My Broad Bean Tomato Salad

Try making this broad bean salad and you won't regret it, I promise. It is so simple and easy to make. As a last resort, I've used frozen broad beans in this recipe. But feel free to use fresh produce whenever possible. I really enjoy the chewy texture of the beans - so much in fact that I could eat them as they are - but they seriously give this salad such an incredibly substantive quality, a leafy green salad alone seems boring.

For the broad beans by themselves, you will need:

• 750g of frozen broad beans
• 1 cup of hot water, from the kettle
• 0.5 teaspoon of salt
• 0.5 teaspoon of ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, freshly crushed and then finely chopped

How to:

In a large non-stick wok/pan, add the broad beans and a cup of hot water and cook (for about 10-15 minutes) on a medium heat until the water has reduced and the beans have cooked though.

Lower the heat. You might need to add a little more water at various intervals to ensure they soften.

Season with salt and black pepper and stir until the water has evaporated. Turn the heat down and drizzle with olive oil and add the crushed garlic. Cook for another 5 minutes.

For the salad mix, you will need:

• 3 large vine ripened tomatoes, stems and cores removed and chopped into cubes
• a handful of coriander leaves, chopped (be sure to include those flavourful stems)
• a pinch of sea salt for flavour

How To:

With your freshly cooked broad beans happily set aside, combine your chopped tomatoes with the coriander leaves and fold together, gently season with some sea salt and some extra black pepper if you want that extra kick.

Combine your broad beans and tomatoes well, serve and garnish with a little more coriander.

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Suggestion

If you're like us and you have guests over for dinner, you can serve your broad bean salad with some freshly pan-fried salmon, it will certainly take your dish that little bit further.

Not to mention, you'll get points for serving up a pretty plate. Enjoy!

Bye-Bye, Summer!

As summer comes to a close and the unstable and rather horrendously schizophrenic weather starts to settle into a more consistent pattern, the beginning of fall brings with it a newly appreciated delight by way of warming hearty meals, like broths and soups to get us through the cooler days. Hopefully, there will be future posts where I get to show off some of my main autumnal into winter dishes, but first, let’s look at some of the beautifully light summer dishes I have served up this year for the family.

Possibly one of my favourite summer lunches, ever, is a decent serving of filleted salmon on a plate of tomatoes and leafy green salad leaves.

Salmon with Rocket Salad, Red Onions, Sliced Red Peppers. Dressed with Black Pepper and Balsamic Vinegar

Red Chilli: Adding a little spice. So many variations to creating awesome salmon dishes.

Halloumi: Light Lunch kinda salad day.

We enjoyed grilled halloumi and sliced pepper salads for light lunches when the weather was just too hot and nobody wanted to slave over the stove.

Filling & Vegan: Delicious brown lentil, spinach and chilli salad.

This year I really rediscovered my love for lentils of all varieties; we have especially been enjoying the brown ones. They have this wonderfully meaty texture and could be a good substitute for those trying to give up or reduce their meat consumption. The above salad makes a great vegan dish.

We also had a few treats along the way! I tend to cook gluten free, as it has been the best health choice for my daughter, who is rather sensitive to wheat.

Buckwheat Pancakes

Strawberries & Cream

A friend recommended using buckwheat flour and the result was an absolutely delicious pancake. Wonderfully nutty in flavour; it is an absolute upgrade from the gluten free flours out there, which are generally made from either potato starch or ground rice.

Summer has always been the season of exotic fruits and vegetables. I like to buy seasonal produce where I can and summer time means mangoes, mangoes and more mangoes! As a family, we cannot get enough of this all too easily enjoyed fruit.

Mango Crazy: The sweetest mangoes imported from Pakistan.

So, here you have a little breakdown of just a few dishes on our summer menu. I'll be posting a few tasty and interesting recipes in the coming (lets be optimistic) months. On that note and with a smile on my face, bye-bye summer heat-waves... Until we meet again next year, where perhaps you might be a little less severe.