Forget five a day... you need to eat 30 plants a week! Here HUGH FEARNLEY

Eating 30 different plants a week to improve your gut health might sound like an ambitious aim. Especially if you've got yourself stuck in a rut of eating the same fruit and veg on rotation.

But, once you set your mind to it, the 30-a-week challenge becomes surprisingly (and enjoyably) easy to achieve.

By employing some useful strategies and incorporating just a few of my plant-laden recipes in to your weekly menu — many of which I'm delighted to be sharing with you today in Weekend magazine, tomorrow in YOU and in Monday's Daily Mail — you'll soon realise it's well within your grasp.

My new book, How To Eat 30 Plants A Week, is brimming with veg and fruit and other primary plant ingredients, as we'll see. But for the omnivores among us — including me — there are also some well-chosen meat and fish dishes, always underpinned by a plethora of pleasing plants.

'I don't just want you to eat up your greens. I also want you to cram every colour of the rainbow, and all the nutty, pulsey shades of brown, into your day-to-day eating habits.'

The plant kingdom really is a wonderfully exciting place from which to cook. It's where we find the greatest variety of fantastic flavours and textures to bring into our kitchens.

This presents endless opportunities — whether we're meat-eating, vegetarian or vegan — to fill our plates with all kinds of deliciousness, either as the main event, an exciting side dish, or to be used as tasty ingredients mixed with other scrumptious things.

Snacking counts, even if it's chocolate! 

There is no shame in a little healthy snacking to help you reach your weekly 30-plants target. And there's no doubt in my mind which are the best food groups to help you do this: nuts and seeds; raw veg; seasonal fresh and dried fruits (the latter in moderation, as they have quite high concentrated sugars). And why not a little dark chocolate?

To keep your snacking healthy and plant-based, and to avoid the temptation to grab something manufactured when you're on the go, it helps to prep. When I'm travelling for work, I often take a little tin of my seven-plant trail mix, which includes nuts, seeds, dried fruit and a little dark chocolate.

And if I've got a few minutes in the morning, I'll also do a tub of crunchy veg — carrots, celery, fennel and apple wedges is a favourite combo. You can also tip in a few nuts and seeds, or even a sprinkling of herbs or whole seed spices.

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This way of eating is simple to follow and will bring us great pleasure, as well as good health, day after day.

We just need to open ourselves up to the astonishingly wide repertoire that the plant world has to offer — and that reaches way beyond the obvious fruit and vegetables that immediately spring to mind.

What I'm also including here might surprise you: nuts, herbs, seeds and spices; various dried pulses and whole grains; olive oil and black pepper; even chocolate and coffee — they all count towards your 30-plant tally.

So, I don't just want you to eat up your greens. I also want you to cram every colour of the rainbow, and all the nutty, pulsey shades of brown, into your day-to-day eating habits.

There is a huge and growing consensus that including loads of plants in our diets is the very best way to boost our gut health and keep us well.

As Professor Tim Spector, an expert in epidemiology and gut health, has written in the introduction to my new book, it was his research which found that 30 different plants a week is the optimal number to aim for — and can reap huge rewards.

Alongside our genetic make-up, and our immediate environment, gut health is being confirmed as one of the principle factors that determine our health and, potentially, our longevity.

And, as Tim explains, science has found that nurturing our gut microbiome with a varied, largely plant-based, diet makes us more likely to sleep better, move more, benefit from improved mood and energy levels, and generally enjoy life more.

It also reduces our risk of certain cancers, strengthens our immune system and is great for brain health.

The fact that our good gut bacteria respond well to diverse plants in general, and high levels of fibre in particular, is now vital knowledge for anyone looking for simple ways to improve their overall health.

Cutting to the chase, it means we just need to eat plenty of high fibre plants, such as oats, beans, fruit, vegetables, nuts and wholegrains, to do our gut the world of good.

Luckily, I've yet to find a fruit or vegetable I don't enjoy. And I've long since recognised that in terms of getting daily satisfaction and goodness from my cooking, plants are where it's at.

'However you choose to keep the score, if you get past 20 different plants in a week (you absolutely will!) you'll immediately have 30 in your sights.'

Just in case you were wondering, you can only count each plant once in a week. So, if you are currently eating carrots or kale — or walnuts or even watercress — twice, or indeed several times, a week, that's great, but you only get to count them once...

