Summer vegetable spaghetti with feta and black olives

 

End of the veg box again - onions, courgette, lemons and red pepper - added a few green beans, feta and olives and this was the delicious result.  Summery, but also filling, saltiness from feta and olives, sharpness from lemon. Fab. Quick too.

Olive oil

Onion

Garlic

Salt

Courgette

Red pepper

Green beans

Italian herbs

zest and juice of a lemon

spaghetti

black olives

Feta

Basil

1.  Sweat down chopped onion in olive oil, with a pinch of salt, then add crushed garlic.

2.  Add chopped red pepper, courgette and green beans (I would have added spinach if there was any available, so add/substitute with what you have available).  Let them soften for a few minutes.  Add a pinch of italian herbs.

3.  Cook spaghetti in boiling, salted water, as per packet instructions.

4.  When pasta is al dente, add a couple of spoons of pasta water to veg and toss in drained pasta, stir.

5.  Add chopped zest and juice of a lemon, black olives, shredded basil and crumbled feta.

6.  Serve, grind on black pepper, scoff, bask in smugness.

Roast vegetables, feta and salad

Feasts for a fiver?  Well, I'll see what I can do.

new potatoes (£1)
cauliflower (£1)
red pepper (55p)
spring onions (55p)
feta (£1.20)
mixed salad leaves (69p)

I had a couple of tomatoes in the fridge, so I chucked them in as well, but they're not necessary.

olive oil - drizzle

Total:  £4.99 + store cupboard

1.  Wash potatoes and toss in olive oil.  Roast at 180.
2.  Chop the cauliflower into florets, and the red pepper and spring onions into bite sized pieces.  Add to the potatoes after 20 minutes, mixing into the oil.  Roast for 40 minutes.
3.  Our salad is from the garden, but mixed leaves, or other salad ingredients would be fine.  Wash and dress with a little olive oil.
4.  Crumble feta onto vegetables, and return to the oven for 5 minutes.
5.  Serve, scoff.

Pasta with cauliflower, peas, feta and hazelnuts

I couldn't get the lighting right for the picture, and I wanted to eat my dinner … so, very substandard picture of a delicious dinner.

Pasta - I used pea fusilli to keep it GF, but could be any short pasta
Cauliflower
Baby spinach
Red onion
Frozen peas
Feta
Hazelnuts
Mint
Olive oil




1.  Break cauliflower into small florets.
2.  Boil pasta in salted water, steam the cauliflower over it.
3.  Mix a couple of big handfuls of baby spinach with a small, finely diced, red onion.
4.  Add some frozen peas to the steaming cauliflower and continue cooking.
5.  Roughly chop half a cup of hazelnuts.
6.  When the pasta is done drain it and chuck it on top of the spinach to wilt it.  Stir it around a little to help it, then add the cauliflower and peas, stir it again.
7.  Break on the feta, add the nuts - turn over gently.
8.  Add a little finely shredded mint and a drizzle of olive oil.
9.  Serve, scoff …

Done in 10 minutes flat (if the water is boiling already).  The veg dodger had some salami, but otherwise very quick very tasty veggie dinner.

Feta stuffed courgette, tomato and garlic green beans

Making the most of the lovely summer vegetables … today courgettes and green beans.  The feta added to the courgette adds a lovely salty sharpness.

Olive oil
courgette
red onion
oregano
feta
green beans
cherry tomatoes
garlic
new potatoes







1.  Cut the courgettes in half length ways, scoop out the central flesh with a spoon.  Dice this flesh finely.
2.  Finely chop a red onion, mix with the courgette flesh, a good pinch of oregano and a splosh of olive oil.  Mix well, squishing the courgette and onion together.  Fold in chunks of feta.
3.  Heap the mix back into the courgettes.  Drizzle with olive oil and bake for about 30 minutes.
4.  Top and tail beans, and cut into bite sized pieces.  Splosh a little olive oil into a frying pan - add beans, cherry tomatoes, crushed garlic and a cup of water.  Bring to the simmer and cook for about 15 minutes (add a little more water if it looks like its going dry).  The tomatoes will split - I usually help them along by squishing them with a spatula.
5.  Boil/steam new potatoes.
6.  Serve, scoff  … lovely summery goodness.

