Guests who join us for dinner at La Joyeuse will often find plenty of vegetables on their plates. That is no accident. I simply love cooking with them.

First, see what is growing

In season, I order vegetables every week from Luc, our organic farmer in Préveranges. His produce does not have far to travel. We also have our own vegetable garden. Walking outside, checking what is ripe and returning to the kitchen with a basket is one of my favourite parts of cooking here.

Sometimes dinner starts with a simple question: what do we have today? A courgette ready to pick, tomatoes from the greenhouse, or peppers, onions and aubergines from Luc. I look at what is available and build the dish around it.

I prefer to cook with the seasons. Summer brings tomatoes and courgettes; later in the year other vegetables take their place. I do not need to make the same dishes all year round. The changes are part of the pleasure. If you also enjoy seasonal cooking at home, you may find Interfel's French seasonal fruit and vegetable calendar useful.

An oven dish full of flavour

It does not have to be complicated. Put a mix of vegetables in a dish with a generous splash of olive oil, some garlic and herbes de Provence, and let the oven do most of the work. The vegetables soften, their edges turn golden, and the kitchen fills with the smell of garlic and herbs.

This is how I like to cook at La Joyeuse: with good produce, in season, without measuring every ingredient to the last gram.

Mixed oven-roasted vegetables with herbes de Provence

You do not need to use exactly the same vegetables as I do. See what is growing in your garden, what you found at the market or what is left in the fridge.

Ingredients for 4 people

• 1 courgette
• 1 aubergine
• 2 peppers
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 red onion
• 2–3 garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1–2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
2. Cut the vegetables into roughly even pieces and the red onion into wedges. Put everything in a large oven dish or spread it over a baking tray.
3. Add the finely chopped garlic, olive oil and herbes de Provence. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.
4. Roast for about 35–45 minutes, turning the vegetables once so they cook evenly.
5. Let them soften and brown at the edges. Those roasted edges bring extra flavour.

Serve as a side dish with meat or fish, or make a simple meal of it with good bread and perhaps a salad.

My main advice? Do not make the recipe too complicated. See what the season offers and adjust the dish accordingly. That is what I do at La Joyeuse: first see what is growing and what Luc has brought, then decide what to put on the table.

Perhaps that is the best thing about seasonal cooking: you do not always know in advance what you will make. Sometimes the garden tells you. To imagine an evening with us, read about dining at La Joyeuse or explore our rooms.