Tag: Summer

Watermelon Ice Lollies

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A super fun way of getting one of your 5-a-day in! “Watermelon” ice lollies made for a selection of fruits, are the perfect way to say cool in the summer, and if you have kids you can get them to help make them with the blending and pouring.

Using frozen strawberries helps cool the first mixture, making it slightly quicker to add the second layer. Additionally, using the frozen strawberries means you will get slightly smaller ice crystals, as it is semi-frozen, giving a slightly better mouthfeel when you come to eat it.

You can use whatever yoghurt you like, making it vegan or dairy-free if you wish to.

Makes 4 lollies

  • 100g frozen strawberries
  • 200g watermelon
  • 8 teaspoons of yoghurt of choice
  • 1 kiwi, peeled
  • 1/2 a splice of Galia melon

Method

  • Blend the strawberries and watermelon together till smooth. Pour into lolly moulds, filling them up to 3/4 full.
  • Freeze for 30-45 minutes.
  • Layer 2 teaspoons of yoghurt over the watermelon layer.
  • Freeze for 30 minutes
  • Blend the kiwi and Galia melon till smooth. Layer onto the yoghurt to the fill line.
  • Inset the lolly mould and freeze for at least 8 hours or overnight.
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Nectarine Iced Tea

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This is one of my favourite hot summer’s day drinks to help keep me cool. I absolutely love my tea, and no heatwave is going to get in the way of me enjoying my cuppa! I’ve swapped out the milk in favour of fruits and a little honey – you can really make this your own by adding as little or as much honey and lemon as you like to your own preference.

No nectarines? Use peaches instead – flat peaches would be delicious in this drink and would still give the same flavour!

Serves 1

Ingredients

  • 1 teabag of choice
  • 1 tsp of honey, or to taste
  • Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
  • Ice
  • 1 peach or nectarine, cubed
  • Sprig of mint (optional)

Method

  • Start by brewing the tea bag in around 100ml of boiling water for 2 minutes.
  • Remove the tea bag and add honey to taste followed by the lemon juice.
  • Fill a large glass with ice and top with the chopped nectarine
  • Pour the tea mixture over the top and top up with cold water if needed.
  • Stir and garnish with mint.

Courgette Chips

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When you’re growing so many courgettes you simply don’t know how best to eat them! This seems to be my 2020 courgette staple dish, I find myself making them on a weekly basis, and they make the most amazing starter or side to a lunch or dinner.

I usually favour the traditional chip or wedge shape, but they also do well in a circular crisp style, perfect for dunking into a dip of your choice

There are also so many different ways to flavour them. You could go spicy with chilli and chipotle, or garlic and herb, or do as I do with herbs and parmesan.

The dipping sauce is also yours to own too. If you don’t want soured cream you could make a spicy mayonnaise, or serve with a little tomato chilli relish. Fancy ketchup? No problem there either. Your chips and you dip them in whatever you wish.

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1 medium courgette, cut into wedges
  • 1 small egg, beaten
  • 30g plain flour
  • 10g parmesan, finely grated
  • Dried herbs of choice
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

To serve

  • 75g sour cream
  • Juice of half a lime
  • Fresh herbs, such as coriander and chives

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 225°C fan, 240°C convection
  • Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside.
  • Mix the flour, parmesan, herbs, and some pepper together in a shallow bowl.
  • Keeping one hand for dry dusting, and one hand for the egg, roll each courgette wedge in the flour mix, followed by the egg, and back into the flour mix, ensure all edges have been covered at each stage. Place on a baking sheet.
  • Repeat till all the courgette chips have been used.
  • Drizzle with the olive oil and bake in the oven for 8 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, roughly chop the herbs and mix with the soured cream and lime juice.
  • Once the courgette chips are cooked, transfer to a plate and serve with the dipping sauce.

Beetroot and Goat Cheese Risotto

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I love the colour of this dish. It can’t help but put a smile on your face. Such a bright red-pink colour from the fresh beetroots and it’s something that will also make your gut microbiota smile too…. if they had faces!

Beetroots are naturally high in nitrates, something that has been found to help reduce blood pressure, improve blood flow and possibly have an effect on athletic performance. How? Nitrates are converted to nitric oxide in the body, which has an effect on our blood vessels, dilating them and allowing greater delivery of oxygenated blood to our muscles when consumed prior to exercise.

A 2013 review of UK and Australian studies concluded that the nitrates in the beetroot (usually consumed as beetroot juice) can help improve endurance as measured by time to exhaustion. There are also benefits to gym-goers too as a separate study, conducted in 2016, found that beetroot juice improved performance in resistance training. Those who consumed a 70ml shot of beetroot juice (400mg nitrate) prior to training were able to complete more reps to failure compared with those taking a placebo control.

If you don’t have fresh beetroot you can use pre-cooked beetroots, but the colour will be slightly faded due to the high temperatures used to vacuum pack and store them. Simply skip boiling the beetroot, blending directly into the hot stock, and start the risotto straight away. Another alternative would be to buy beetroot juice, however, the fibre will be removed from this, so I would use this if it is your only option available. If you don’t have the leaves still attached to the beetroot, try using spinach, rainbow chard, or kale as an alternative.

