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Twenty-five minutes, one pan, mostly cupboard. The beans break down just enough to make the sauce creamy without a drop of cream.

A revithada-style chickpea stew: soft, warming and quietly spiced with cumin and smoked paprika. Ready in half an hour and lovely spooned over rice.

Cauliflower roasted with curry powder until the edges char, then folded through warm lentils and yogurt. One tray, one can, very little attention.

A blender sauce of soaked cashews and nutritional yeast that clings to every elbow of pasta: properly creamy, savory and comforting, with not a plastic slice of vegan cheese in sight.

Shredded jackfruit cooked down in smoky barbecue sauce until sticky, piled into a soft roll with a sharp vinegar slaw. The slaw is what stops it being too rich.

The Punjabi chickpea curry that earns its place in every weeknight rotation: deeply spiced, made almost entirely from the store cupboard, and better on day two.

Fakes, the Greek lentil soup that's the gentlest way back to solid food. Brown lentils simmered soft with tomato, oregano and bay, then lifted at the end with a slug of red wine vinegar and good olive oil.

The Sunday-night clear-out-the-fridge dinner, done properly: cold rice, a screaming-hot pan, and tofu crisped until golden. Ready before the takeaway would even arrive.

Jackfruit braised in a dark, spiced tomato consomé until it shreds, then folded into tortillas that have been dipped in the braising liquid and griddled until the edges crisp. Serve the consomé alongside for dunking.

Red lentils collapsed into coconut milk with cumin and ginger. No soaking, no technique, and it thickens itself while you set the table.

Chickpeas simmered in coconut milk with thyme and allspice, finished with spinach. Mellow, quick, and entirely from cans and a bag of leaves.

A cheap, batch-friendly workhorse: mixed peppers cooked down until silky with sweet onions and tomato, then folded through chickpeas and finished with red wine vinegar and parsley.

Mashed spiced black beans and corn folded into tortillas and pressed in a dry pan until crisp. Fifteen minutes and mostly from the cupboard.

Black garlic mashed into miso and butter until it becomes a dark, jammy paste, then loosened with pasta water into a glossy sauce that clings. Sweet, deeply savory, and on the table in the time it takes the water to boil.

The classic dry curry of potato and cauliflower, steamed gently under a lid with turmeric and coriander, then finished uncovered so the edges catch and crisp. The side dish that quietly steals the plate.

Torn oyster mushrooms dipped in a quick plant-milk buttermilk, dredged in seasoned flour and cornstarch, and fried until shatteringly crisp. The texture lands somewhere very close to fried chicken.

The most shareable thing in the booklet: a tray of tortilla chips scattered with cumin-spiced black beans, drizzled with blender cashew queso, then loaded with salsa, avocado, pickled jalapeños and cilantro.

Smoky roasted sweet potato, spiced black beans, and enough lime to wake it all up. The roasting tray does most of the work.

A patty built from whole ingredients rather than bought in a box: mushrooms cooked dry, black beans mashed coarse, walnuts and oats for body. Seared hard for a real crust.

Firm tofu pressed and torn (never cut) into craggy nuggets, dipped in mustardy plant milk and coated in seasoned panko. Fry them or bake them; either way they're built for dipping.

The weekend indulgence: seitan (or mushrooms) seared with soy sauce and vegan Worcestershire, piled into hoagie rolls with charred peppers and onions, then flooded with a blender cashew cheese sauce.

A silky, gently spiced stew where peanut butter melts into tomato and stock to make something deeply savory. Sweet potato and chickpeas make it a full meal in one pot.

A one-pot Louisiana classic, plant-based. The "holy trinity" of onion, celery and green pepper softened in oil, then rice toasted with Cajun seasoning and smoked paprika and simmered with tomatoes, kidney beans and stock until every grain is tender. Optional vegan sausage pushes the protein higher.

Soft yellow lentils finished with a tadka: whole spices bloomed in hot oil and poured over at the last second, so it hits the surface and sizzles.

Greens stewed down with coconut milk, thyme and okra until soft and glossy. Mellow, rich and green. The Caribbean answer to creamed spinach.

Griddled corn cakes with a crisp shell and a soft, steamy middle, split open and stuffed with cumin-spiked black beans and mashed avocado.

Egypt's national dish: rice, lentils and pasta layered together under a sharp spiced tomato sauce and a heap of crisp fried onions. Carbohydrate on carbohydrate, and completely justified.

Red lentils collapsing into coconut milk with Caribbean curry powder, thyme and sweet potato. Ready in half an hour and thick enough to eat with a fork.

Smoky, garlicky and thick enough to stand a spoon in. Cheap store-cupboard beans turned into something that tastes like it simmered all day.

Herby, crisp-edged falafel baked instead of fried, piled into a bowl with salad and a swoosh of tahini. All the flavor, none of the pan of hot oil.

