Right now, I’m pretty into hearty dishes prepared in just one pot. I like to call these recipes “one-pot wonders” because, no matter what time of year, I reckon any time you combine healthy ingredients into a comforting meal that leaves hardly any dishes is a good time. Plus, from a nutrition perspective, one-pot meals get two thumbs up from me.

Most one-pots include a little more fat and many are cooked in bone broth. Bone broth is nature’s ultimate multivitamin. I make a big brew of bone broth in the slow cooker once a week and section it up into portions (often freezing the leftovers as it only lasts about three to four days in the fridge) and, that way, we can have a bit of broth each day.

There are many health benefits from bone broth. First, your body is receiving minerals such as phosphorus, magnesium, silicon, sulphur and other trace elements in a highly absorbable form.

Slow cooking also breaks down the collagen in the bones to gelatin and regular natural gelatin intake has been found to reduce stiffness and alleviate joint pain. Bone broth is also fantastic for the health of your skin and, most importantly, helps to heal your gut.

The reason gelatin works so wonderfully well on the digestive system is that it improves gut integrity and digestive strength by enhancing gastric acid secretion and restoring a healthy lining in the stomach.

“I’ve always enjoyed the comforting nature of roasting, braising and stewing my food … The method is so basic and versatile.”

Gelatin also absorbs water and helps keep fluid in the digestive tract, promoting good intestinal and bowel health. These healthy intestinal cells prevent leaky gut, which is often the root of many food intolerances, allergies, inflammatory conditions and autoimmune diseases.

Along with the inclusion of bone broth in many one-pot recipes, I’m also a big fan because the method is so basic and versatile. You can throw any different combo of seasonal vegetables, herbs, spices and broths (or water if you haven’t had a chance to make a brew) together then add some free-range, grass-fed or sustainably caught animal protein. If you’re stewing, try cheaper cuts of meat such as gravy beef, chicken thighs or even offal for those with a more adventurous palate.

Combine in a cast-iron pot, slow cooker, pressure cooker, saucepan, casserole dish, wok or even a roasting tin and simply cook all ingredients.

It’s a formula that’s been working for humans ever since our ancestors learnt how to cook with fire around 1 million years ago. According to Reay Tannahill’s book Food In History, men used reptile shells and the stomachs of animals they had killed as vessels in which to boil liquid and we knew how to boil water long before the invention of pottery (about 6000 BCE). Indeed, Darwin himself considered fire to be one of the two most significant achievements of humanity and the importance of cooked food in human evolution is also explained in Michael Pollan’s excellent book Cooked.

If you realise that paleo eating is all about balance by taking the best from our ancestors and mixing it with the best of 21^st century nutrition, it’s no surprise that one-pot meals are a great way to support this lifestyle. It’s for this reason I wrote my most recent cookbook, One Pot Favourites.

You see, ever since I first got on the tools as a young chef, I’ve always enjoyed the comforting nature of roasting, braising and stewing my food. Long hours in the kitchen often meant that, in my 20s, my slow cooker was my go-to because I could come home from work to a healthy meal.

Funnily enough, not much has changed. At home, we love preparing a meal in the slow cooker. It gets a real workout. Don’t have a slow cooker? No worries. Simmer a stew on the stovetop or create family favourites in a casserole dish or tagine in the oven.

One-pot magic

I also wanted to share with you some of the more unusual one-pot recipes I’m enjoying: recipes for whole roasted cauliflower with almonds and dukkah and a wild mushroom “risotto” with chestnuts and truffle oil that uses cauliflower as its base. I promise these vegie dishes will go down a treat at your next dinner party.

The reason I use cauliflower so often in my recipes is because it’s a great replacement for rice and because, as it’s a cruciferous vegetable, cauliflower has many health benefits. It’s a good one to eat a couple of times a week because it helps to detoxify and reduce inflammation in the body thanks to its high levels of vitamin K, a direct regulator of our inflammatory response. Cauliflower also contains lots of vitamin C and manganese, which are two important conventional antioxidants.

Meanwhile, mushrooms contain a number of valuable nutrients, including protein, enzymes, B vitamins (especially niacin) and vitamin D₂. Mushrooms are an excellent source of antioxidants in general as they contain polyphenols and selenium. I like to use different types of mushrooms in my dishes because each variety has its own unique flavours and health properties.

I’ve also recently been spending a bit of time in the US filming the third series of a show I present called Moveable Feast. I love the chance to do this gig because I get to hang out with really passionate chefs who share with me their food adventures and family recipes.

I love reinventing some of these classic recipes, which is how I created Prawn Perloo. Using the famous dish from Southern US called perloo, I replaced rice with cauliflower and created the paella-like meal by simmering spices, cooking vegies and then adding broth and some protein. In my recipe, I’ve included hearty ingredients such as paleo pork sausages and oysters to pack the dish full of as many vitamins and minerals as possible.

You could use any seafood really, be it mussels, clams, squid, fish, scallops or even crabs. Better yet, if you’re having loved ones over for a big feast, chuck ‘em all in. What I love about the dish is that you serve it up family style at the dinner table.

I’ve also shared some of our family’s weeknight favourites, such as braised ginger chicken. Ginger is a spice we use almost daily in our household. It has been used since ancient times to aid digestion, alleviate nausea, morning sickness and travel sickness and to reduce inflammation in the body.

I love it paired with poultry and some fresh Chinese leafy greens. I’ve used bok choy in this recipe but you can use whatever leafy greens you might have on hand, such as silverbeet or spinach. This is a wonderful warming dish you can make from a whole chook or use thighs, drumsticks or marylands instead.

There’s honestly so many different flavours you can create through slow cooking, braising, stewing and roasting in one pot and I hope I can encourage you all to incorporate this method into your weekly cooking routine. One pot meals are a wonderful way to get a healthy meal on the table that supports the health and wellbeing of your body.

Now you’ve got the formula, it’s time to get into the kitchen and start experimenting with your own favourite one-pot wonders.

Cook with love and laughter,

Pete

Wild Mushroom “Risotto” with Chestnuts & Truffle Oil

Serves: 4

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Prawn Perloo

Serves: 4

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Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Almonds & Dukkah

Serves: 4–6

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Porchetta

Serves: 4

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