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2 simple, delicious salads

2 simple, delicious salads
Many recipes are merely starting points, the foundations for a skyscraper's worth of variations, alternatives and tweaks. For me, a recipe shouldn't be seen as gospel; it's there to give you ideas and inspiration rather than represent the only way. As Nikki Segnit explains at length, in Lateral Cooking, a recipe is merely one expression…
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Aromatic spiced chard, leek & feta pie

Aromatic spiced chard, leek & feta pie
I love spanakopita, the delicious Greek pie, filled with feta, ricotta and spinach and veiled in wonderful flaky filo pastry.  Taking the base recipe as a starting point, I’ve changed things up a little by using a spice blend more akin to Middle Eastern cooking; sumac and ground allspice give the filling a wonderful warmth…
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Beetroot & halloumi keftedes with beetroot tahini sauce

Beetroot & halloumi keftedes with beetroot tahini sauce
These delicious Greek inspired patties are aromatic with oregano, mint, lemon and cinnamon and come served with a pink sauce that will brighten anyone’s day.  Enjoy them hot, straight from the pan or at room temperature, al fresco, on a picnic.  I love the texture of the small pieces of halloumi that caramelise in the…
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Spaghetti with cavolo nero, garlic and chilli

Spaghetti with cavolo nero, garlic and chilli
I love cavolo nero’s rich iron flavour.  This, combined with caramelised garlic and crushed chilli flakes, makes for a great pasta sauce that takes literally minutes to make.  The recipe below is pretty versatile; if you don’t blitz the cooked cavolo and leave out the pasta, you’ve instead got yourself a great side veg; two…
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Ratatouille

Ratatouille
Sometimes it’s good to go back to the classics.  My Crop Drop bag this week was overflowing with red onions, courgettes and aubergines and so, despite being a little early in the season, had ratatouille written all over it. I have memories of rather bland ratatouille as a child growing up (sorry mum) but I…
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Chargrilled cabbage with sriracha butter & blue cheese – aka buffalo cabbage

Chargrilled cabbage with sriracha butter & blue cheese – aka buffalo cabbage
Chargrilled cabbage with sriracha butter, and blue cheese - aka buffalo cabbage Taking the flavours and textures of buffalo wings (or buffalo cauliflower florets), I’ve created this great little recipe for white cabbage.  Chargrilling the vegetable gives it a wonderful smokey flavour and the sugars in the sriracha caramelise with the butter making something quite delicious.  If…
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Cauliflower leaves with garlic, currants, pine nuts & isot pul biber

Cauliflower leaves with garlic, currants, pine nuts & isot pul biber
It’s a crime to throw away cauliflower leaves. You’ve essentially got two vegetables in a cauliflower; those pure white florets being one, and the leaves being another.  The leaves have the familiar flavour of cauliflower, but with a little less intensity. You can rub them with oil and seasoning and bake in a hot oven…
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Roast pumpkin, leek, Parmesan & sage tart

Roast pumpkin, leek, Parmesan & sage tart
Pumpkin, sage and nutmeg are a match made in heaven; add some softened leeks and Parmesan, a rich set custard and some pastry and you’ve got a tart to die for! Making tarts can be quite time consuming, especially if you’re making your own pastry. It’s also, in the case of vegetables, often necessary to…
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Beetroot, wholegrain rice, goat’s cheese & dill bake

Beetroot, wholegrain rice, goat’s cheese & dill bake
This super easy recipe was inspired by a couple of sources; The first was a wild rice casserole that I cooked not so long ago from Heidi Swanson’s book Super Natural Every Day; the second is a recipe I learnt at a course at Cookery at the Grange in Somerset over 20 years ago that…
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Fusilli bucati with onions, saffron and Pecorino

Fusilli bucati with onions, saffron and Pecorino
I’ve been reading a fair number of Italian cookbooks of late and found myself inspired to cook a pasta recipe where the principal ingredient in the sauce is onions.  Cooking onions slowly leaves them incredibly rich and sweet and transforms their texture into something silky and indulgent. I was lucky enough this week to be…
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