We joined up with friends for a picnic at the weekend. I would normally have taken the tabbouleh but I needed to provide a couple of gluten-free recipes. We also had a load of home-grown baby tomatoes and a couple home-grown courgettes, gifted by a neighbour. And quinoa is of course GF, so I made this. What I particularly loved is that it allows the true flavour of the home-grown produce to sing.
Tag: Summer vegetables
Tabbouleh
As I write, it’s the start of a weekend that promises to be properly summery. I’m sure many BBQs are being planned (including ours). In which case, I can thoroughly recommend this glorious tabbouleh. It uses very few ingredients and is one of those recipes that is so much more than the sum of its…
Sorrel and lentil soup
Last year, in lockdown 1, I bought a selection of home-propogated plants from a friend. One of these was sorrel, which I was told would add architecture to the border. This weekend, I needed to cut it back (you can see how vigorous it is from the first photo). So I thought I’d also have…
Rick Stein’s Greek vegetable briam
We’ve been hooked on “Rick Stein’s Cornwall” recently. I often try to vegetarianise his non-vegetable recipes anyway, because his food always looks so fresh and straightforward. Yesterday’s episode, however, featured a gorgeous recipe that showcases vegetables purely and simply. I made it this evening. It’s wonderful! https://www.rickstein.com/recipe-cornish-briam-from-rick-steins-cornwall/ Don’t be put off by its rustic appearance.
Courgette caponata
I’d never bothered with caponata, partly because it’s usually based on aubergine, which I don’t mind but other members of the family are less keen on, and partly because aubergine usually involves enormous quantities of olive oil. Also, I never knew what to have it with. But earlier in the summer, I was researching ideas…
Oven-dried tomatoes
I am slightly addicted to tomatoes. And they’re wonderful at the moment, especially if you’re lucky enough to source Isle of Wight Tomatoes. I eat them like I would sweets. But I also love this slow recipe for very ripe, larger tomatoes. You need five hours – but can do a batch and it only…
Linguine, courgetti, peas and spinach
I am coming to love courgettes, especially in their long summer season. Our wonderful farm shop sells them in abundance – lovely small, new, dark, fresh, flavourful courgettes that are a far cry from the tough, watery, insipid, large ones found in supermarkets. This recipe is a wonderful light meal – and very pack-lunchable because…
Best tomato sauce
I have been on the quest for a superb tomato sauce for some time now. I need a sauce to be rich, full of fresh flavour and with a slight heat to it. I’ve experimented with many recipes, sometimes just using garlic and tinned tomatoes, sometimes adding the classic soffrito trio of onions, carrots and…
Roast pepper ratatouille
This is one of our all-time favourite recipes. If you imagine watery vegetables in a limp pile on your plate as a desultory vegetarian ‘offering’ when you hear the word ‘ratatouille’, please think again! This recipe, from a very old Rose Elliot book, is a far cry from the insipid ones of the 1980s. The…
The Veg Isle 