All That I'm Eating

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.

Broad Bean and Feta Smash with Cucumber, Lettuce and Dill Salad

By 4 Comments

Broad Bean and Feta Smash with Cucumber Dill Salad
It’s all about green beans and peas at the moment and a veg box delivery last week left me with beans coming out of my ears! I wanted to put them on toast to make them go as far as possible so I tried out a broad bean and feta smash. I like the slightly odd bitterness from broad beans and it goes so well with salty feta cheese. The cucumber and dill salad on the side adds real sweetness and freshness to the meal. It’s super quick to make too so you won’t be stuck in the kitchen when you want to be outside; perfect for summer.

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • Large handful broad beans, podded
  • 100g feta, cubed
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small garlic clove, crushed
  • Salt and pepper
  • Small handful mint leaves, finely chopped

  • 1 ciabatta
  • 1 small cucumber, sliced
  • 1 lettuce, shredded
  • Small handful dill, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • Salt and pepper

Method

Start by adding the broad beans to a pan of lightly salted boiling water and cooking them for 3-4 minutes. Drain the beans and rinse under cold water before peeling off the grey skins on the outside.

Put the broad beans into a bowl with the feta, a drizzle of olive oil, the garlic, salt, pepper and mint. Mash it all together so it is slightly combined but still chunky. Put to one side.

Bake the ciabatta according to packet instructions then cut into slices.

Put the cucumber and lettuce into a serving bowl. read more

Summer Vegetable Minestrone

By 16 Comments

summer vegetable minestrone
I’m not sure you can ever have too many vegetables in the house at once but at this time of year with the peas in the garden, the veg box and whatever looks tempting at the farmers’ market I can find it a little challenging to close the fridge door. You know it’s got a bit excessive when your carrot fronds are getting in the way of the door seal. If you find yourself fighting some spinach to reach the butter or battling beans to get to the mayonnaise there’s only one thing for it: make a minestrone.

Ingredients

You will need (for two big bowls or four smaller ones):

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 2 small carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 1 small courgette, diced
  • 1 large tomato, diced
  • 1 handful summer greens, shredded
  • 1 handful broad beans, podded
  • 1 handful fresh peas, podded
  • 1 litre hot vegetable stock
  • 90g small pasta
  • Salt and pepper

Method

Prepare the broad beans by adding the beans to a pan of lightly salted boiling water. Cook for 3-4 minutes before removing, running under cold water and then squeezing the beans out of their grey skins. Set aside.

Put a large pan on a low heat and add the olive oil, garlic, carrot, onion and courgette. Put a lid on and leave to soften for around 10 minutes.

Remove the lid and add the tomato, summer greens and peas then pour in the hot stock.

Bring to the boil then add the pasta and a little salt and pepper.  read more

Broad Beans and Goat’s Cheese on Toast

By 24 Comments

broad beans on toast
Things on toast, no matter whether they are cheese, beans or mushrooms make a fantastic, easy and fast dinner. I think something on toast has a humble feel about it; it’s simple and satisfying. However, humble doesn’t have to be hum drum. I had a pile of broad beans and had bought some soft goat’s cheese for another meal, but, after a hectic day I wanted something quick and filling: beans on toast. Well, sort of.

Ingredients

You will need (for two slices):

  • 2 large handfuls of broad beans in the pod
  • 2 spring onions
  • A few sprigs of basil
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Soft goat’s cheese
  • 2 slices of good quality white bread

Method

Start by removing the beans from their pods. When you have a pile of pale green beans, put them into some lightly salted boiling water for around four minutes.
Drain the beans when cooked and then run them under cold water to stop them cooking. When they have cooled down, remove the grey skins from each bean. It sounds like effort but it’s honestly just a quick insertion of a finger nail on one side and a gentle squeeze on the other. They just pop right out.

Finely chop the spring onions and roughly chop the basil. In a bowl mix together the beans, spring onions, basil, olive oil and a little salt and pepper.
Toast the bread and then spread the goat’s cheese thickly onto each slice and top with the bean mixture. read more

Peas, Broad Beans and Feta with Roasted Tomato and Chilli Sauce

By 24 Comments

Peas, Broad Beans and Feta with Roasted Tomato and Chilli Sauce - All That I'm Eating
This is almost the meal that changed my life: broad beans and feta. Until a few years ago I considered any food that wasn’t plain boiled pasta disgusting. I was completely disinterested in anything that wasn’t beige and flavourless. I went to University and had to start fending for myself so a few more exciting things crept into my culinary repertoire; a little melted butter on my pasta for example. I know, exotic. 