Serves 4 as a main course

Ingredients

  • 350g peeled beetroot, cubed
  • 10g stock powder
  • 2 onions, finely diced
  • 30ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 300g risotto rice
  • 150ml white wine
  • 4 sprigs of thyme
  • 60g parmesan, grated
  • 150g beetroot leaves, roughly chopped
  • 60g goats cheese

Method

  • Place the beetroot and stock powder into a large pan and add 400ml boiling water. Cook for 10 minutes to soften the beetroot and blend till smooth. Return to the heat and keep ward without boiling.
  • Meanwhile, sweat the onions in the oil till soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
  • Add the rice, coating all the grains in the oil and gently toast before adding the white wine. Stir continuously.
  • Once the wine has been absorbed by the rice, add a ladle of beetroot stock. Keep stirring and adding stock till all the stock has been used up. If you need to use more liquid, add boiling water.
  • When the rice is almost cooked to al dente, add the beetroot leaves and allow to wilt.
  • Take off the heat and stir in the parmesan cheese.
  • Plate up and crumble the goat cheese over the top.

Per serving: 488kcal/ 11.0g fat/ 6.2g saturated fat/ 72.0g carbohydrates/ 5.0g fibre/ 17.4g protein

Green Bean Curry

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I’m a firm believer that curries taste best when cooked long and slow, and often taste best the next day once the flavours have had time to mingle. However, there is always an exception to the rule, and this is it.

For those who are growing their own beans, you may be over-run with a large glut and not sure how to use them all up. Otherwise it’s time to buy some British seasonal beans while they’re in stock and make this delicious summer curry. Alternatively, you can buy frozen broad beans to make the dish all year round.

Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, roughly diced
  • 1cm piece of ginger, finely diced
  • 15g butter
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • Large pinch of curry leaves
  • 900g mixed green beans e.g. podded broad beans, runner beans, green beans, dwarf beans, all chopped into roughly equal sizes.
  • 300ml coconut milk

To serve

  • Brown basmati rice
  • Toasted coconut flakes
  • Fresh coriander

Method

  • Gently fry the onions in the vegetable oil till soft and translucent, but without colouring.
  • Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes before adding the butter and spices.
  • Add the beans and stir to coat in the spices. Add the coconut milk and cook for 5 minutes. If the curry looks a little dry, add some water.
  • Serve over steamed rice and top with toasted coconut flakes and fresh coriander leaves.

Per serving: 195kcal/ 12.7g fat/ 2.4g saturated fat/ 12.3g carbohydrates/ 6.5g fibre/ 5.5g protein

Carrot Top Pesto

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Late spring, or early summer means thinning the carrots out at the allotment so we can grow some nice big carrots ready for long winter days. I always get sad at being forced to choose which carrots will go on to grow, sometimes to the point where I leave too many baby carrots in the soil.

I always try to make sure I put the tiny carrots to good use. Sometimes I simply wash them and eat them there and then. Nothing like a simple snack to keep me going! However, I have now come to terms with this cruel to be kind nature, and make sure nothing is waste.

Carrot top pesto with baby carrots is my answer to this. The young and tender leaves make the most delicious and earthy pesto which is delicious when served simple through hot pasta. The pesto is so simple to make, and if you have too many carrot tops you can always freeze the pesto for use at a later date.

Nutritionally speaking there has been very little research conducted on carrot leaves. One study commented on how carrot leaves can be used to fortify chicken’s diets to make the yolks of the eggs they lay more orange in colour due to the carotenoids present in the leaves! Something I have not tested my chickens on yet!

Ingredients

  • A large bunch of carrot tops (about 100g), roughly chopped
  • 1 bunch of basil (30g), roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 40g pine nuts, toasted
  • 45g parmesan cheese, grated

Method

  • Place the carrot tops, basil, olive oil and garlic into a food processor and blend till smooth.
  • Add the pine nuts and parmesan and blend to the consistency desired – I prefer to have some unblended pine nuts in my pesto.
  • Hey pesto! You’re done!

Courgette, Feta and Mint Fritters

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At present I currently have courgettes coming out of my ears! 1 courgette plant would be sufficient to feed a small family with a steady supply of courgettes each week. So naturally we have 10 plants (not to mention the questionable marrow-looking plants) and I am spending all my free time trying to work out new ways of giving courgettes away to unwilling neighbours – they are all currently sick of courgettes too!

Making these super light fritters is the perfect way of using up a courgette or two. You simply do not realise you are eating courgette till you have wiped the plate clean.

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1 medium courgette, around 180g, grated
  • 1 medium egg
  • 50g wholemeal flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 50ml milk
  • 10 mint leaves, finely sliced
  • 1 garlic clove, finely grated
  • 40g flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
  • 70g feta cheese, crumbled
  • Chilli flakes to taste
  • Extra virgin olive oil to fry

Options to serve with:

  • Sour cream
  • Poached egg
  • Avocado
  • Smoked salmon
  • Salad

Method

  • Combine the flour and baking powder together in a large bowl and mix. Season with pepper to taste.
  • Add the milk and egg to make a batter. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
  • Heat a pan with 1/2 tsp olive oil and add a spoonful of batter into the pan, spreading them out so each round does not touch another. You should be able to make around 6 fritters in total.
  • Fry each fritter for 2 minutes per side till golden brown. Repeat till all the batter is used. If you are making a larger quantity keep them warm on a tray in a pre-heated oven set to 100°C.
  • Serve hot with your toppings of choice.

Per 3 fritters: 265kcal/ 12.3g fat/ 7.1g saturated fat/ 23.6g carbohydrates/ 4.3g fibre/ 15.0g protein