A few years ago I was approaching my 50th birthday and feeling that I needed to lose some weight, and I wanted to do so in a permanent and sustainable way.

I decided it was vital to cut right back on processed foods and embrace more wholefoods — by which I mean foods that are simply closer to their natural state. I also decided to eat less meat. I didn't want to cut out meat altogether but I kept several days a week meat-free.

Enjoy a bean feast 

Beans, lentils and chickpeas are helpful when we are looking to reduce the amount of meat we eat

Most of us could happily get more beans, lentils and chickpeas into our cooking.

They are so good for us, containing plenty of plant protein, fibre and micro-nutrients such as iron and some B vitamins.

They are also helpful when we are looking to reduce the amount of meat we eat (a good idea for so many reasons). And they are great for filling us up.

If you enjoy pulses, but don't often get round to eating them, adding them to recipes is an easy fix. However, if you are a pulse sceptic (maybe because you think beans and lentils are boring and bland), how can I persuade you to change your mind?

Perhaps you could stop thinking about them in isolation, as boring beans in a tin, or a virtue-signalling pile of lentils on the side of a plate. Start mingling them in your mind with other delicious ingredients, just as I've mingled them in all sorts of saucy ways in the recipes you'll find in today's Weekend magazine.

Recipes that include pulses are great, but once you get into the swing of it, improvising with them is also a blast, because they are so easy to use — simply open a tin! Tinned pulses are minimally processed and retain all the goodness you would get by cooking them.

To be properly tender and palatable, dried beans need to be soaked overnight and boiled for an hour and more. I still do that sometimes, but much more often I use beans from tins.

Lentils, on the other hand, I generally cook from scratch. Most varieties can be cooked to tender in 20 minutes or under (soaking them for an hour is a useful preliminary). But tinned lentils are also very handy.

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I still raise some livestock at home and at River Cottage, and still cook meat and fish with great enthusiasm — always accompanied by lots of plants — but, in any given week, there will now be more days when I don't eat meat or fish than when I do.

Meat and fish are temptingly special foods and, in moderation, they are good for us but, in terms of variety of flavours and variety of goodness, they don't come close to what plants can offer.

The difference between pork and beef is notable, of course, and the difference between lamb and mackerel even more so. But it's nothing compared to the difference between a leek and a walnut, a parsnip and a chilli, or an apple and a coriander seed.

And while braising, charring and roasting are cooking methods you might more normally associate with preparing meat or fish for the table, many vegetables respond in mouth-watering ways to similar treatment.

If you're barbecuing, why not put a couple of bunches of spring onions on the grill to char and soften and gain some deliciously smoky notes? You can then chop and stir them into a herby salsa verde to serve as a side.

Meanwhile, grilling, crisping and caramelising vegetables (and sometimes fruits) will create exciting flavours that are unachievable in any other way.

The preparation of plant ingredients to be roasted or baked can be a real pleasure.

I love layering potatoes and cabbage for a gratin of greens, placing the potato slices neatly to form the final layer, and knowing that when it comes out of the oven it will be burnished and crisp and looking glorious.

When it comes to eating well, a readiness to do a bit of chopping and slicing, crushing or grating will pay you back a hundredfold.

By lavishing a bit of attention on preparation, followed by the fierce heat of the oven, we can make plant-based roasts every bit as tempting as roast meat and baked fish. Take, for example, fennel and leeks, which come from the oven soft and beautifully caramelised, like 'pulled veg'.

When I was growing up my Mum served up greens, lightly buttered, on the side of my plate. She was never one to overcook them, but recognised that steaming or wilting the greens just long enough to make them tender is the best way to retain their appealing sweetness — and their goodness, too.

She still serves them like this, and so do I from time to time. A tip to maximise the appeal of this approach is to gently sizzle a grated clove of garlic in a little butter or oil and toss with the tender greens. This works for green beans, peas and even carrots, and can be effective in tempting kids to eat more veg.

The above are just a few perfect examples of how to maximise flavour and opportunity, and to get the best out of plants.

As Tim Spector points out, there are around 11,000 known edible plants. Don't worry, I don't expect you to eat them all!

But I am going to record a very useful bunch of them in My Big Plant List, reproduced here today. I've divided them into a series of what I consider pragmatic, rather than strictly scientific, categories.

