Rainbow bowl

The impulse to buy the exciting new season vegetables is one that I can rarely resist. Be it the abundance of mushrooms in Autumn or the new asparagus in Spring, there's something really beautiful about knowing that the food you're about to eat has been harvested freshly and locally and grown naturally.

I picked the best of the seasonal veg we had at work - all UK grown and abundant at this time of year. Round yellow courgettes, cheery cherry plum tomatoes (which are so sweet and succulent and ripe), beautiful fresh spring onions, and broad beans (need I explain the beauty of the first fresh broad beans?).

When surveying the fresh display at work, I usually create some recipe in my mind. Pulling all of the the ingredients that are in the cupboard at home and what's available to me there and then, I imagine what I can make out of these and then buy accordingly. This evening: quinoa with these beautiful, multi-coloured vegetables and feta.

This could be created using whatever is available - not everyone has the option to just pick up a round yellow courgette, for instance. Substitute where necessary but the more colours you can fit in the dish, the more appetising it will look and also the greater variety of vitamins you will receive from eating it.

2 round yellow courgettes
250g cherry plum tomatoes
250g broad beans - weight before shelling
a bunch of spring onions
100g quinoa
100g feta cheese (optional)
a handful of fresh mint
salt and pepper to taste

1, Start by cutting the courgettes into wedges - I chose to do them in sixths, but that is down to the size of the courgette itself. You need them to be thick enough that they won't turn to mush when you griddle or fry them. Drizzle the pieces in olive or rapeseed oil.
2, Place the broad beans in a small pan of slightly salted boiling water. Cook them for about 3-4 minutes, then drain.
3, Heat the griddle and lay the courgette out on it's flesh, then turn when they have browned. You may need to do more than one set, depending on the size of your griddle. If you are frying, follow the same instructions, taking care not to brown the skin.
4, Place the quinoa in a pan of boiling water with a little salt. Watch over it as it absorbs water quickly and the cooking time varies between brands. Keep the water a few centimetres over it and stir occasionally. It's ready when it has unfurled - a tail will have come out.
5, While the quinoa is cooking, slice the spring onion and the tomatoes. Place these in a large bowl and add the courgette and broad beans.
6, Break the feta cheese into cubes and sprinkle over the vegetables. Finely cut or tear the mint and add it, too.
7, Mix the drained quinoa through the vegetables and serve as a main on as a side dish.

Portakalopita

What a beautiful dish! This recipe was given to me by M, which in turn was given to him by the chef from his holiday in Greece. It is a Greek summer sweet, and a welcome addition to my recipe collection. It is very moist and loose in texture. When served straight from the fridge it becomes much more rigid, but M tells me they serve it at room temperature in Greece. It can also be served warm, but personally I preferred it cold. It would be beautiful on a plate with summer berries for presentation, but from a flavour point of view it can't go wrong! A good vanilla ice cream would work wonders with it, too.
                               
1 packet filo pastry             
250g Greek yoghurt                
4 large, free-range eggs                                                  
2 tablespoons baking powder            
Juice of 1 orange
250 ml extra virgin olive oil
Butter to grease oven dish
600 ml water  
250g sugar
Juice of 1 orange
Sliced rind of 2 oranges

1, Leave the sheets of filo pastry out, separated and uncovered to dry for a few hours.
2, Tear the sheets of filo into 2cm strips – doesn’t matter about being even just torn, don’t shred with a knife as it loses its consistency.
3, Put the olive oil and eggs in a mixing bowl and whisk well until you have a lovely orange coloured cream texture.
4, Add the yoghurt and baking powder and continue whisking until you have a smooth cream.
5, Add the torn filo pastry and mix gently with your hands.
6, Put in a buttered oven dish with additional grated orange zest over the butter and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes until it turns a golden colour.
7, In the meantime, prepare the syrup – boil the syrup ingredients in a pan for 5 minutes.
8, After removing the pie, leave it to cool slightly.
9, Once it is cold, spoon the syrup over the top, spreading the orange rind evenly. Cut into portions and serve.

Enjoy!!

Baked rice pie

I love a rice pie. There's something very homely about it, and it's not even something I remember strongly from childhood food. It's just comforting and warming, whilst being healthy. One great thing about it is that it's fantastic served warm from the pan or cold the next day - and I do mean the next day. Make sure you put it in the fridge as soon as possible - rice is notorious for causing food poisoning if not cooled correctly. The longer it is stored the more likely the bacteria will grow and make you sick. Please be aware, I normally ignore these notices, but I've witnessed it - thankfully not first hand. It's really not worth risking.

