It is important to note that this recipe is not shy on calories. There’s cheese, double cream, lashings of olive oil, layers of pasta and plenty of veg. My green summer vegetable lasagne is quicker to make than a traditional lasagne (there’s no baking) and you can use the sauce with any pasta if you so choose. I like to think that all that green veg negates the calories and I happily ploughed through a whole plate of this. Bear in mind, I am very greedy and although the recipe below says it’s for two, it would definitely stretch to three or four!
Roasted Tomatoes and Burrata
When you get your hands on some truly spectacular ingredients they don’t need much interfering with. I picked up some sublimely sweet tomatoes and a small burrata at a market recently and I wanted these simple ingredients to shine. My balsamic roasted tomatoes and burrata were served with a warm olive studded focaccia which we enjoyed eating outside for the first time this year. When you’re serving up tomatoes, cheese and warm bread can you really go wrong?
Ingredients
You will need (for two):
- Large handful cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper
- Small handful fresh basil
- 1 burrata (you could use a good buffalo mozzarella if you can’t get burrata)
- Focaccia (you could use ciabatta instead)
Method
Arrange the cherry tomatoes in a baking dish cut side up. Drizzle over the oil and vinegar and add a little salt and pepper.
Spring Vegetable Tray Bake
There’s a certain time of year where the contents of the veg box are suddenly more vibrant. There’s something red or orange which isn’t a carrot and something green which isn’t cabbage. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against a good brassica but when the first spring vegetables come through you know that it’s not long until the spring and summer veg are in full swing. To mark this occasion I made a spring vegetable tray bake; to celebrate all that is delicious at this time of year.
Three Cheese and Cauliflower Macaroni
I often make macaroni cheese, or some variation of it. I like to play around with adding vegetables, different cheeses or flavours in the sauce. This three cheese and cauliflower macaroni cheese is one of the most delicious I’ve made. The combination of Emmental (for sweetness and stringiness), Cheddar (for bite and cheesiness) and Parmesan (for savouriness) means you get the best of all the cheeses! And don’t worry, there’s a cauliflower in there too; to add a little vegetable healthiness amongst all that indulgence.
ingredients
You will need (for two generous portions):
- 150g macaroni
- 1 small cauliflower, chopped into small florets
- 25g unsalted butter
- 25g plain flour
- 300ml milk
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 75g strong Cheddar cheese, grated
- 75g Emmental cheese, grated
- 30g Parmesan, grated
- Salt and pepper
- Handful breadcrumbs
- Sprig fresh rosemary
method
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the macaroni and cook according to packet instructions. Add the cauliflower to a steamer over the macaroni for the last 3-4 minutes of cooking. Drain them both well and put to one side.
To make the cheese sauce melt the butter in a small saucepan on a medium heat and then add the flour. Cook for a minute or two then gradually whisk in the milk. Keep whisking to ensure there are no lumps.
Continue whisking the sauce until it bubbles and becomes thick. Remove from the heat, stir through most of the cheese, the mustard and a little salt and pepper.
Mix the macaroni, cauliflower and cheese sauce together then tip into a baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and then sprinkle over the breadcrumbs. Pop the rosemary sprig on top.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 25-30 minutes, or until golden on top.
You might be thinking that the rosemary is a bit pointless just stuck on top of the macaroni cheese like that. Well, it’s actually deliberate. When the dish comes out of the oven you want to remove all the leaves from the rosemary and leave them on top. Then, when you serve it up everyone gets a bit of roasted rosemary which has such a great flavour. This three cheese and cauliflower macaroni is such a comfort food dish for me; cheese, pasta, cauliflower and woody rosemary are all so good together.
Greek Chicken Tray Bake
I love a straightforward dinner. However being straightforward doesn’t mean there’s any skimping on flavour. Grabbing a few ingredients out of the fridge and cupboards, chucking them in a roasting tray and miraculously taking the finished dish out of the oven at the end is the weeknight dream. My Greek chicken tray bake is a two tray affair (I know, slightly more involved than one tray) and really delivers on flavour. The flavours of Greece; oregano, tomatoes, olives make this a wonderful dish for this time of year.