Salad days

Todmorden has seen a full 2 weeks of summer weather!  This is fairly unheard of!  This beautiful sunshine has led me to thinking of salad.   This dinner actually took 2 days to make, as the beetroot were baked and the chickpeas were soaked and cooked - but you could do it in an hour using tinned chickpeas and vac packed beetroot.

All of the ingredients can be found from Todmorden market.  The Mediterranean Pantry (chickpeas, olive oil, roasted peppers, balsamic vinegar, oregano, garlic), The Crumbly Cheese (feta) and Kev's veg stall for the veg/fruit.

Bake the beetroot, washed but not peeled, with garlic cloves and olive oil for about an hour, until a knife can pierce them without resistance.  Cool a little, then peel (I always wear gloves) and chop into chunks.  While still warm drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Soak chickpeas overnight, and then boil for at least an hour.  The chickpeas are done when you can squash them between your fingers.

Potatoes
Olive oil
white onion
red pepper
garlic
oregano
lemon
feta

Chickpeas
Roasted red pepper (from a jar, in oil)
red onion

Tomatoes
Red onion
Radish
Basil

Beetroot
Apple
Avocao
Red onion
Lime
Balsamic vinegar
olive oil

Potatoes, red pepper and feta

1. Peel the potatoes (I used Cyprus, they were delicious) and cut into wedges.  Place into a roasting pan.
2.  Add quarters of white onion, chunks of red pepper  and sliced garlic.
3.  Slosh on a glug of olive oil, a sprinkle of oregano and the juice of half a lemon.
4.  Add half a cup of water, cover in foil and bake for about 30 minutes ... the water means that the potatoes and pepper will steam as well as bake which makes them extra juicy.
5.  After 30 minutes remove foil, return to the oven for about 45 minutes.  The red pepper will char a bit, but it will be delicious.
6.  Remove from the oven, crumble feta over the pan.

Chickpea salad

1.  Chop red peppers from a jar.
2.  Mix chickpeas, red pepper, oil from the jar and finely sliced red onion.

Tomato salad

Mix chopped tomatoes, finely sliced red onion, torn basil and finely sliced radish.  Drizzle with olive oil (sparingly).

Beetroot, avocado and apple salad

Mix chopped beetroot, chopped avocado, finely sliced red onion and chopped apple together.  Immediately add the juice of a lime and turn ingredients until they are all lightly coated - this will help prevent the apple and avocado oxidising, and discolouring.  Splosh in a little more balsamic if needed.

Serve, scoff  ... 7 of your 5 a day ... result!

Asparagus and green beans with feta and walnut pesto

What a collision of events - summer has hit in Todmorden, so let's make the most of the weather with some delicious in season asparagus, it's also National Vegetarian Week and Love Your Local Market fortnight ... so I made this fabulous dinner with every single ingredient available from Todmorden Market.  Feta from The Crumbly Cheese, Olive oil, walnuts and garlic from me (The Mediterranean Pantry), and all the veg from Kevin on the outside market.




Baby new potatoes
Green beans
Asparagus
Feta

Baby spinach
Baby plum tomatoes
Spring onions
Radish

Walnuts
Extra virgin olive oil
Garlic
Lemon
Mint
Basil

1.  Boil the potatoes.
2.  Steam the asparagus and green beans over the potatoes.  To prep the asparagus simply bend it gently, it will naturally snap where the stem gets a bit woody.  Top and tail the beans, and but them in half.  I steam the veg over the potatoes - put them on 5 minutes after the potatoes have come to the boil.
3.  Meanwhile make the pesto.  Whizz together a small handful of walnuts, two big handfuls of basil and about 8 mint leaves with 2 big cloves of garlic (just peel and crush slightly with the back of a knife and add to the food processor), with a glug of olive oil, a spritz of lemon juice and grated lemon zest.
4.  Toss together baby spinach, tomatoes, spring onions and radish with a drizzle of olive oil.
5.  Chop feta into chunks.
6.  Gently toss together potatoes, beans and asparagus with the feta chunks, and drizzle with the pesto (you don't need that much, it packs a punch).
7.  Serve with the salad, scoff.