You can use any vegetables at hand for this main, it's a dish that suits so many flavours and textures. It's a good one for using up the odds and ends in the fridge, and still comes out tasty and fresh.

Serves 4, with salad or side dish

150g white long grain rice
1 bunch spring onions
2 carrots
1 courgette
1 small pot natural yoghurt
2 large, free-range eggs
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6/400°F
1, Start by washing your rice. Put it in a large pot and cover it generously in cold water. Swirl it with your hands and drain. Repeat this process until the water runs clear - the cloudy water contains starches that will make your rice sticky.
2, Put the rice in a large pan and cover with cold water, the traditional method is to cover with water up to the first knuckle on your pinky above the rice. Add a pinch of salt, stir, and put on a medium heat with a lid.
3, While the rice is cooking, prepare the vegetables. It's really down to personal choice how you do this, I cut the cut it into varying sizes and then either steam or saute it all together in a pan until almost cooked.
4, When the rice is al dente (tender but with bite) drain and leave to cool for about five minutes.
5, Tip the rice into a large pan and add the vegetables. Stir in the yoghurt.
6, Whisk the eggs and add these when the rice mix is no longer hot, just warm.
7, Season to taste with salt and pepper.
8, When it is all throughly mixed, transfer to a greased baking tray and cook in the oven for about 30 mins, or until the middle of the bake is no longer gooey.

Awesome vegetable lasagna

Mr. Fox and my nemesis had a face off this evening through the garden gate. Unfortunately it was all over before I could take any pictures, as they were scared off by a couple exploring the gardens backing on to the cliff. If this continues I'll have no more cat shit in the gravel! Go Foxy!


MM came back this weekend from his holidays - he's been away for two months - so I made an epic vegetable lasagne based on Green Kitchen Stories lasagne, which looked so beautiful I couldn't resist. It was lovely, very fresh and full of flavour. I upped the pepper and would recommend a little more seasoning in general - the huge amount of basil doesn't really come through, so don't be afraid to add more, even though it seems excessive to start.

Serves 4 generously and 6 normal appetites.

N.B. I have a generous appetite, and this was too much for me!

A generous glug of olive oil
1 medium size onion (finely chopped)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tsp chilli sauce
A couple of handful green olives (pitted)
2 tbsp capers (drained)
4 large ripe tomatoes (cut in quarters)
2 tins plum tomatoes
A good handful of fresh basil
Salt & pepper
1 package of spelt whole wheat lasagne

For the ricotta cheese:
500 g ricotta cheese
Zest and juice of one lemon
A good handful of fresh basil
A pinch of sea salt
A pinch of lemon pepper

For the grilled vegetables:
Olive oil
A few pinches of sea salt
2 courgettes
1 aubergine
300 g chestnut mushrooms
300 g fresh kale or spinach
1 clove garlic

I ball of mozzarella, torn roughly.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4/350°F. 

1, Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onion and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute before adding the chilli sauce.
2, Add olives, capers and fresh tomatoes and cook it a couple of minutes more before adding the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 10 minutes, lower the heat and let it simmer for half an hour more under a lid.
3, Finely slice the courgette and aubergine lengthways. Heat a griddle until smoking. Brush the slices with olive oil and lay them on the grill, a set at a time, until soft and coloured. If you don't have a griddle you could use the grill, or even oven roast them.
4,  Fry the mushrooms and the kale/spinach in a pan for 5 minutes with olive oil, salt and garlic. Do this is batches if necessary as the greens will take up a lot of space until they wilt down.
5, Empty the ricotta cheese into a large bowl and add the lemon zest and juice to the bowl. Tear the basil roughly, add salt and lemon pepper and mix together.
6, Begin to assemble the lasagne by starting with a layer of tomato sauce, then a layer of lasagne sheets. Next, smear the ricotta cheese mix over the sheets - this take a bit if work as it is quite sticky. Don't worry about being too precise, it's all going in the oven at the end and will work into itself.
7, Next, lay about one third of the griddled vegetables and then the mushroom and green mix down as evenly as possible. Spoon another layer of tomato sauce on top.
8, Add a layer of lasagne, and repeat these steps until you run out of space of lasange sheets.
9, Make sure you top the lasagne with ricotta mix  - in spread dollops because there's no way of creating an even layer - and then sprinkle the mozzarella over.
10, Bake for about 45 mins - 1 hour.