There are more than 200 in all, which may sound a lot, but I'd be amazed if there's anything in the list you haven't heard of. And surprised if there are more than just a few you haven't tasted.

However, I bet there are loads that have fallen off your radar.

You can then use this list to count your plant intake — an infallible way to ensure you really are making progress.

READ MORE: Why you should eat 30 plant-based foods a week to optimise your nutrition 

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So please, set to with a pencil and see how much fun counting your plant intake can be, revisiting My Big Plant List regularly to remind yourself what you've been missing out on.

(Just in case you were wondering, you can only count each plant once in a week. So, if you are currently eating carrots or kale — or walnuts or even watercress — twice, or indeed several times, a week, that's great, but you only get to count them once.)

You may very well be impressed at how many plants you are already consuming, and I'm sure this will inspire you to take in even more!

It's always rewarding to mark your progress, to see your list of plants eaten grow longer every week, and to note how much you are also enjoying them.

However you choose to keep the score, if you get past 20 different plants in a week (you absolutely will!) you'll immediately have 30 in your sights.

I am sure you're already thinking about recipes you love to cook, so what extra plant ingredients could you add to these?

If you're a keen baker, what seeds or nuts could you throw into your bread, or even cakes?

If you like spices, what useful ones are missing from your spice rack? When did you last cook parsnips or cauliflower, which actually you love!

I know you're going to find it exciting to embark on the 30 Plants A Week journey, but you don't have to do it all at once.

To begin with, just add a few extra fresh veg and fruit, and a few extra store cupboard ingredients, to your weekly shop.

You can start with the ones that will help you cook the recipes featured here in the Mail over the next few days.

Above all, I hope that My Big Plant List will help you to realise it's actually no great stretch to use and enjoy quite a lot more than 30 plants a week — which would be very good news indeed for your gut.

 

Roast summer veg with lemony dressing

This is a lovely substantial dish, combining grains and spuds with the first early summer greens.

Serves 4

• 100g cracked bulgur wheat, well rinsed
• 400g new potatoes (skin on)
• 4 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
• 1 tsp sumac (optional)
• 1 lemon (½ of it is juice forthe dressing)
• 12-15 asparagus spears, woody bases trimmed
• 2 little gem lettuces, quartered lengthways
• bunch of spring onions, trimmed
• 8-10 garlic cloves, bruised
• sea salt and black pepper

For the lemony dressing

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• juice of ½ lemon

To finish

• 12 mint leaves

1 Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Tip the bulgur wheat into a large bowl, add a pinch of salt and pour on 500ml of just-boiled water. Cover with a plate so that the water cools gradually, and leave to soak for 30 minutes.

2 Meanwhile, halve or quarter the potatoes, depending on size, and put them in a large roasting tray (one that will take the rest of the veg later without crowding). Trickle over two-thirds of the olive or rapeseed oil and sprinkle with the sumac, if using, plus salt and pepper. 

Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the potatoes are golden brown and tender, turning them halfway through.

3 Drain off any water from the bulgur wheat after its 30-minute soaking and fluff up the grains with a fork. Pare the zest from the lemon in fine ribbons, using a vegetable peeler, and set aside, then cut the lemon in half.

4 Take the roasting tray from the oven and add the bulgur wheat, asparagus spears, lettuces, spring onions and garlic. Trickle over the rest of the oil and the juice from ½ of the lemon, plus the ribbons of zest. 

Toss everything together then space it all out on the tray. Return to the oven and roast for 12-15 minutes until the asparagus is tender and the little gem wilted.

5 Meanwhile, for the dressing, put the olive oil, juice from the other ½ lemon and some salt and pepper into a screwtop jar and shake to combine, or whisk up in a bowl.

6 Transfer the roast veg to a warmed serving bowl, scatter over the mint leaves and trickle generously with the lemony dressing to serve.

Swaps

Outside asparagus season, use florets of broccoli, calabrese or cauliflower, or batons of courgettes and/or a handful of green beans.

 

Hot fish sandwich with satay nut butter

You may already know how much I enjoy a hot fish sandwich. This latest incarnation is combined with a delicious satay nut butter, and I like to add a contrasting layer of crunchy kimchi slaw, too. This sandwich works well with white fish fillets, such as haddock or coley, but it’s also great with meatier fish, say mackerel or bream. 

