Recipes // Cooking The Season

Image from eatwell101

The best meals, in my opinion, always comes from the freshest foods! Strawberries and cream ... better in Summer. Roasted carrots and parsnips ... better in Winter! Some of the fruits and vegetables currently in season are;

Apples // Aubergine // Avocados // Basil // Berries // Carrots // Cherries // Corriander // Courgette // Cucumber // Fig // Garlic // Green Beans // Mangoes // Nectarines // Peaches // // Peppers // Tomatoes // Watermelon

The easiest way to eat this season would be to eat a delicious fruit salad! (Obviously topped with lashings of cream!). For those wanting something a little bit more adventurous, then below I have rounded up a few of my favourite summery recipes ...

Roasted Summer Vegetables

Ingredients:

- 2 Courgettes

- 2 Large Tomatoes

- 1 Aubergine

- 1 Garlic Bulbed, Halved

- 1 Red Onion

- 1 Red Pepper

- 1 tin chopped Tomatoes

- 200g New Potatoes

- Handful chopped Parsley, Chopped

Serves 2

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan), chop up all veg into large pieces and toss in an oven dish with a glug of olive oil. Roast for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes remove the garlic and squeeze the juice over the veg. Mix through the parsley and serve

Serving suggestion - Serve with slightly toasted Ciabatta bread!

Avocado Pesto Spaghetti

Ingredients:

- 200g Spaghetti

- 1 Avocado

- Large handful of Basil

- Small handful of Walnuts

- 2 cloves of Garlic

- Glug of olive oil

- Pinch of salt

- Twist of pepper

- Juice of 1 lemon

Serves 4

Method:

Put everything in a food processor (apart from the Spaghetti), cook the Spaghetti as required. Drain the Spaghetti, and warm through the Pesto and Spaghetti in the pan. And serve!

Serving suggestion - Serve with some cherry tomatoes and some roasted asparagus. Mmmmmmmm

 Watermelon Mimosa

Ingredients:

- Half a Watermelon

- 1 Bottle Prosecco

- Juice of 1 lime

- Handful mint leaves

- Ice. cubes

Serves 4

Method:

Blend the watermelon, lime juice and mint in a blender. Fill 4 glasses with ice, pour in the watermelon mixtures and top with Prosecco. And top with some springs of mint! Fancy!

If you hadn't already guessed then I'm a very, whack it all in kind of cook. A bit old school Jamie Oliver-esque. Pinch of this, and a glug of that ... I hope you enjoy!

What are your favourite Summer recipes?

Recipe // Summer Pesto Pasta

Today I thought I would bring you a fresh summery dinner recipe. It's a super quick, Pesto and Chorizo Spaghetti, perfect for Summer evenings, eating on the balcony (If only I had one ... )

Ingredients;

- 120g Chorizo, chopped- 1 clove of garlic

- 1 large handful of fresh Basil

- 50g Pine Nuts

- 3 tbs Olive Oil

- 50g Parmesan

- 200g spaghetti

Serves 2 people.

Method;

In a frying pan or wok, dry fry the Chorizo. Once the Chorizo is golden, take the Chorizo off the heat leaving the oil in the pan and keeping the chorizo in a bowl. As this is frying, start cooking the spaghetti and grind down the garlic in a pestle and mortar, adding in the Basil and pine nuts until ground down in to a paste. Once this is at a paste consistency mix in the Olive Oil and Parmesan.

Once the spaghetti is cooked, add it and the pesto in to the frying pan with the Chorizo oil. Mixing the spaghetti in with the Chorizo oil means that the flavour of the Chorizo runs all through the dish. And serve! Mmm mmm mmm ...

This dish is lovely and fresh tasting, and the contrast with the crisp basil pesto and the more indulgent and salty chorizo! This can be done in less than 20 minutes as well. perfect mid week meal!

What's you favourite Summer dinner?