Herby potatoes, green beans and feta

Slightly Greek inspired dinner tonight.  Had it been warmer I probably would have done potatoes with a salad, but it was a cold drizzly kind of a day, so I opted for a warm dish - some might still call it salad.

Red onion

Olive oil

Garlic

Cherry tomatoes

Green beans

Potatoes

butter

Chives, parsley

Spinach

Feta

1.  Sautee chopped onion and crushed garlic in olive oil.

2.  Add potatoes, green beans, tomatoes and a cup of water.  Cover and boil until potatoes are cooked.  Take the lid off and simmer to allow the water to evaporate.

3.  Add a knob of butter and a small handful of chopped herbs.

4.  Turn off the heat, stir in a couple of large handfuls of spinach to wilt.

5.  Crumble feta on the top.

6.  Serve, scoff

Tasty and refreshing.

Piri piri roast chicken thighs, aubergine and courgette bake with za-atar, feta and hazelnuts

We've had sunnier June days!

I wanted a cheap, tasty, and summery dinner ... and I had a look in the fridge - courgettes and aubergine which needed using, lots of mediterranean flavours added to give it some sunshine.

Potatoes
Olive oil
Chicken thighs
garlic
piri-piri seasoning
Aubergine
Courgette
Tomato
Oregano
Hazelnuts
Za'atar
Feta
Salad leaves
Avocado oil
Balsamic vinegar
Radishes
Spring onion


1.  Chop potatoes into big chucks and roast in olive oil.
2.  Cut 4 fat garlic cloves into chunky peices and put into oven dish.  Add chicken thighs, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with piri-piri spices. Bake for 40 minutes or so.
3.  Cut aubergine and courgette into slices about 4mm thick, griddle in a hot pan with olive oil.  Slice tomatoes to about the same thickness.  Layer them - auberine, courgette, tomato in an oven dish.
4.  Roast hazelnuts briefly in the griddle pan when you have done the veg - roughly chop and sprinkle over the vegetables.
5.  In the same griddle pan briefly fry crushed garlic and chopped oregano is olive oil - drizzle this over the vegetables and sprinkle the dish with za-atar.  Bake for 20ish minutes.
6.  Put together a simple salad - salad leaves, thinly sliced radish and spring onion - dress with avocado oil and balsamic vinegar.
7.  Tear some feta onto the vegetable bake.
8.  Serve, scoff

The veg dodger dodged the veg and the salad, the vegetarian didn't have the chicken - I had the lot.  Happy days.

Kale, spinach and feta tumble top pie, with cumin carrots and herby courgettes

Couldn't think what to do for tea today - but knew we had a load of leafy greens in the fridge so I invented this kind of cottage pie with a Greek-ish twist.  I also added some greek meatballs for the carnivore.

Onion
Olive oil
Kale
Spinach
Potatoes
Feta
Nutmeg
Carrots
Cumin
Courgettes
mixed herbs
GF flour
Meatballs

1.  Chop onion and soften in olive oil.  Add shredded kale.
2.  Dice potatoes and par boil.
3.  When the kale is a little soft add handfuls of spinach to wilt.
4.  Peel carrots, toss in olive oil and cumin seeds and roast for 30 minutes or so.
5.  Add chopped feta to the wilted greens, grate on a little nutmeg, mix through and put into an oven dish.
6.  Drain the potatoes and tumble onto the spinach mixture.  Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 30 minutes, until the top goes golden.
7.  Bung meatballs in the oven.
8.  Slice courgettes and toss in seasonned, herby flour.  Grill on both sides for a couple of minutes.
9.  Serve, scoff.

