RECIPES // Summer Eats

Warning: i am about to talk about the weather yet again. i feel like almost every post on this blog includes a discussion of the weather in some shape or form.

But i think there's a good reason behind that and that reason is simply this: whether we like or not, the weather in this country holds us under its control. Its unpredictable nature keeps us on our toes and dictates so many aspects of our lives, from our mood and levels of motivation, to our choice of clothing, to the activities we pursue on a daily basis (and those that we have to suddenly cancel).

i can't speak for anyone else, but it also has a big impact on the food i eat. When it's cold and grey outside (and thus often cold and grey in my brain) i seek out stodgy comfort food (macaroni cheese, anyone?) and meals requiring as little effort as possible. When it's warm and bright, by contrast, i'm suddenly motivated to eat healthily and inspired to experiment and try out new meals.

Last week we were blessed with a few days of sunshine in our little corner of the world and so, as well as having the compulsory family BBQ, i spent an ironic amount of time inside the kitchen whipping up some of this: 
Lemony Brocolli, potato and green bean salad
 Lemony Potato, Broccoli and Green Bean Salad
Inspired by this recipe, but without the oil (it was unnecessary), goat's cheese or dill; just the aforementioned vegetables, a lot of lemon juice and zest, and some pepper and chilli flakes.


Watermelon agua fresca
 Watermelon Agua Fresca
i halved this recipe and replaced the sugar with about 2 tablespoons of Canderel.

Spiced quinoa with almonds and spring onion
Spiced Quinoa with Almonds and Spring Onions
i fully intended to follow this recipe in its entirety, but a feta cheese disaster quickly caused me to change those plans and replace it with spring onions instead. i also added a bit of curry powder because the flavour didn't seem very strong.
Cooking this also taught me that i could toast almonds in a microwave -- handy! 


Spinach, feta and tomato tarts
Spinach, Feta and Tomato Tarts
This is one of my favourite foods and is SO easy to make: take half a sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry & cut into four; spread some pesto or tomato puree on each slice, leaving space for the edges to puff up; top with spinach, halved cherry tomatoes and crumbled feta cheese; bake at 180C for 10-20mins, watching for the pastry turning a light golden brown. 

Cinnamon rolls
 Cinnamon Rolls 
These were an experiment with the remaining half of the pastry sheet. i literally just brushed the pastry with milk and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar over it, rolled it up and chopped into small slices which were then laid flat and baked at 180C for about 15 minutes. They were tasty just like this, but i later added a thin layer of cinnamon icing (combine icing sugar, cinnamon and water) to make them a little bit sweeter. 

Fruit smoothies
  Fruit Smoothies
Another warm weather staple is a good fruit smoothie. Mine are made with various quantities of raspberries, blueberries, cherries, strawberries and/or peaches, with some ice and low fat natural yoghurt. i also like to grind some rolled oats, almonds or walnuts and blend those in too, to thicken it up and add a little extra goodness.


Puff pastry recipes

Yum!

What have you been cooking this week? Do you have any favourite summer (vegetarian) recipes i should give a go? 

xo

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2 Comments

  1. Your food all looks sublime! I wish I could offer some good summer vegetarian recipes. We've been eating very simply - quite a lot of couscous and bulghar wheat. Bulghar wheat is really nice with dried apricots chopped up and mixed in.

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    1. It's funny you should say that - we've just tried (and become big fans of) bulghur wheat for the first time ever in the last couple of weeks. It's so simple to make something yummy with! :)

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