Paul West on growing your own ingredients to eat your own food

So Paul West's latest cookbook Homegrown: A year of growing, cooking and eating has found a welcome home on my shelves. A practical book, full of planting tips and projects to get stuck into as the year unfolds. Whether you're keen to build a portable chook run, or just plant some things which will attract more birds and bees to your garden, West's suggestions will keep you busy all year long.

More than anything this book is for the novice gardener. Many of us have found a love of gardening during the pandemic but I'm still happy to admit I am flying by the seat of my pants. You pop things in the soil, give them some water and if they grow they grow and then you can eat them. That's my paltry philosophy.

"My hope here is that people will see it like I'm holding their hand, providing a little bit of advice in those early stages to help people on their way," West says.

"When you do have success with gardening early in the piece it sets you up for life. And if you don't, it's easy to get discouraged and not persevere with it."

He suggests zucchinis are a good place to start. "They are like triffids and you can grown them in a relatively small space, and to have something large and green and watching it grow, grow out of control even, grow overnight, is an amazing thing."

All this growing is important, but the chef in West has his eye on the end result from the start.

"Otherwise it's just a form of ornamental gardening," he says. "If you're growing a food garden it helps to have a little food literacy and some baseline skills.

"So rather than flick through a magazine and finding a recipe and go 'this is what I'm cooking today', it's about walking out into the garden and seeing the zucchini and knowing you have to eat that today and knowing what you're going to do with it."

And I think it's that which has brought me joy. Having to think about what to do with radishes which I don't usually eat but are easy to grow, or the beetroot, or the eggplant plant which is bearing tiny little eggplants, reminding myself when I do go to the supermarket that I don't need to buy lettuce. Sitting down to a meal I have partially contributed to with produce from my own garden is a wonderous feeling.

I love peas for their little explosions of flavour. This salad is super simple, with the peas providing a wonderful contrast to the salty hit from the capers. Enjoy this out in the sun.

1. Fill a large saucepan with water, add a generous pinch of salt, then bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Pop the peas into the water and let them cook for no longer than one minute. Drain in a colander, then refresh the peas in a bowl of cold water. Set side.

2. Season the chicken well with salt and pepper. Place a frying pan over medium-high heat and add a splash of olive oil. Once the oil is shimmering, carefully lay the chicken in the pan, skin-side down, and cook for about three minutes or until the skin is golden and crisp. Turn the chicken over and reduce the heat to low, then cover the pan with a lid and cook for a further five to 10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.

3. Line a plate with a couple of layers of paper towel (if you don't have any you can always use a clean tea towel) and place the frying pan back over medium-high heat. Add enough olive oil to cover the base of the pan by a few millimetres, then once the oil is hot, add the capers and fry for two to three minutes, until crisp. Transfer to the paper towel to drain.

4. To make the mustard dressing, whisk together all the ingredients in a small bowl.

5. To serve, arrange the peas, parsley and rocket on a serving plate. Slice or tear the chicken and place it on top, then scatter over the fried capers. Spoon over the dressing, season with a few salt flakes and cracks of black pepper and serve.

Serves 2.

Come springtime, radish seeds are one of the first things to go in the ground in my garden. They're easy to grow, ready in about a month and are super colourful and tasty (even better if you can eat them straight from the earth!). I also like to serve them up in a salad like this one - their peppery flavour and crunchy texture makes them the perfect accompaniment to barbecue fare.

1. Trim the green leafy tops off the radishes, leaving about 5mm of stem attached. Take half the radishes and, using a mandoline or a very sharp knife, thinly slice them and pop them in a bowl. Cut the remaining radishes into halves or quarters from the stem to the root and add them to the bowl.

2. Sprinkle a couple of pinches of salt flakes into the bowl, add the lemon zest and juice and give everything a good mix to ensure the radish is evenly seasoned.

3. Arrange the radish on a serving plate and scatter over the chilli flakes, sesame seeds and thyme leaves. Using a vegetable peeler, shave the parmesan over the top, then finish with a drizzle of olive oil and a few cracks of black pepper.

Serves 4 as a side.

I swear that silverbeet will inherit the earth, simply because it is so low maintenance and so seemingly indestructible. It's one of those plants that keeps on providing no matter how much you neglect it or how long you go away on holiday without asking someone to water your garden. I like to serve silverbeet up like this, with lentils, potatoes and yoghurt, to make a hearty and nutritious salad that's perfect for when someone asks you to bring a plate.

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.

2. Place the potato and a generous pinch of salt in a large saucepan of cold water, then set over medium heat. Bring the water to a gentle simmer and cook the potato for five to 10 minutes, until tender. Drain the potato in a colander and set aside to let it steam off any excess moisture.

3. Once the potato is dry, transfer to a baking tray and drizzle a generous amount of olive oil over the top. Give the tray a gentle shake to make sure the potato is evenly coated, then pop it in the oven and roast for about 20 minutes, until the spuds are golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside.

4. Thinly slice the stems of the silverbeet and place them to one side. Roughly shred the leaves.

5. Place a large frying pan over medium heat and add a good splash of oil. Add the silverbeet stems, onion and garlic and saute for three to five minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the silverbeet leaves and cook for another three to five minutes, until tender and wilted. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lentils. Let the mixture cool for a couple of minutes, then stir in the yoghurt, lemon zest and juice. Gently mix in the roast potato.

6. To serve, arrange the salad on a serving plate and top with the torn herbs. Finish with a good pinch of salt flakes and a few cracks of black pepper.

Serves 4.

I'm not going to lie, I love cake. I especially love dense cakes such as this one! It's super easy to make and has the most magnificent bittersweet flavour. Topping it off with marmalade and candied peel gives it even more of that delicious orange avour, as well as a bit of welcome crunch. Ultimate bragging rights if you grew the oranges and made the marmalade and candied peel!

1. Give the oranges a quick wash, trim and discard the ends and place in a saucepan. Cover with cold water so the oranges are completely submerged, then bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Boil the oranges for about one hour, topping up the pan with more water as needed to make sure that the fruit is always submerged.

2. Preheat the oven to 160C. Use a little butter to grease a 22cm springform cake tin, then line the base and side with baking paper.

3. Using tongs, remove the oranges from the water and let them cool slightly, then roughly chop them up, discarding any seeds that you come across. Transfer the orange to the bowl of a food processor and blend until reasonably smooth.

4. Using a mixing bowl and electric beaters or a stand mixer with the whisk attached, beat the eggs and sugar until thick, then fold in the pureed orange, almond meal and baking powder. Use a spatula to transfer the mixture to the prepared tin, giving it a little tap on the kitchen bench to help level out the batter.

5. Bake for one hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If the top of the cake starts to brown too much before it's cooked, cover with a piece of foil and pop it back in the oven until cooked through.

6. Allow the cake to cool in the tin, then turn it out onto a serving plate. If you are going the whole hog with the toppings, spread the marmalade over the top and scatter over the candied peel.

7. Cut the cake into slices and serve with dollops of double cream. Keep any leftover cake in an airtight container in a cool and dark spot for three to four days.

Serves 12.