Serves 2

• 2 skinless fish fillets (100g-120g each), such as hake or coley, or MSC-certified haddock or cod
• a little light plain wholemeal flour
• oil or fat for cooking
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• sea salt and black pepper

For the satay nut butter

•  2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
• ½ a small garlic clove, crushed or very finely grated
• finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime or ½ a lemon
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

To assemble 

• 2 large, soft wholemeal baps, split
• 4 lettuce leaves
• 1 ripe tomato, sliced
• 2-3 tbsp kimchi slaw (see recipe below)

1 First make the satay nut butter. Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl, seasoning with a few twists of pepper.  If the consistency feels too thick to spread, stir in a dash of water to loosen it.

2 Check the fish fillets for pin bones, removing any you find with tweezers. Season the fillets well on both sides with salt and pepper, then dust them with a little flour.

3 Heat a little oil or fat in a nonstick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the bay leaves and fry until they start to colour (you are using them to flavour the oil and fish so it’s OK if they brown a bit). Add the fish fillets to the pan, along with the garlic, and fry for 3-4 minutes, basting with the oil until nearly cooked through. Carefully flip the fish fillets over and cook the other side for a minute or so.

4 Meanwhile, spread the bap bases with a generous spoonful of the satay nut butter. Lay two overlapping lettuce leaves on top, then a couple of tomato slices.

5 Using a thin spatula or fish slice, lift the hot fillets out of the pan straight on to the tomato slices. Top with a spoonful of kimchi slaw, if you like. Sandwich with the bap tops and squeeze gently to bring the layers together. Eat straight away.

 

Kimchi slaw 

I love sauerkraut, kimchi and other fermented veg. They are, of course, quite salty, and often pungently flavoured, so not everyone loves the intensity of eating them straight up. But they can also be deployed to give a boost of flavour depth and umami notes to other simply prepared fresh veg. 

Dressing a slaw is one example, combining fresh and pickled cabbage. A great side with almost anything, it’s a particularly brilliant way to make a meal of a couple of poached eggs on toast.

Serves 4 as a side

• ½ white cabbage (250g-300g)
• 2 medium carrots, scrubbed or peeled
• 2 tbsp kimchi
• finely grated zest and juice of ½ a lemon
• 2 tbsp extra virgin rapeseed oil
• 1-2 tbsp natural (or plant-based) yogurt (optional)
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise (optional)
• black pepper

1 Finely shred the cabbage and tip into a large salad bowl. Grate the carrots and add to the cabbage. Chop the kimchi if it is quite chunky and add to the bowl with the lemon zest and juice. Toss to mix.

2 Add the rapeseed oil and the yogurt and/or mayonnaise, if using. Season with a few twists of pepper and toss everything together well. Taste – and by all means add some more kimchi if you think it (or you!) can take it.

3 Ideally, leave to stand for at least 20 minutes to allow the flavours to mingle before serving. You can also keep the slaw in the fridge for up to 48 hours – the fresh cabbage will start to soften and pickle a little bit, which I rather like.

 

Cottage garden pie

A cottage or shepherd’s pie has always been a family favourite down the generations. My recipe has evolved to include way more veg than my mum used to put in hers – hence the name. 

I’m delighted to say this version still meets with everyone’s approval. The meat and lentil sauce is versatile and easily turned into a bolognese (add extra passata and omit the worcestershire sauce) or into a chilli (add chilli powder, to taste, to the browned meat and two 400g tins of kidney beans towards the end of simmering).

Serves 5-6

• oil or fat for cooking
• 300g chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 400g beef mince
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 3 medium carrots, scrubbed or peeled and finely chopped
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 200ml tomato passata
• 400g tin puy, brown or green lentils, drained and rinsed, or 250g pre-cooked lentils
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• sea salt and black pepper

For the topping

• about 600g potatoes, scrubbed and cut into large chunks
• 300g celeriac, peeled, or jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed, cut into large chunks
• 50g butter
• 75ml milk
• handful of parsley, leaves picked and finely chopped
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp capers (optional)

1 Heat a little of the oil or fat in a large saucepan or sauté pan over a fairly high heat. Add half the mushrooms with a pinch of salt and fry ‘hard’ until they release their juices. Continue until the mushrooms have turned golden-brown and their juices have evaporated. Tip into a large bowl. Repeat with the rest of the mushrooms and a little more oil or fat, then add to the first lot.