Ingredients
You will need (for two):
- 350g potatoes, scrubbed and diced
- 3 large garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
For the chicken:
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1-2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 lemon, quartered
- Tomatoes, still on the vine if possible
- Handful stoned olives
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Method
Start by adding the potatoes to a pan of cold, salted water. Bring the pan up to the boil and boil the potatoes for 5-10 minutes or until just softened when tested with a knife. Drain the potatoes and put to one side.
In a roasting dish add 2 tbsp olive oil, the garlic cloves and rosemary ad mix everything together to ensure the garlic and rosemary are well coated in oil. Tip the potatoes into this dish with some salt and pepper and give everything another good mix.
Bake the potatoes in a preheated oven at 180C for 30 minutes.
Once the potatoes are in the oven, start on the chicken.
Place each chicken breast between two sheets of cling film or baking paper and flatten slightly with a rolling pin, you want each one to be around 1cm thick.
Sprinkle the oregano and paprika over each piece of chicken with a little salt and pepper.
Put a large frying pan on a medium/high heat with a little olive oil. Fry the chicken until golden on both sides then turn off the heat and put to one side.
In another roasting tray put the lemon wedges, tomatoes and olives. Arrange the chicken on top of the tomatoes then add a little more salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
Add this to the oven with the potatoes for around 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
Serve with salad if you like.
I think a small red onion, cut into wedges and nestled in amongst the potatoes would be a fantastic addition to this tray bake. It would also be worth adding a little sprinkle of feta over the chicken for a deliciously salty kick. When the chicken has finished baking, don’t discard all the tomato and lemon juices that have gathered in the roasting tray. They are absolutely delicious and need to be savoured and poured over the chicken. My Greek chicken tray bake even manages to make its own sauce; what more could you need?
Golden Beetroot Remoulade
Beetroot has to be one of my favourite root vegetables. I love all the different colours you can get and a recent addition to my veg box was a bunch of golden beetroot. At first I thought about boiling it and mixing it with white wine vinegar and some spices. Then I got to thinking about proper comfort food and a golden beetroot remoulade would be the perfect finishing touch to a rather traditional dinner. A fantastically earthy alternative to using celeriac.
ingredients
You will need (for a good bowlful of remoulade, enough for dinner and leftovers for the next day):
- 2-3 medium golden beetroot, peeled and grated
- 3 heaped tbsp good quality mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp plain yoghurt
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- Juice 1/2 lemon
- Small handful parsley, roughly chopped
- Salt and pepper
method
Squeeze any excess moisture from the beetroot. Luckily with golden beetroot there are no purple stains to clean off of your hands and the rest of the kitchen when you’re done!
In a bowl mix together the mayonnaise, yoghurt, mustard, lemon juice, parsley and seasoning. Stir everything together well and then add the grated beetroot.
It is important to use a good quality mayonnaise for this for two reasons: firstly, it’s the base of the remoulade so you want it to taste excellent and secondly, you want it to be good and thick otherwise your finished remoulade might be a bit runny. No one wants runny remoulade.
I served my remoulade with some steamed new potatoes which had been covered in butter and fresh herbs, a little rocket salad and some delicious honey roast ham from the local butcher. A little update, or my version of, something that I know my grandparents would enjoy immensely. Simple flavours with a little pepperiness from the rocket, punch from the mustard, sweetness from the beetroot and freshness from the herbs. I can also confirm that beetroot remoulade makes a fantastic addition to a cheese sandwich; preferably one with very strong, crumbly cheddar.
Beetroot and Feta Dip
Beetroot is one of my favourite vegetables; it’s sweet, earthy flavour is like nothing else. I like to roast it with other root veg, boil it and add a little rich balsamic vinegar for a simple side or salad and I have tried smoking it on the barbecue in the past too. This latest batch of beetroot however I decided should be turned into a beetroot and feta dip. Firstly because the colour would be glorious and secondly because I wanted something punchy and full of flavour to serve with some delicious sourdough.
