This was yet another recipe borne out of the necessity to use the remnants of my vegetable drawer, and I am ever so pleased with it. I should say, the wider context was that I’d had two nights of takeaways on the trot (Indian and Thai, if you must know) and I felt no choice but to give my insides a break from all that wonderful saturated fat and excess salt and sugar. So, dinner promised to be an utterly healthy (AKA dull) affair.

How wrong could I be? Ok, I'm not saying this trumps a vibrant tangle of Pad Thai or the joy of having someone else cook, but for something boasting a limited colour range and including perhaps the more boring of vegetables - usually reserved for the obligatory 'healthy' accompaniment to meals - it's bloody delicious.

The key is to keep everything al dente, ensuring a variety of crunch. I also only add one flavouring ingredient to the vegetables - soy sauce - which is transformative enough on its own: it brings out the gentle mustardyness of the sprouts, the bright vegetal taste of the mangetout and my favourite, the sweetness of the peas which really brings it all together.

The great thing about this recipe is that you're not obligated to cook the sprouts in the usual torturous fashion of cutting crosses into the bottoms and parboiling. I also like to add some sushi nori because the inky shreds of seaweed look so pretty next to the spring tones of green. It is slightly pretentious, however, and therefore a completely superfluous addition. Although, it does mean I get to claim this to be more Asian than it actually is.

I had this alongside a roasted salmon fillet (sprinkled with sea salt and spritzed with lime), as well as a cup of instant miso soup. I think simplicity is better with this dish, especially if it ensures that dinner is done in under 20 minutes.

A few notes on the recipe

If you need to make this gluten-free, feel free to use tamari instead of soy sauce. As tamari is a lot thicker and richer than soy, add it sparingly to taste. The point is to bring out the flavours of the greens, not to overwhelm them. And don't worry too much about ingredient measurements; just have a feel for what ratios interest you and test the level of soy sauce as you go.