There was a time when I wasn't that bothered about vegetables. Growing up I ate them because they were there and I was told to. Sunday was the big vegetable day (four to accompany the roast), but I generally tucked them in round the cauliflower cheese. As long as every bite was a cheddar-rich mouthful I would have eaten even turnips. It wasn't until I was a student that I had to think about how to turn vegetables - and other cheap staples such as pulses and grains - into dishes that would make me salivate.

My university days coincided with a period of great culinary development: nouvelle cuisine was being forged, but it didn't touch vegetables and it certainly wasn't influencing student cookery. Vegetable curry that would have made Madhur Jaffrey choke was standard fare. Ratatouille, with all that expensive Mediterranean veg, was positively luxurious, and brown rice was consumed in vast quantities.

But now, well, the times they have a-changed. These days I eat meat only about three times a week and supper is often 'vegetarian', although I rarely think of it like that. The first time I tasted roast veg – soft and slightly charred and rich with olive oil – I was bowled over. Now I can buy them in a sandwich at a railway station. As Italian food became popular in the 1990s it was impossible not to see vegetables as the Italians do, as the main deal and not just an adjunct to meat.

Then Spanish and Middle Eastern food became fashionable. The aubergine no longer looked like an exotic Ali Baba slipper but became a staple. Lentils - tossed in vinaigrette while still warm, or cooked with cumin and ginger - grew positively chic.

This has been good for our health and the planet, but it has also opened up a world of flavours, as we cook 'vegetarian' food from Indian to Iranian. Meat looks almost dull by comparison. And somehow I find all these vegetables and grains much gentler; they are easy to digest. When I try to sleep after a steak I toss and turn; but after a bowl of pumpkin risotto I go out like a light.

Just as I sometimes mourn the fact I don't have enough time for all the books I want to read, I also think life isn't long enough for all the simple, comforting vegetable-rich dishes I want to cook. I was a late starter, but now it's a passion that has to be fed every day. The following recipes provide a mid-week supper for those who share that passion.

Creamy Pumpkin and Chickpeas with Cumin

How I love this. The spicing is quite gentle and mollified by the cream. The inspiration is Indian but it's not an authentic dish; it just grew out of my desire to have all these ingredients in the same bowl. Ideal for making in advance.

Serves eight

1.6kg pumpkin or butternut squash
Olive oil
2 large onions
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
½ red chilli, halved, deseeded and shredded
200g tomatoes, quartered
600ml chicken or vegetable stock
2 tins chickpeas, drained
50ml double cream
Squeeze of lemon
3 tbsp chopped coriander

Peel the pumpkin, remove the seeds, and cut the flesh into large chunks (or cut it into wedges and then peel it – some people find it easier than trying to tackle the whole thing). Put the chunks into a roasting-tin and drizzle with olive oil. Season. Put into an oven preheated to 200ºC and cook until the pumpkin has a good colour on the outside (about 15 minutes).

Cut the onions into crescent-moon-shaped slices, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan and cook the onions until they are softening and golden (charred at the tips is good, too). Add the garlic and cook for a further couple of minutes, then add the spices and chilli. Cook for a few minutes to release the flavours then add the tomatoes and some seasoning. Stir to get everything well coated in the cooking juices and spices.

Add the stock and bring to the boil. Turn down and cook for about 15 minutes. Add the pumpkin, with any cooking juices, and cook until tender. Stir in the chickpeas and add the cream. Heat through, add the lemon and coriander and check the seasoning. It can take quite a lot of salt because of the pulses, but it depends how salty the stock is.

Serve immediately with the barley below. If you don't fancy that, bulgur wheat or rice will do just as well.

Parsleyed Pearl Barley

You can, of course, serve rice with the pumpkin but I'm having a bit of a romance with barley and farro right now. That chewy nuttiness is very more-ish. Make sure you season it well.

Serves eight

400g pearl barley
5 tbsp olive oil
Zest and juice of ½ lemon
25g butter
2 onions, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
50ml chicken stock
5 tbsp chopped parsley

Put the pearl barley in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer. Cook until tender ? about 30 to 40 minutes ? then drain. While the barley is still warm stir in 4 tbsp of the olive oil, the lemon juice and some seasoning, then set aside until you are ready to serve (refrigerate once cool if you are going to leave it overnight).

Heat the butter and remaining olive oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion and celery until soft. Add the garlic and cook for a further couple of minutes. Now add the cooked barley and the chicken stock. Stir everything round and heat to boiling – the stock will both flavour and heat the barley. Check for seasoning, stir in the parsley and lemon zest and serve immediately.

Butter and Brown Sugar Roasted Apples

I bet you thought stuffed baked apples was the easiest pudding. This beats it. And is, I think, prettier and tastier. It celebrates the apple's gorgeous plump curves. If you can get your hands on a mixture of different varieties then do; they look lovely together.

Serves eight

12 dessert apples
50g unsalted butter
4 tbsp granulated sugar
3 tbsp soft light-brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Generous grating of nutmeg
¼ tsp salt

Halve the apples from stem to base. You don't need to core them and you should try to leave the stalks intact if possible. Put them in a roasting-tin where they can all fit in a single layer. Heat the butter in frying-pan until it turns light brown and smells nutty – don't let it burn! Add the sugars, spices and salt, then pour over the apples. Turn the apples round in this to make sure they are well coated. Arrange them cut-side up and put in an oven preheated to 180°C. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the apples are tender and slightly caramelised in places. Serve with whipped cream or crème fraîche.

© Stella magazine/The Sunday Telegraph