Beyond the Mic with Sean Dillon.We're joined on the star line by a cook, food author, stylist, and mom who takes 12 ingredients that most likely are in your kitchen right now and created 125 recipes with them in easy wins.
12 flavor hits, 125 delicious recipes, 365 days of good eating.We welcome Anna Jones.
Thank you for having me.It's lovely to be with you.
Anna, let's go beyond the mic.You've been cooking for more than 20 years and have seen cooking evolve.What's the biggest evolution for you?
I think there's a lot, but I think definitely the move kind of towards a bit more of a conscious way of eating, I'm guessing, and moving a little bit further towards eating with the planet in mind, eating perhaps a few more vegetables.
I think when I became vegetarian 20 years ago, you know, you'd almost be nothing on a menu when you went out to eat.But I'm really grateful that that's changed.And yeah, I would say that's the biggest thing.
There are so many flavors you could have picked for your 12 easy wins.What makes these 12 so special?
Well, I spent a lot of time deciding on these 12, as you can probably imagine, and there was a long, long list of lots of different things that could have been involved.
But I was trying to think about the 12 things that make my meals taste great very quickly.And these were the things that I think add the most flavour for the least effort.So things like miso paste, which is a
a umami bomb and it will sort of transform anything, not just sort of, you know, the sort of Asian cooking we're kind of quite used to using it in, but also it could be put into the base of a stew or a pasta to really, really amplify flavor.
So I just looked at my cooking and looked at the 12 things that really, really helped me make food great.
You are, quote, the voice of modern vegetarian cooking, unquote.What's the one vegetable that doesn't get the credit it really deserves?
Oh well I think there's a long list actually but I would say some of those kind of like quite unglamorous root vegetables so like a swede or rutabaga I guess you guys call it in America you know it's so cheap it's so cheap
and actually it's full of flavour but it never gets used.You can make amazing fries out of that.You can make amazing kind of mash out of that.I think also celery.I love celery.
I quite often will make a salad just out of, you know, celery and some herbs.It's got such a clean, fresh kind of, you know, vibrant flavour.
So I think that's another one that's only ever used as kind of the base of a stew but we should celebrate in its own right too.
Anna Jones is the author of Easy Win 12 Flavor Hits, 125 Delicious Recipes, 365 Days of Good Eating and she joins us behind the mic for the Rocking 8.Anna, all this is is eight random questions.Answer with the first thing that comes to your mind.
There is no pressure.So, what was the 13th ingredient, the one you kicked out? You've worked with Jamie Oliver.Which cook would you like to work with next?
Oh, that's a good one.I'd love to work.I think I'd love to work with Nigella Lawson.She's just so fabulous.
That's a very good choice.Was there one dish you regret not sharing with Stanley Tucci?
I mean, any dish shared with Stanley Tucci is a great, great pleasure.I think there's an ice cream.I think the caper and chocolate ice cream that's in this book, I think that would be right up his street.
Favorite bookstore in London.
Oh, books for cooks in Notting Hill.Absolute classic cook bookshop.
Who is the one person you can depend on right now that isn't related to you or work for you?
That's a really good question.I have a dear friend and yoga teacher, Naomi, who is always there for me, always kind of cheering me on.So I'd go for her.
What soup is the one you curl up with on a cold day?
on a cold, cold day.I love a ribolita, which means re-boiled in Italian.It's a combination of kind of carrots, potatoes, cavolo nero, or kind of black cabbage and beans.And it's kind of, it's a meal in a bowl and it's what I crave all winter long.
What's the one thing you want to do in a cooking renovation?
Oh, well, I actually renovated my kitchen quite recently, but I didn't put enough cupboards in.I'd love a big like larder that you can walk into with big high shelves.
I haven't got a house big enough and I definitely can't afford it, but that's what I'd love.
Sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory.You got to get rid of one forever, which is it?
Oh, it's bitter.I mean, yeah, I think it's an important flavor, but if I had to get rid of one, it'd be bitter.
It's time for the savory question with Anna Jonesby on the mic.You enter social media each day in an effort, making it less toxic, more positive.Who encourages you on a daily basis?
Oh, I'm lucky to have like a network of quite encouraging, positive friends.
But there's a few cooks I love, Heidi Swanson, who writes 101 cookbooks out of LA, another great cook called Sarah Britton, who is from, she's Canadian, and she writes under My New Roots.
Those two really inspire me with the way they kind of bring their food and, you know, and make recipes that make you feel good, but aren't intimidating or patronizing.
It's time for one big question with Anna Jones, author of Easy Wins.Be on the mic.Easy Wins is your fifth cookbook in 10 years.What's the name of your sixth you're working on right now?
I wish I knew.I've got a meeting with my publisher tomorrow and she's going to ask the very same question.Your timing is incredible.
Um, no, I've, I've, yeah, I've got a very little baby, so I'm taking a bit of time to eat, to be inspired, to travel, to do some interesting things before the next one, before the next one comes out.
Anna, where can people find you online?
They can find me on Instagram at wearefood or at annajones.co.uk.
She would get rid of bitter, loves a good bowl of soup when it's cold, and wants you to read easy wins, 12 flavor hits, 125 delicious recipes, and 365 days of good eating.Anna Jones, thanks for taking the time to talk with us today.
Ah, loved it.Thanks for having me.
And that, my friends, is a Beyond the Mic Short Cut. If you're enjoying these conversations, please check out another Beyond the Mic episode to find more actors, artists, and people you need to know.
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