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Arash Karimi
Arash chopping vegetables for a big salad

Plant-based cook

Plant-based dinners for an ordinary weeknight

I’m Arash. I cook plant-based meals in a narrow city kitchen and post a new recipe every Monday. I sell recipe collections and kitchen guides, plus two video courses on cooking beans, lentils and grains well.

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The weeknight table

Four things to cook from and four ways to cook them. Pick a base and a method, and every tile is a real recipe or guide.

How to read it

  • Half an hour or less
  • Up to an hour
  • Over an hour
Pick a tile

Beans

Recipe booklet with bean pattern standing on a counter

One pot · Beans

Picked: Weeknight Bean Recipes

35 · 20 recipes

Twenty bean dinners cooked in a single pot.

A bowl of roasted sweet potato, chickpeas and greens

Tray · Beans

Picked: Tray-Baked Chickpeas and Sweet Potato

40 · serves 4

Crisp chickpeas and soft sweet potato from one hot tray.

Hands chopping kale and red cabbage

No cook · Beans

Picked: Three-Bean Salad with Lemon

10 · serves 4

Tinned beans, lemon and herbs, with no stove.

Open kitchen shelves of lentils and grains

Batch · Beans

Picked: Big-Batch Smoky White Bean Stew

75 · serves 8

A big pot for the week, better on the second day.

Lentils

Coconut dal with flatbread

One pot · Lentils

Picked: One-Pot Coconut Dal

30 · serves 4

Red lentils, coconut milk and spices in one pot.

Recipe cards and lentils on a green board

Tray · Lentils

Picked: Lentil Recipe Cards

45 · 24 cards

Twenty-four printable cards for lentils on a tray.

A phone on a tripod facing a chopping board

No cook · Lentils

Picked: Marinated Lentil Salad

10 · serves 3

Cooked lentils in a sharp dressing, ready to eat.

Cream poured from a jug into lentil soup

Batch · Lentils

Picked: Big-Batch Lentil Soup with Cashew Cream

60 · serves 8

A thick soup with a swirl of cashew cream.

Grains

Chickpeas sizzling in a cast-iron pan

One pot · Grains

Picked: One-Pot Chickpea and Rice Pilaf

35 · serves 4

Rice, chickpeas and warm spices cooked together.

A sheet-pan pizza with roasted mushrooms and arugula

Tray · Grains

Picked: Sheet-Pan Mushroom Pizza

30 · serves 4

A rectangular pizza with roasted mushrooms and greens.

Four dishes holding the parts of a grain bowl

No cook · Grains

Picked: Grain Bowl Formula

15 · 6 pages

One page to build a bowl from whatever is in the jars.

A bowl of roasted sweet potato, chickpeas and greens

Batch · Grains

Picked: Big-Batch Grain Bowls for the Week

65 · serves 5

Five bowls prepped on Sunday, dressed on the day.

Vegetables

Narrow kitchen with a steaming pot on the hob

One pot · Vegetables

Picked: One-Pot Vegetable Meals

35 · 12 recipes

Twelve vegetable dinners that need one pot and one spoon.

Hands squeezing lemon over roasted cauliflower

Tray · Vegetables

Picked: Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon and Tahini

40 · serves 4

Browned florets, a squeeze of lemon and a tahini drizzle.

Hands chopping kale and red cabbage

No cook · Vegetables

Picked: Big Kale and Red Cabbage Salad

15 · serves 4

Shredded greens, massaged and dressed, with no heat.

Arash chopping vegetables for a big salad

Batch · Vegetables

Picked: Big-Batch Roasted Vegetable Soup

70 · serves 8

Roast once, blend a big pot and freeze the rest.

Online course

My course

  • Hands lifting a spoon of beans from a pot
    Hands lifting a spoon of beans from a pot

    Video course · 6 lessons

    Cooking Beans and Lentils Well

    How to soak, cook and season beans and lentils so they are the best part of dinner.

    • 01Choosing and storing dried beans9 min
    • 02Soaking and cooking beans13 min
    • 03Cooking lentils three ways12 min
    • 04Seasoning at the right moment11 min
    • 05Using tins without apology8 min
    • 06Cooking a pot for the whole week14 min
    $59Start the course: Cooking Beans and Lentils Well

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Downloads arrive by email. Merch is printed to order and shipped by Printful.

Open kitchen shelves of lentils and grains

About me

I started cooking without meat because it was cheap and I had one pot. Now I do it because I like it, in a galley kitchen with open shelves of jars and a counter that is two chopping boards wide. Each week I cook a few things for myself and a few friends, and I write down what worked.

Everything I post is a real weeknight dinner built on beans, lentils, grains or vegetables, cooked in one pot, on a tray, with no cooking at all, or in a big batch. The recipes are free. What I sell are the collections, the printable cards and two courses for people who want to cook this way every day.