Side show

No longer content to sit quietly beside a piece of protein, our side dishes are bold, generous and full of flavour. For the vegetarians at your table, they're a genuine main event.

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Simple pilau

SERVES 4-6 PREP + COOK TIME 30 MINUTES

3 cups (750ml) hot chicken stock small pinch of saffron threads 2 tablespoons butter or ghee 6 golden shallots, thinly sliced into rings 2 garlic cloves, crushed 4 cardamom pods, bruised 1 cinnamon stick 2 cups (400g) basmati rice, rinsed

1 Combine the chicken stock and saffron in a medium jug or bowl.

2 Meanwhile, heat the butter in a deep medium frying pan. Add the shallots and garlic, cook, stirring over medium heat, for about 3 minutes, until fragrant but not coloured.

3 Add the cardamom, cinnamon stick and rice, cook, stirring, until rice is coated in the butter mixture.

4 Stir in the stock mixture and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low, cover with a tight-fitting lid, cook for 12 minutes. Remove from heat and stand covered, for 10 minutes.

5 Fluff with a fork and serve.

It's important to rinse the rice before you begin cooking as it removes the excess starch that can cause rice to clump and become sticky. Rinsing is a key step to achieving a fluffy pilau.

Refrigerate any leftover rice as soon as possible after cooking and consume within 3 days. It's advisable not to reheat and refrigerate rice multiple times.

You can also freeze leftover pilau for up to 1 month.

Pumpkin & quinoa salad

SERVES 4-6 PREP + COOK TIME 30 MINUTES

750g butternut pumpkin, peeled, diced

1 medium (170g) red onion, cut into wedges