A touch of sunshine on an autumnal evening.

Peruvian potatoes

This is an adaptation of a Madhur Jaffries recipe which I have made a few times - it always goes down well.   The cheese sauce tastes very salty when you taste it after first zizzing, but adding the cheese and veg really makes a difference.

The red pepper, mange tout and parsley salad goes really well with it.

Serves 4

1 kg baby potatoes
1 egg yolk
225g feta
250ml milk (soya in this case)
1 green chili
1/2 yellow pepper
olive oil
1 clove crushed garlic
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp flour (gluten free today)

Salad

Cos lettuce
Big handful of parsley
Chopped radish
2 spring onions
Mange tout
Red pepper
Salad cress

1.  Put potatoes on to boil.
2.  Zizz together egg yolk, milk and cheese, until it looks like double cream.
3.  Sautee gently the pepper, chopped green chili and garlic until soft - in the olive oil and turmeric.
4.  Add the flour, stir into the vegetables, then add the sauce and simmer, while stirring to thicken.
5.  Tip the sauces back into the blender and zizz again, until smooth.
6.  Make the salad - toss the leaves together, finely slice radish and onion, shred mange tout and cut pepper into rings.  Spinkle cress on top.
7.  Serve - drain potatoes, serve with cheese sauce on top with the salad.

The recipe suggests serve with boiled eggs and olives - but I prefer the salad option.  Next time I think I'll add more turmeric to make the sauce brighter yellow.

Spinach omelette (with roast tomatoes and potatoes)

The main part of this dinner took about 10 minutes - it was the mini roasties and roast tomatoes which took the other hour.  So, I put this firmly in fast food - buy chips/ bake oven chips / .... heat tinned tomatoes/ fry fresh tomatoes... to get a quicker version of basically the same thing.

The omelette is...

olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
garlic, crushed
spinach leaves, shredded
eggs (4), whipped

so ... boil - roast bits of potatoes (or buy chips from the chippy ... yum) .. roast tomatoes ... or use conveniently packaged tomato ketchup .. to serve along side the omelette

The omelette

1. sweat down chopped onion in olive oil - for about 5 minutes
2.  add crushed garlic and shredded spinach, keep moving around the pan until spinach has wilted.
3.  Beat eggs, add to hot pan.
4.  Swirl egg mixture in pan, pull cooked edges in and swirl uncooked egg into the spaces - stick in the oven for a couple of minutes if the top still looks uncooked ..

Serve - with salty cheese (feta and chvre - cos we had them) and other stuff.

My camera is doing odd things, but my taste buds are not - this was really tasty.

it's raining outside, but it's summer in the kitchen

I have had a lovely afternoon looking around open gardens in a community nearby - the weather was pants (again) but at least it wasn't raining all afternoon.  So, tonight we came home to some indoor sunshine.

Potato and broad bean salad with feta and olives, coleslaw and salad leaves.

Recipes:  ... well lettuce - cut, separate leaves wash and dry.

Potato salad:

potatoes - diced
red onion - very thinly sliced
broad beans (double peeled - thank you patient partner - this takes ages and you did a great job)
green beans
feta
black olives
olive oil
herbs

1.  Boil potatoes - chopped into even sized mouthfulls.
2. Steam green vegetables.
3.  Mix onions, warm potatoes and greens with cold olives, cheese and herbs and olive oil.

meanwhile

Grate carrots, shred white cabbage and finely slice spring onion - sprinkle in chili flakes, salt - splash in sherry (or other vinegar) and olive oil - mix.

SCOFF

Broccoli and anchovy pasta

Tough old day at work, quite late home - wanted something savoury and tasty.  Fridge raid later, and this is what we had.

Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
celery, chopped
garlic
6 (ish) anchovy fillets
white wine
broccoli
cavolo nero
black olives
feta

gluten free pasta

1.  Sweat the onion and celery off in the olive oil.  Add crushed garlic.
2.  Add anchovies and chuck in a glass of wine.
3.  Simmer a bit, add broccoli florets, cover and steam/fry.  Add more water when it looks like its going a bit dry.
4.  Boil pasta.
5.  Add shredded cavolo nero 5 minutes before ready to serve, and slices of black olive.
6.  Drain pasta and add to sauce, chucking in cubes of feta at the same time.
7. Scoff, with plenty of black pepper.

The broccoli would have been considered over cooked in many presentations, but here it being a bit "soggy" means it makes it ore of a sauce.

Beetroot, horseradish and feta blini

This looked quite impressive, but was set upon as soon as it reached the table - and then people had seconds before I managed to remember to take a pic.

Blini

self raising flour and buckwheat flour (about 2/3 to 1/3)
egg
soya milk
salt
sour cream/ natural yogurt

Mix flours together, whisk in egg, then add soya milk and yogurt.  Mix to thick batter.  Fry in light olive oil - a couple of minutes each side.

Topping

beetroot
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
sour cream
horse radish cream
feta
pine nuts
(smoked salmon)

Chop beetroot and toss in good olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Mix a couple of spoons of horseradish into sour cream.  Roast pine nuts til golden (or roast pine nuts until burnt, then get lovely sister in law to roast another batch until golden - this works too).  Lay blini on big platter add beetroot, horse radish cream and crumbled feta.  Fling pine nuts over the top.  Some people might also enjoy adding smoked salmon.

Rosti, tomato and feta casserole with mushroom and leek stuff

Really bad pics at the moment - apologies!

Rosti

6 potatoes
2 onions, 1 red one white

Grate potatoes and onion season well, put into seive and weigh down to drain out water.

Squish into patties.  Fry, when other stuff is nearly ready in olive oil and butter for a couple or 3 minutes each side.

Tomato and feta casserole

5 tomatoes
1/2 red onion
feta
handful of olives

Chop tomatoes roughly, and red onion finely, put in oven proof dish - crumble in feta and chuck in stoned black olives.  Bake, covered with foil for half an hour or so.

Mushroom, leek and pea sauce

olive oil
2 leeks
handful mushrooms
garlic
splash of white wine
handful frozen peas
creme fraiche

Sautee chopped and washed leeks in olive oil, when a little soft add mushrooms and garlic.  Adda  splash of white wine and simmer gently.  When nearly ready to eat chuck in handful of frozen peas, heat through, take off the heat and stir in tbsp creme fraiche.

My favourite bit was the hot sweet tomato with the salty feta and olives, against the fried potato.  Yums.

Mum's garden dinner and pasta

A visit to the folks this weekend and presented with a bumper crop of rainbow chard, patti pan squash and tomatoes.  So - pasta with 2 sauces:- Greek inspired chard, mediterranean squash and tomato casserole.

Greek inspired chard

4 leeks
1 tbsp olive oil
Enormous haul of chard
2 cloves garlic
1 glass dry white wine
small handful black olive
mint, rosemary and thyme
salt and pepper
feta - crumbled over

1.  Clean and chop leeks, saute in olive oil.
2.  Wash chard well, strip leaves from stalks.  Cut stalks into 1 cm pieces, add to leeks.  Saute for a while.  When a bit soft add crushed garlic and white wine.  Put lid on pan and allow to soften for a bit.
3.  After about 10 mins add chopped leaves and stir around.
4.  Add chopped olives and perhaps more water if its dry.  Cover and simmer until soft.
5.  Before serving crumble feta over and season with salt and black pepper.

Mediterranean squash and tomato casserole

1 red onion
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large(ish) patti pan squash
1 courgette
1 yellow pepper
lots of small (or is large chopped) tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
pich chili flakes
1 glass white wine
chives, parsley

1.  Sautee chopped red onion in olive oil.  Add diced squash.
2.  Chop and add courgette and pepper and wine.
3.  Simmer until softenning slightly, add tomatoes and crushed garlic, stir and cover.
4.  Simmer until soft, add chili flakes, cover and heat through.
5.  Before serving mix in chopped chives and parsley.