Chargrilled Broccoli, Potato and Pesto Salad
It was one of those evenings. You know the ones, where you look in the fridge expecting a sudden moment of inspiration and the fridge just stares blankly back. I’d put something down on the meal plan but for one reason or another didn’t manage to cook it; sometimes I forget to buy an ingredient or I use it all in another meal forgetting to save any for later in the week. My potato, chargrilled broccoli and pesto salad came out of seemingly nowhere. This meal’s saviour turned out to be a little pot of pesto; it transformed a sorry looking collection of vegetables into a rather tasty meal.
ingredients
You will need (for two):
- 2 large handfuls new potatoes
- 1 small head broccoli
- Small handful green beans, sliced diagonally
- 3-4 tbsp pesto (fresh from a deli or homemade if you like). You could use a vegan pesto to make the meal vegan
- Small handful pine nuts
- 2 handfuls washed rocket
method
Start by scrubbing the potatoes and then chopping them into halves or quarters depending on their size and how you like them. Leaving them a little larger just means they will take a little longer to cook. Put the potatoes into a pan of cold salted water and bring the pan to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until cooked through.
Chop the broccoli into small florets and pop them in a steamer over the potatoes for 1-2 minutes until bright green but still crunchy.
Get a griddle pan onto a medium/high heat and tip the broccoli in. Keep the broccoli moving occasionally but allow it to get chargrilled at the same time.
Re-use the same steamer and pop the green beans above the potatoes for the last few minutes of the potato cooking time.
Drain the potatoes and green beans and put to one side.
Put a small frying pan onto a medium heat and add the pine nuts, moving them round the pan often until they are toasted.
Mix the broccoli and pesto into the potatoes and beans and then serve up with the rocket and top with the pine nuts.
The chargrilled broccoli adds such a great flavour to this salad, if I was having a barbecue I’d definitely try the broccoli on there before mixing into the salad. This is a really hearty and filling dish and would be a great side but I enjoyed it just on its own. A few halved cherry tomatoes, some leftover chicken or salmon would be delicious additions and would probably leave you enough for lunch leftovers the next day.
Carrot Falafel and Quick Pickled Onions
I’ve tried to make falafel a few times before without much success; it seems to fall apart when I cook it. Experimenting with this falafel recipe, a bit more of this and a bit less of that, means that I’ve now ended up with a pretty sturdy recipe. These carrot falafel are really easy to make; everything gets blended together, and I’ve served them with all my favourite sides. Quick pickled onions will be appearing on everything from now on!
Ingredients
You will need (for two):
- 1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 100g carrots, grated
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- Zest 1 lemon
- 1/4 tsp chilli powder
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- Sesame seeds
- Oil for frying
For the Pickled Onions
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 100ml white wine or cider vinegar
Sides
Runner Bean and Tomato Stew
It’s bean season at the moment. There’s runner, French, broad and all manner of other beans popping up in the veg box, at the farmers’ markets and in friends’ gardens. I love a perfectly cooked and simply dressed bean salad; a little drizzle of oil, a squeeze of lemon and a little seasoning. However, from time to time it’s nice to do something different and this runner bean and tomato stew is a much slower way of cooking with green beans.
Ingredients
You will need (for four servings):
- 1 onion, sliced
- Olive oil for cooking
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp dried chilli
- 8 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
- Large handful runner beans, sliced into finger sized pieces (you can use other beans here, French beans would just need halving)
- 2 tins borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
- 150ml vegetable stock
- Salt and pepper
- Few sprigs fresh marjoram or oregano
Method
Get a large frying pan onto a low/medium heat, add a little oil and the onions and fry gently for 15-20 minutes until well softened and just starting to turn golden.
Add the garlic and the spices and cook for a few more minutes.
Tip the tomatoes into the pan, turn the heat up to medium and leave the tomatoes to break down and soften for around 15 minutes.
Add the runner beans and vegetable stock to the pan and continue simmering for another 10 minutes.
Stir the borlotti beans into the pan and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. Pick the leaves from the oregano and stir these through just before serving.
Serve alongside some crusty bread.
The lightly spiced tomato sauce works so well with the softened runner beans and hearty Borlotti beans. Using fresh oregano makes such a difference to this dish as you get such a wonderful punchy flavour. I ate most of this with a spoon and then tore off hunks of bread to mop up all the spiced juices from the bottom of the bowl. A fantastic stew, perfect for this time of year; a dish full of summer flavours.
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