A couple of weeks ago we looked at the Harvard School of Public Health and Nutrition healthy eating plate.

Half of our plate for a typical meal (save breakfast) should ideally be vegetables.

Findings from the American Gut Project, the largest ever study on the impact of diet on the gut micro biome, tells us that we need 30 plants per week for optimal gut health. Besides, herbs, spices, seeds, nuts, fruits, grains and pulses, this includes, of course, veggies. The greater the variety the better.

Interestingly, the different colours come from different types of polyphenols and flavonoids. These are compounds the plants make as part if it’s defense system. They also happen to be what’s really good for us — and the reason why it’s a good idea the think in rainbows when we go veg shopping.

To a lot of people the mere prospect of having to deal with a pile of different vegetables can seem somewhat or really overwhelming.

But worry not, that’s why we are here! To help you become a vegetable samurai, chopping, slicing, dicing, sautéing, roasting, and frying your way through mountains of veg. With ease. Without having to rely on recipes.

Of course, recipes are good to know because they help demonstrate the underlying principles — and because some combinations just work supremely well. But, remember that all recipes are in just variations on a few basic principles. And once you’ve got your head around those — hallelujah! —now you can really cook.

And who doesn’t relish the idea of going all Jaime Oliver on a bunch of ingredients like there’s no tomorrow??!!

How to do this:

• Set yourself a challenge. Go buy or order 7-10 different veggies with no plan.

• Wash and pre-prep these so they are ready to go.

• Apply the fundamental principles.

Here are some ideas:

Sautéing. You can ALWAYS default to sautéing anything. The simple act of applying heat amps up deliciousness.

Make a salad using the salad matrix. Roast a one or two elements, add some texture in the form of seeds and/or nuts.

Stir-fry. Start with a base of ginger, garlic and chilli fried in oil. Add some soy sauce and a little sugar. Keep water handy if it starts to catch. Chuck in sliced veggies. Maybe a handful of pulses that you’ve batch cooked and frozen? Easy.

Make a slaw. Using cabbage as a base that you thinly slice (on your mandolin if you have one), then add julienne of carrot (cause you probably got some carrots) or any other root veg. How the rest of that pepper that you used some of for the stir-fry? Yeah, slice it up and chuck it in there too. Bit of parsley left over. Or how about some toasted cumin or coriander seeds? Bit of olive oil and yoghurt + mayo if you want some extra luxury. Done! Easy.

Fried rice. Now you had some rice left over that you served with the stir-fry. Great. Let’s make veggies fried rice. And again, add some pulses that you’ve pre-cooked and frozen for convenience (and to save money and plastic wastage compared with buying pouches of it).

What ever is left-over by now can become a stew. Start out with your flavour base, that is, onion, and carrot, celery, garlic, ginger and any spices of choice. But always some form of onion. + The liquid (stock, water, tomato, coconut milk or a combo thereof) + the veggies and maybe some whole grains and some lentils? Whatever you have in those cupboards. Use it! Easy.

You can kind of see that what we’re getting at here is that to get more veggies and more variety into your diet in general, we need to think about our everyday cooking as a continuous flow rather than recipe by recipe.

It’s much easier than most people think. You can do it too. The question is, are you ready to commit to doing it. It will require some effort, possible some burnt parsnips you left too long in the oven, too much mustard in a dressing for a slaw, or whatever other mistakes and mishaps you might encounter along the way.

BUT, the effort is going to be well worth it. And you will feel the benefits. More energy and vitality now.. and when you’re a hundred.

Happy home-cooking!