2 Add a little more oil or fat to the pan then brown the mince well, in two batches. Fry over a fairly high heat, breaking up the mince with a spatula as you go and driving off any moisture. Once each batch is browned, add it to the bowl with the mushrooms.

3 Reduce the heat to medium-low. Heat a little more oil or fat in the pan and add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Sweat over a medium-low heat, stirring, for 10 minutes or until softened.

4 Return the mushrooms and mince to the pan. Add the passata with a splash of water and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 20-25 minutes until rich and saucy, stirring occasionally and adding a splash more water if needed.

5 Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and make the topping. Put the potatoes and celeriac (or artichokes) in a large pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes until tender.

6 Stir the lentils and worcestershire sauce into the mushroom and mince mix. Check the seasoning then transfer to an ovenproof dish and spread evenly.

7 Drain the potatoes and celeriac (or artichokes) in a colander and leave to steam-dry for a few minutes. Add the butter and milk to the still hot pan then tip in the veg. Use a potato masher to crush them to a rough mash. Mix in the parsley and mustard, as well as the capers, if using.

8 Spoon the mash evenly over the beef filling, roughly forking it to the edges of the dish. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling up around the edges. Serve with peas and/or wilted spinach or kale.

 

Porridge loaf

This is a one-bowl, no-knead, gluten-free, fruity, nutty bread (provided you use gluten-free oats) that is unbelievably easy to make. You can use any mix of dried fruit, nuts and seeds that you happen to have in the kitchen – sultanas, raisins, dried apples, dried apricots, dried figs etc – or just nuts and seeds if you want a more savoury loaf. 

The result is delicious freshly baked, of course, but excellent toasted the following day, too, and it freezes well; I often double the quantities to make 2 loaves: one for now and one for the freezer.

Makes 1 loaf

• 250g natural yogurt
• 1 medium egg
• 150g porridge oats
• 100g mixed dried fruit, larger pieces roughly chopped
• 100g mixed seeds, such as pumpkin, sunflower, poppy, linseed or buckwheat, plus an extra small handful to finish
• 50g nuts, such as walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds or cashews, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp caraway seeds (optional)
• 50ml milk
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp flaky sea salt

1 Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Line a small (500g) loaf tin with baking paper.

2 In a large bowl, whisk the yogurt and egg together until smoothly combined. Stir in all the remaining ingredients until evenly mixed, to give a creamy mixture: the texture of a thick porridge.

3 Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and level the surface using the back of the spoon. Scatter the handful of extra seeds evenly over the top.

4 Bake for 45-50 minutes on the middle shelf of the oven, until a deep golden brown.

5 Allow the loaf to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely before slicing.

 

Very berry ripple fro-yo 

This is a lovely, lighter alternative to a fruity ice cream – quick and easy to put together.

 

Serves 8-10 

• 600g mixed strawberries, raspberries and blueberries (about 200g of each, but varying the amounts is fine), plus extra to serve (optional)
• 200g natural whole-milk yogurt
• 200g crème fraîche
• 75g caster sugar

1 In a food processor, blitz 400g of the berries with the yogurt, crème fraîche and 50g of the sugar until smooth and creamy. Pour into a large bowl and put in the freezer.

2 In a small bowl, roughly mash the remaining 200g of berries and mix with the rest of the sugar to get a nice purée; set aside for the ripple.

3 After about 1½ hours, take out the bowl and whisk the frozen edges back into the middle. Repeat an hour or so later, this time finishing by rippling through the crushed berries – swirl the berry purée through the mix to get some nice streaks and ripples.

4 Now pack the mixture into a small freezerproof container and leave in the freezer for at least 4-5 hours to freeze completely. You can now keep it frozen for up to 3 months.

5 To serve, remove from the freezer and allow to sit for 15 minutes or so, to soften slightly. Scoop the fro-yo into bowls and serve, with more of the same berries (some whole, some crushed) if you like.

 

Now buy the book

• Adapted from How To Eat 30 Plants A Week by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (Bloomsbury, £25). © Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall 2024. To order a copy for £21.25 (offer valid to 19/05/24; UK P&P free on orders over £25), go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. 

Very good!（43）