Rice cooked in coconut milk with kidney beans, thyme, allspice and a whole chili left in for perfume rather than heat. The side dish that turns any plate Caribbean.

Sweet, slowly-sweated leeks and floury potatoes blended into a thick, comforting soup. No cream needed: the potato does all of it.

Collards braised slowly with onion, garlic, ginger and turmeric until they turn silky and sweet. Mild, garlicky and green. The calm dish on an Ethiopian plate.

Canned tomatoes and white beans simmered with garlic then blended smooth, so the beans do the work of cream. Fifteen minutes of cooking and almost nothing to chop.

Chickpea flour whisked into a spiced onion base until it becomes a thick, smoky, deeply savory stew. One of the fastest genuinely great things you can cook from a cupboard.

The Ethiopian red lentil stew. Almost nothing in it, and yet the berbere and a genuinely long onion cook do all the heavy lifting.

Peppers and onions softened down with harissa and white beans until jammy. One pan, big flavor, and almost entirely from cupboard and freezer.

Green beans in a proper mushroom cream sauce made from scratch, under a lid of crisp fried onions. No condensed soup anywhere near it.

Fried tofu dragged through a cayenne paste made with the frying oil itself, so the heat goes on hot and stays glossy. Served the proper way, on soft white bread with pickles.

Buttered rye griddled around a plant burger, melting vegan cheddar, deeply caramelized onions and a tangy special sauce. Full indulgence. The diner classic, done plant-based.

The North Indian kidney bean curry that's built for batch cooking: onions taken deep golden, tomatoes cooked until the oil separates, and a few beans mashed against the pan for a thick, creamy gravy without a drop of cream.

A patty pressed thin against a screaming hot pan until the whole underside turns to lace and crust. Cheese, pickles, and a bun that has seen butter.

Lentils and rice cooked together under a heap of deeply caramelized onions, warmed with cumin, coriander and a whisper of cinnamon. The most filling plate in the set: the lentils make it stick with you far longer than rice alone.

Shop-bought gnocchi roasted straight from the packet with cherry tomatoes until the gnocchi crisp at the edges and the tomatoes burst into a sauce. One tray, no boiling.

Spiced vegetables and part-cooked basmati layered in a pot and steamed together so the rice takes on the masala from below while staying separate and fragrant on top.

A thick, gently spiced lentil stew softened with squash-sweet carrot and finished with a hard squeeze of lime. Everyday Peruvian home cooking: cheap, filling and quietly excellent.

White beans and vegan sausage baked slowly under a breadcrumb crust until the top is golden and the beans beneath have gone completely creamy. A weekend pot.

A fragrant tomato, lentil and chickpea soup thick with herbs and finished with lemon. Traditionally eaten to break the fast during Ramadan, and restorative at any time.

Soft olive-oil-poached potatoes and onion set in a chickpea-flour batter, cooked slowly until the middle is just custardy. Good hot, better at room temperature.

A tangy green broth built from blistered tomatillos and chilies, poured over chewy hominy and white beans. The raw garnishes (cabbage, radish, lime) are half the dish, not decoration.

Crisp cubes of tofu in a sun-dried tomato cream sauce that tastes like it took an hour. It takes half of one, and that is the reason people keep making it.

A deep red paprika stew of mushrooms, peppers and potato, finished with a swirl of plant cream. The paprika goes in off the heat, which is the trick nobody mentions.

Thick, orange, deeply cheesy soup with broccoli soft enough to fall apart in it. Cashews and nutritional yeast do the work the cheddar used to.

A smooth, golden lentil soup finished with paprika butter and a hard squeeze of lemon. Cheap, fast, and one of the most comforting bowls there is.

Cool rice noodles under a pile of herbs, raw vegetables and crisp tofu, with a sharp lime-and-chili dressing poured over just before eating. A hot-weather dinner that never feels heavy.

A composed salad of blanched vegetables, potato, fried tofu and tempeh under a thick, sweet-savory peanut sauce. Substantial enough to be dinner.

A dense, savory loaf of lentils and toasted walnuts under a sticky ketchup glaze that caramelizes at the edges. It slices cleanly, which is most of the battle.

A proper Sunday project: a dark, savory lentil and mushroom base under a mash lid, browned hard on top. Feeds six and reheats beautifully.

A fiercely savory red stew built on well-fermented kimchi, tofu and gochujang. Sour, spicy and bubbling. The older your kimchi, the better this gets.

A smoky red pepper and tomato sauce, simmered down until it is thick enough to hold a hollow, with seasoned crumbled tofu nestled into the wells where the eggs would go.

Tofu roasted until firm and coated in a sweet-hot gochujang glaze, over rice with quick cucumber. Sticky, spicy and mostly hands-off.

A clear, aromatic broth built by charring onion and ginger and steeping it with star anise and cinnamon, poured over rice noodles and tofu with a plate of herbs to add at the table.