I suppose I was what you would call a late flavour bloomer; I think my olfactorary centre and taste buds started to develop with my wisdom teeth. Indeed not only had I grown some physical wisdom I also had some previous culinary knowledge on which to build, and now, more teeth to eat things with. I have always cooked; biscuits with my Granny, cakes and pastry with my Mum and barbeques with my Dad but it wasn’t until 2008 that I really started to experiment. 

At University you become extremely good at procrastination. One of my favourite time wasters was trawling the internet looking for cookbooks. For someone who found flavour offensive I had a pretty large collection of cookery books; I found great pleasure in cooking for others things that I wouldn’t touch with a bargepole. I came across a particular cookery book that sounded pretty good to me; it was over 500 pages long which is a lot of bedtime reading. I ordered it.
What I didn’t know when I ordered it was that it was a book about vegetables; pages and pages of green, red, orange and purple things which were all alien to me but they were organised alphabetically so I liked that. There was one particular recipe that caught my eye, mostly because it seemed cheap. It was green beans with roasted tomatoes. I made it and the textures and flavours were like nothing I’d ever had; the beans were still slightly crunchy and squeaked when you chewed them, the tomatoes were sweet but also acidic. I probably ate more beans at that moment that I had ever eaten cumulatively in my life before. read more

Broad Bean, Bacon and New Potato Salad

By 8 Comments

Broad Beans in the pod
I planted my own broad beans back in February full of anticipation and excitement for that day when I could finally snap the pods from the plant, lightly cook them and enjoy them just as they are. To say I was jealous of the broad beans at the farmers’ market is an understatement. I couldn’t possibly buy any and cheat on my home grown ones…could I?  Some of my broad beans are at the mangetout stage and I enjoy the occasional one immensely straight from the plant. They’ve a bit more growing to do before I can make my broad bean houmous. Until then the big, fat, shiny green beans from the farmers’ market will keep me going. To make the most of the seasonal ingredients available I cooked up this broad bean, bacon and new potato salad.

One of my favourite things is popping the broad beans out of their fluffy pods. I love the smell. I used around 20 pods if not a few more to get enough beans for this meal. The more the merrier I say.

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • Around 20 broad bean pods
  • 4 rashers bacon
  • 10-12 new potatoes, peeled and quartered (or halved depending on the size)
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • Fresh herbs, small amounts of each (I used chives and mint), chopped
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 small garlic clove, crushed

Method

Remove the broad beans from their pods and boil them in salted water for about 4 minutes. 

Keep the water and then boil the potatoes until soft. Drain and put to one side.

When the beans have cooled you can begin one of the most satisfying pursuits imaginable. Squeeze the beans out of their grey, papery cases. Some will come out easily with just a small pinch whereas some require the insertion of a fingernail to get things moving.  read more

Broad Bean Hummus and Courgette Surprise

By 5 Comments

homegrown courgettes and beans

So as I am inundated with thousands upon thousands of broad beans and courgettes, instead of becoming the next Alan Sugar and make millions selling my prides and joys, I decided I shall eat them myself and share them around. I say thousands but I mean more than I hoped for.

One of the meals we had entailed both broad beans and courgettes. I wish my tomatoes were ready but they are stubbornly green. As per usual with these lovely beans they needed to be extracted, boiled and popped out.


After this inevitable ritual common sense prevails on the hummus making front. I put my little gems in my mini blitzer, a good squidge of lemon juice, some fresh mint and some seasoning. Blitz. Then, drizzled smidgen by smidgen, some tasty extra virgin olive oil until the texture is what you see fit as appropriate. Blitzing away all the while. Noisy yes. Worth it? Absolutely. read more

Broad Bean Omelette

By 4 Comments

Fresh broad beans

To tell you nowt but the truth, my broad beans have been nothing short of prolific. I cannot urge you enough to throw a few broad beans in the ground and watch them develop. They are so nutty and so so green. There’s nothing like picking a few pods and whiling away a few moments popping the little guys out of their silk lined beds. I really enjoy squeezing them out of their old grey skins once cooked. Unless I’m in a rush.

Despite all the care and affection I have given my beans I did manage to whip up some delectable meals and snacks. The first one (apart from eating a few raw off the stalk) was an omelette that I threw some of my emerald delights into. To start, I satisfyingly took the beans out of their homes. read more

Recent Tweets

  • Error: Invalid or expired token.