Wholegrain salad with summer vegetables (and green leaf pesto)

All that digging and sowing and watering has finally resulted in some food this month! And some yummy recipes for using it all up…

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Blackcurrant and clotted cream ice cream

Sometimes I’m really glad that I like cooking so much. Not on the days when I spend hours making dinner only for it to be a big fat fail. But definitely on days when I get back from a long weekend of camping and partying at Glastonbury festival and it’s hot and muggy and I’ve barely got enough energy to wash all the mud off. And then I remember that I’ve got homemade ice cream in the freezer. Big. fat. yay.

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Spring green pakora and aloo matar (pea and potato curry)

Do you ever find yourself making the same dish over and over again? In the same week? It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes you make something that’s just exactly what you want to eat and you could just eat it over and over and over… Well, this was that something for me last week. So I thought I best share the recipe in case it might be that something for someone else.

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Roasted kohlrabi and fennel salad with green beans

How gorgeous is this purple kohlrabi?? I’d never seen one until a few years ago as it’s not stocked in many shops. But it’s very common in veg boxes and on allotments since apparently it is rarely struck by pests and diseases. In any case, it was a nice change from all the spinach and potatoes we’ve been getting in the box so I was keen to try some new recipes with it…

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Feeding friends: Tandoori halloumi and vegetables with red lentil dhal and dhai bel puri

I’ve been cooking curries for a few years now but I’m still on the hunt for the best veggie curry recipe. I understand the basics – a base of fried onion, garlic and ginger and spices and then tomato, yoghurt, coconut cream or water to make the sauce. But without meat juices it can still be tough to achieve a really flavourful result with a nice thick sauce.

But this meal might be the closest I’ve come to my top curry feast! It starts with a rendition of the amazing fresh salad ‘dhai bel puri’ from Planet India in Brighton – almost like an Indian seven-layer dip and- inspired by a colleague who also tried making it at home – you must try this and soon. Instead of a dry curry I made roasted tandoori halloumi and vegetables with a simple but perfect red lentil dhal alongside. I’d like to think Madhur Jaffrey would be proud!

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What to cook for a vegetarian?

Apparently it’s ‘vegetarian week’ at the moment! Who knew… Oh yes, Twitter of course. The internet loves a themed day or week! So I could spend the week preaching about how great it is to be a veggie, but I thought I’d celebrate by suggesting some ways meat-eaters and veggies can get along better. And what issue is more contentious than cooking dinner for each other??

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First spring forages and food…

Spring is here and food is growing again woop! I’ve been foraging a couple of times already and I’ve even harvested a few things from the garden…

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What to do with rhubarb?

I don’t think I’d ever tried rhubarb before moving to the UK and to be honest I found it a bit weird and scary the first time it arrived in my veg box. I mean, it looks like stringy celery but it’s used in desserts??  The leaves are also super-poisonous which makes it sound even more suspicious. I tried making a typical crumble and it was ok but I couldn’t quite work up the enthusiasm other people seemed to have for this weird veggie/fruit thing.

But I kept trying different dishes and by this spring, I found myself smiling at the smell of those first sticks of rhubarb, picked from the garden. So if you’re not so sure about rhubarb, do stick with it. (sorry sorry bad pun!) Here’s a few recipe ideas to try…

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Feeding friends: Salted caramel chocolate fondant

We’ve been loving the amazing warm weather this spring and spent lots of time out and about with friends on the beach or on the bikes – but we’ve also had quite a few friends round for dinner. I’m loving testing out the new flat and kitchen on everyone and we’ve had a few tasty meals along the way. But this salted caramel-filled chocolate fondant was easily my favourite dish so far. Who can say no to oozing caramel with that subtle salty twist surrounded by a gooey chocolate cake??? Not me. And not you either once you see how easy it was to make!

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Apple and chilli jam

I heart chillies and pretty much anything spicy. So when I saw a tray of chilli peppers looking a bit lonely in my fridge, I knew I had to create something with them. You can always freeze chillies if you have too many but once I got the idea of making my own chilli jam I knew they’d never make it to the freezer!

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