Sweet potatoes baked until they slump, scooped out and whipped with butter, maple and cinnamon, then folded through with sharp apple, cranberries and toasted walnuts and sent back into the oven until the tops catch. The second bake is what makes it worth doing.

Soba, edamame and broccoli in a light soy-sesame dressing, served warm or cold. About as fast as dinner gets.

Garlicky white beans wilted down with kale and lemon in a single pan. Substantial, cheap, and on the table in twenty minutes.

Marinated tempeh grilled until the edges blacken, served with a thick peanut sauce for dipping. Nutty, smoky and very high in protein.

Deeply browned mushrooms in a creamy, smoky, mustard-sharpened sauce over pasta. The whole dish turns on getting real color on the mushrooms first.

A silky, deep green spinach curry with cubes of golden pan-fried tofu folded through it. All the comfort of palak paneer with none of the dairy.

A warm rice bowl with each vegetable seasoned separately, crisp pan-fried tofu, and a sweet-sharp gochujang sauce stirred through at the table. The point is the contrast: you mix it all together yourself.

Chickpeas and sweet potato in a warmly spiced tomato sauce, with dried apricots melting into it for a sweetness that plays against the cumin and cinnamon.

A fragrant, coconut-rich curry that comes together in the time it takes to cook rice. Sweet, salty, sour and hot, all balanced in one pan.

Orzo cooked risotto-style in stock so it comes out creamy without cream, finished with frozen peas, lemon and a lot of mint. One pot, twenty minutes.

A thick, glossy, faintly sweet curry sauce over rice, with soft potato and carrot. Mild by design and deeply comforting. Japan's favorite home dinner.

A whole celery root scored deep, rubbed with oil and thyme and roasted slowly until the outside goes mahogany and crackling and the inside turns sweet and custardy. It comes to the table whole and gets carved like a joint.

The Provençal summer-vegetable stew, cooked the honest way: each vegetable browned so it keeps its character, then folded together to melt into a glossy, herby whole.

Rice noodles tossed in a sweet-sour-salty tamarind sauce with crisp tofu, beansprouts and a heap of crushed peanuts. Everything happens in about four minutes, so get organized first.

Cold buckwheat noodles in a nutty sesame dressing, loaded with edamame and crunchy raw vegetables. Fifteen minutes, and it is better after an hour in the fridge.

Sweet peppers packed with a lemony rice, pine-nut and herb filling and baked until they slump and blister. As good at room temperature as they are hot.

Couscous steamed in a spiced tomato and chickpea broth in the same pot. No draining, no timing, and it is done in twenty minutes.

A no-cook peanut, lime and soy sauce whisked in the bowl, tossed through noodles with cold cucumber ribbons. Fifteen minutes, and better slightly under-dressed than over.

A tray of vegetables roasted hard, spooned over shop-bought hummus with lemon and parsley. Assembly more than cooking, and endlessly adaptable.

Cornstarch-dusted tofu fried until the edges shatter, then tumbled in a glossy teriyaki glaze that thickens around it in seconds. Steamed broccoli and rice make it dinner.

Cauliflower roasted hard with shawarma spices until the edges blacken, piled into warm pita with pickles, salad and a garlicky tahini sauce.

Lentils and finely chopped mushrooms cooked down in a sweet, tangy tomato sauce until they hold together on a bun. Deliberately messy; that is the whole idea.

Thick discs cut from king oyster stems, scored in a crosshatch so they drink up a nori and miso brine, then seared hard until the cut faces caramelize. The sea flavor comes from the brine, not the shape, which is the step most versions leave out.

Mushrooms browned hard, then a quick miso broth poured over thick udon. Deeply savory for something that takes twenty minutes and five ingredients.

Giant white beans baked slowly in a sweet tomato sauce with dill and plenty of olive oil, until the top catches and the beans turn to cream. Greek taverna cooking at its simplest.

Green curry paste fried in thick coconut cream until it splits and turns fragrant, then loosened into a fresh, hot, herby curry with eggplant, beans and tofu.

The peels people throw away, scraped clean, forked into strands and cooked down with smoked paprika and barbecue sauce until they go dark, sticky and unnervingly meaty. It costs nothing and it convinces almost everybody.

Numbing, savory and fast. Mushrooms stand in for the pork and nobody misses it. The chili bean paste and Sichuan pepper are doing the real work.

A creamy vegetable and chickpea filling under a lid of puff pastry that shatters when you cut it. Everything about it is comfort, including the smell.

A generous vegetable soup with beans and small pasta, built on a slowly softened base of onion, carrot and celery. The kind of pot that improves every time you reheat it.

Roasted jerk-spiced jackfruit shreds like slow-cooked meat, over coconut rice and black beans. Big flavors, mostly from a jar and a tin.

Curry powder bloomed in oil until it perfumes the whole kitchen, then chickpeas and potato simmered in coconut until soft and golden. Warming, cheap and quietly fiery.