Eat this spicy, summery shakshuka for breakfast, lunch or dinner​on January 18, 2025 at 6:00 pm

Scott Gooding and Matilda Brown practise what they preach. Gooding, a one-time health coach whose parents ran a pub in London, and Brown, a former actor who grew up in the film industry (her parents, Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward, are Australian cinema royalty) became so interested in regenerative farming that they built a food business around it.

The Good Farm Shop, in Sydney’s Brookvale, began as a butchery but morphed into a ready-meals producer using produce from farms that nurture the soil to grow healthier plants and livestock.

In The Good Farm Cookbook, the pair share their family’s favourite recipes. Starting with high-welfare protein, the recipes build in vegetables and other elements without using processed ingredients such as flour and sugar.

Here are three simple, sustaining and big-flavoured vegetable recipes that can be served as the main event, or as tasty dish on the side.

Corn and chilli

How good does this one look? And it’s even better to taste: vibrant and full of freshness, but with a spicy kick. Think of it as a corn version of shakshuka but just as flavourful and easy to make.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 corn cobs, outer leaves removed, trimmed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp chipotle powder
• 1-2 long red chillies, destemmed and finely chopped
• 1 red capsicum, destemmed, cored and diced
• 1 green capsicum, destemmed, cored and diced
• 4 eggs
• ½ -1 avocado, sliced, to serve
• juice of ½ lime, to serve
• ¼ bunch coriander, leaves left whole or roughly chopped, to serve

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 140C fan-forced (160C conventional). Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Place the corn cobs in the water and return to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer strongly for 3-5 minutes before removing from the heat. Drain and, once the corn has cooled a little, cut the kernels off and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the oregano, chipotle powder, chilli and capsicum to the frying pan and stir. Cook for another 5-6 minutes before adding the corn kernels.
3. Create four depressions in the mixture with the back of a spoon and crack an egg into each one. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked to your liking. Remove from the oven, season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve with avocado and a squeeze of lime juice. Scatter the chopped coriander on top.

Serves 2

Grilled eggplant and lentil salad with lemon-mint dressing

In botanical terms, eggplant is a fruit, not a vegetable. In culinary terms, both eggplants and lentils have amazing utility, but they need big flavours to bring them to life, so don’t skimp on the dressing here.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 medium eggplants, trimmed and cut into wedges
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 200g (1 cup) tinned green or brown lentils, drained and rinsed
• 150g (1 cup) mixed cherry tomatoes, halved
• ½ preserved lemon (optional), roughly chopped
• 40g (¼ cup) pine nuts, toasted
• 100g (⅔ cup) crumbled feta (optional)
• ¼ bunch mint leaves

Lemon-mint dressing

• 60ml (¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil
• 60 ml (¼ cup) lemon juice
• 1 tsp honey
• 15g (¼ cup) mint leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

METHOD

1. Preheat a barbecue or a chargrill pan to medium-high heat.
2. Combine the eggplant, olive oil, cumin and paprika in a large mixing bowl. Season and place on the hot barbecue or in the chargrill pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until lightly charred. Remove from the heat and set aside.
3. Combine the ingredients for the dressing in a jar, seal and shake vigorously. Or you can whisk them by hand in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. In a serving bowl or dish, combine the lentils, eggplant, tomatoes and preserved lemon, if using. Drizzle the dressing on top and toss lightly to mix. Garnish with the toasted pine nuts, feta (if using) and mint leaves. Check and adjust the seasoning and serve.

Serves 2

Warm cauliflower salad with sweet potato puree

This is warming and comforting without the stodge. Cauliflowers come in a few varieties and colours, so feel free to use an orange, purple or green one for more vibrancy, if you like.

INGREDIENTS

• 1-1.2kg sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 head cauliflower, stalk and leaves removed, cut into small florets
• 3 large red onions, peeled and segmented
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp ground cumin, plus 1 tsp extra
• 1 tbsp zaatar
• 1 tbsp butter
• 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• ¼ bunch mint leaves, to serve
• 1 bunch parsley leaves, to serve
• 150g feta, to serve

Dressing

• 130g (½ cup) plain yoghurt
• juice of 1 lemon
• 15g (¼ cup) chopped dill
• ½ tsp sumac

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 170C fan-forced (190C conventional). Place the sweet potatoes in a saucepan, cover with salted water and bring to a boil. Cook for 30 minutes, or until softened, then drain and transfer to a blender or food processor.
2. To a roasting tin, add the cauliflower, red onion, 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, cumin and zaatar and lightly toss. Season and roast in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the cauliflower is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set aside.
3. Combine the dressing ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.
4. Add the remaining olive oil, butter and extra cumin to the sweet potato and blitz to a puree. Season to taste, then spread the puree over a serving plate.
5. In a large mixing bowl, gently combine the roasted cauliflower and onion with the chickpeas and the yoghurt dressing. Arrange on top of the puree and sprinkle the fresh herbs and feta on top. Season and serve.

Serves 4

This is an edited extract from The Good Farm Cookbook by Scott Gooding and Matilda Brown. Photography by Cath Muscat. Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99.