after a long day at work.

I don't think these books need any introduction, but in case they do, Rukmini Iyer started a revolution with her first book, The Roasting Tin, in 2017. This filling gratin, with its crisp feta topping, is perfect comfort food - the dining equivalent of sitting cosily on the sofa under a blanket," says food writer and one-tin dinner expert, Rukmini Iyer. Ik kook graag maar het moet makkelijk zijn, snel én met veel groenten. Ik heb dan ook zelf al de geneugten van alles in één pan in de oven ontdekt (rijst onderaan, groenten erop en vleesvervanger bovenaan). Maar dit boek tilt dat alles naar een veel hoger niveau. Hierin staan recepten die niet alleen lekker zijn maar er ook goed uitzien én die je aan bezoek kan voorschotelen, zonder schaamrood op je wangen (wat met mijn uitvindingen niet echt haalbaar is). As she notes: "You've got to be more creative when you've got a plate that doesn't have meat on it." The leftovers were just as good the next day. The veg made fantastic, lunchtime sourdough toasties – I layered then on top of a spread of cream cheese – and I still had some over for dinner as a side to a bulghar wheat dish.