Congratulations on making it through another year. Perhaps you’re already poised to write another self-improvement campaign that’s likely to be abandoned come March, or perhaps you’re still beating yourself up for not having stuck to the resolutions you set at the beginning of 2023? Ditch the toxic cycle and self-denial! It’s far healthier and much more fun to make resolutions that expand rather than shrink your palate and food horizons. Let 2024 be the most delicious year yet.

Eat more plants

We all know that eating less meat and dairy is better for our health, for animal welfare and for the health of our planet. Ethics aside, though, vegetables taste amazing – especially when they are fresh, in season and cooked with the same love, tenderness and attention you might give to a chop or a steak. Meat-free comfort foods such as Nigel Slater’s lentil and spinach cottage pie or Tom Hunt’s aubergine schnitzel make you feel you aren’t missing out. If you can’t face a complete overhaul, use small amounts of meat in ways that exploit its flavour without it being central to the dish. Salty cured meat or fish, for instance, are ideal for big flavour: try Rachel Roddy’s pasta with cauliflower, onion and anchovy or José Pizarro’s pumpkin pisto with chorizo crumb.

Explore lesser-known cuisines

Immigrants have changed the way we eat, and the constant arrival of people means that our food culture flourishes. It is this that has made Britain great, and our food global. Our kitchens are now a movable feast of evolving ingredients, flavours and ideas from every corner of the world. Nothing is too obscure for our curious palates. Critically acclaimed west African restaurant Chishuru and Filipino restaurant Donia are on my list to visit in 2024. To bring new flavours home, try Akwasi Brenya-Mensa’s recipe for tatale – a sort of plantain pancake – or Fuchsia Dunlop’s Uyghur pasta sauce.

Waste nothing

The festive season is also prime time for food waste – the average UK household throws away 3.2kg a week, according to climate action group Wrap. Among the most wasted food items are potatoes and fresh vegetables. Three simple rules will help you to avoid emptying your food – and wallet – into the bin in the new year: create meal plans, shop with a list and use up your leftovers. Get inspired by Tamar Adler’s encyclopaedic book The Everlasting Meal: Leftovers A-Z, which finds potential in even the dullest scraps: from using the dregs of a jar of peanut butter to making a zippy dressing for noodles, to pasta or potato water to give body to soups, Adler has a pragmatic way to cook with foods we may normally throw away. Tom Hunt’s vegetable peel pakoras are devilishly tempting, while leftover rice can be repurposed into Meera Sodha’s nourishing congee. As for the motley crew of vegetables and herbs languishing in your refrigerator, they can be turned into Tom Hunt’s highly adaptable vegetable soup. Finally, use it or lose it: pickling is a great way to preserve vegetables, so you can eat them through the seasons. From Indian lime pickle to Russian chrain, here are some ferments from across the globe.

Level up your pantry

Whether you are pulling together a last-minute weeknight supper such as Becky Excell’s Nyonya-style curry with eggs, potatoes and peas, or making last-minute cookies because friends are dropping by for a cuppa, or you don’t want to trudge to the shops more than you have to, a well-stocked pantry is your best friend. Lockdown taught us that an emergency stash of dried beans or flour is a safety net. My essentials are pasta, rice and noodles, good quality beans, lentils or pulses – I am particularly obsessed with Bold Bean Co. Good eggs, tinned fish, butter, olive oil, cheese and good vinegars are game-changers. Pickles, spices and condiments including tahiniand peanut butter add instant flavour. And I always have at least three jars of chilli oil from Poon’s London in storage. Don’t forget those frozen assets, either – I make Felicity Cloake’s spanakopita with frozen spinach regularly. Your pantry is a treasure chest.

Never skip dessert

Dessert is the equivalent of the toy department when it comes to food, and life is too short to say no. Dinner is never more fun or playful than when you have at least 12 puddings to pick from, which is why I worship at the altar of the Maison François dessert trolley. I love a good classic such as a well-made creme brulee, dense with vanilla, or one that’ll take away your January blues, such as the Ethicurean’s milk stout and chocolate steamed pudding. Making pudding for someone is my love language, so I will be taking inspiration from Ravneet Gill’s rapturous new book Baking for Pleasure, and my first bookmark is on her malt pannacotta (pictured top), which takes only 10 minutes to put together.

Good beans | Economical, versatile and nutritious, beans are a weekly ritual in my kitchen. I made Vermont baked beans from legendary food writer Diana Henry’s reissued book Roast Figs, Sugar Snow – pork, beans, aromats and maple syrup simmering on the hob is the kind of wholesomeness that feels like a temporary panacea to all the ills of the world.

The pleasure principle | The Dover in London’s Mayfair has the classic formality of a bygone era, but with none of the starchy uptightness. The menu includes retro comfort food with an Italian-American lilt, such as a chicken cordon bleu and a lemon and chilli spaghettini that Sophia Loren wouldn’t chuck out of bed. But the beautiful bar, chic interior, cool record collection and hip crowd make it feel like a thoroughly modern good time. Owner Martin Kuczmarski understands that dining out is about experiencing intense pleasure, and on that he delivers. “Chocolate & Hazelnut Praline on the Plate” is the most intense chocolate spread with the pronounced flavour of hazelnuts, and it captures the essence of the place: naughty, nostalgic and irreverent.

Plush palate | Broadwick Soho is a temple of maximalism, colour, wit and wackiness, but, as a cook, it’s the kitchen in the hotel’s restaurant, Dear Jackie, that I covet the most. Set like a stage behind a plush, velvet curtain, its slabs of Carrara marble, painted ceramic tiles and custom cabinetry made me swoon.