Unstashing Your Kitchen with The Lagom Chef

Feast wisely: embrace the Lagom way to relish autumn’s last delights while ushering in the warmth of the holiday season!

'Lagom' - the Swedish philosophy of just the right amount - isn't about restriction. It's about intention. We caught up with Martyn Odell, aka The Lagom Chef (317k Instagram followers and counting), to talk beetroot supremacy, the myth of meal prep, and why the solution to food waste is almost insultingly simple.

 Image Credit - The Lagom Chef

Abundance without the guilt

Autumn screams abundance, which might seem at odds with a philosophy built on balance. But for Martyn, reconciling the two is straightforward. "It's all about buying what you need and not what you think you need," he explains. "We live a different pace of life now. The idea for me of filling the fridge and having loads of fresh ingredients in the house just fills me with fear as that fresh produce is a ticking time bomb of food waste."

His approach? Have your big feasts, but make sure you've got a plan for what doesn't get eaten—share leftovers with friends, family, or neighbours. The solution to food waste, he insists, "isn't complicated, it is basically to just eat the food you buy."

The beetroot agenda

 Image Credit - Pexels

As we wave goodbye to the season, there's one vegetable Martyn believes deserves more attention than the ubiquitous pumpkin spice everything: beetroot. "When you understand the true flavour profile of an ingredient, you can really start understanding why classic combinations work," he says. "Roasted beetroot goes sweet and intense. Pair that with something salty or acidic and you get a magical mouthful."

His suggestion for a simple showstopper? Grab some puff pastry, lay down roasted chunks of beetroot, top with slices of goat's cheese, and bake for ten minutes. From there, he encourages experimentation - finding different cheeses or ingredients that hit those salty and acidic notes. "Cooking should be fun, rules should be broken."

The most obvious sustainability hack

When it comes to reducing kitchen waste, Martyn's top tip is almost comically obvious: eating. "There is nothing more complicated than just eating the food you buy," he laughs. The key is building a well-stocked dry store of spices, sauces, and pastes that can transform humble ingredients into something special. A blob of harissa, a tin of beans, some sautéed veg, a pinch of salt, and a splash of vinegar becomes a glorious stew.

 Image Credit - Freepik

Unstashing your kitchen

There's no definitive list for the perfect pantry, though - it depends entirely on how you like to cook. Martyn gravitates toward Middle Eastern flavours, so his shelves are heavy on spices and charred things. Someone who enjoys Asian cooking might stock up on sauces, pastes, and aromatics instead. The principle remains the same: build your dry store around what you enjoy eating rather than buying niche one-off ingredients that'll languish at the back of the cupboard.

What's on the menu

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For this last hurrah of autumn, Martyn is sharing a recipe that embodies his philosophy: carrots and pearl barley. "I have such a deeply rooted love for carrots—these big rods of deliciousness," he says. He prefers keeping them whole, convinced they hold onto more flavour that way. "Not science, just a personal preference. They don't need any fancy techniques, just time and a little love."

Pearl barley, meanwhile, is his ideal winter grain—hearty, absorbent, and wonderful at clinging to whatever flavours you throw at it. Together, they make the perfect dish to see out the season.

Recipe: pearl barley & sexy carrots

Serves 2

 Image Credit - The Lagom Chef

Ingredients

For the carrots:

●      4 carrots, whole and unpeeled

●      Big knob of butter

●      Sprinkle of sugar

●      1 star anise

For the pearl barley:

●      80g pearl barley

●      1 onion

●      2 sticks celery

●      2 garlic cloves

●      Olive oil

●      Big knob of butter

●      Fresh herbs

●      Smoked paprika

●      Vinegar

Method

Carrots: Keep them whole and unpeeled. Blanch in salted boiling water for 3-5 minutes to just soften. Transfer to a pan with butter, sugar, star anise, and a splash of water. Pan-fry or roast at high heat for 15 minutes until caramelised, you want the skin to catch and blister.

Pearl barley: Cook in a good amount of vegetable or chicken stock until tender. Drain and set aside. In a pan, fry diced onion and celery in olive oil for 4-5 minutes until soft and caramelised. Add sliced garlic and pearl barley, frying gently for another 2-3 minutes.

Finish: Stir in a good knob of butter, herbs, paprika, and a splash of vinegar. Taste and season with salt. Add a big twist of black pepper.

Serve: Load up your plate with pearl barley, arrange carrots on top, and finish with something nutty and crunchy like dukkah.

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