Pasta:  cook according to packet instructions, drain, toss in olive oil to stop it sticking.

Scoff - surprising chard "hating" people - because they ALL finished their plates.

Veg box pasta with feta and salami

Yesterday my veg box arrived.  Now, I don't mind a challenge, but this is probably the oddest veg box I have ever had delivered.  (orange peppers, portabello mushrooms, broccoli, courgette, kholrabi,  green cabbage, runner beans, baby spinach) all separately really nice - but an odd mixture I thought - no onions, no spuds!  Anyway, had a leek, cherry tomatoes some feta and some salami - so....


1 tbsp olive olive oil
1 leek, cleaned and sliced.
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 kholrabi, peeled and chopped
6 runner beans, bite sized pieces
1 courgette chopped
1 tsp mixed herbs
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp chili flakes
500ml (+) stock
handful cherry tomatoes
1/2 pack feta, and some left over lancashire
8 slices salami
big handful baby spinach
200g (ish) pasta spirals

1.  Soften veg (leek, carrots, kholrabi, beans, courgette) in olive oil for a couple of minutes.
2.  Put pasta on to boil - follow packet instructions - boil for 2 minutes less than it says.
3. Add garlic, herbs, stock, chili, cherry tomatoes and seasoning to veg, stir, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or so.  (I would have added a glass of white wine if there was any knocking about).
4.  When pasta is cooked (almost) drain and add to veg, squish tomatoes down a bit.
5.  Add in chopped cheese, stir, lid on for a couple of minutes.  Add salami, chopped into pieces.
6.  Put spinach on top, lid back on for a minute, lid off stir spinach in until it is wilted.
7. Lift into bowl, season with more black pepper.
8. Scoff.

Roast butternut squash, stuffed and stuff

Veg box revenge, or veg box at its best - you decide.  I loved it - victim (predictably) picked and moaned.  I had hoped to win with the salty feta, but apparently there was too much green in the slimy stuff....aka strips of cabbage... my point that the greener the cabbage the sweeter and more nutritious was ignored .. of course.  Recipe, such as it is - deseed butternut squash, drizzle with olive oil - roast for an hour or so.  Sautee onion and mushrooms, add a cup of water... 10 minutes before serving plonk shredded cabbage on top and steam with the lid on - add more water if it looks dry.  Chop feta and stir in at the end.  Served with steam brocolli.

Butternut squash, spinach and feta filo pie

Victim suggested it would be better as individual tarts - but all in all, not a bad veggie offering.  So, roasted a butternut squash with garlic with a splash of olive oil for about a hour.  Made filling by softening red onion, a clove more garlic, a grated courgette and a handful of chopped mushrooms in olive oil,  added roast squash and good amount of spinach - heated gently and mixed until spinach wilted - added cumin, more garlic, chili and whatever curry spices were to hand - looking for gentle flavouring, not heat.  Took off heat and stirred in feta.  Made pie by scuffily layering fio sheets in a kind of overlapping diamond shape - brushing with olive oil every sheet.  Dollop mix in the middle, grind on some black pepper. Top with one layer of filo, olive oil, and sprinkle on pine nuts.  Scrunch up ends of remaining filo sheets over the top of the pie.  Brush with olive oil, and sprinkle on sesame seeds.  Bake for 30ish mins... depnding on your oven (about 180C).  Salad - beetroot, spring onion, chopped carrot, cherry tomatoes - dress with balsamic vinegar and olice oil, topped with radish sprouts.  Best thing.. leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  :)

Beetroot and feta salad

Well, it was prettier, but gathered victims fell upon it (me included) as we were hungry.  Some carnage followed (see stain on tablecloth) but thumbs up all round. (recipe:  assorted leaves including bog standard lettuce, lamb's lettuce, rocket and watercress, beetroot in balsamic, feta, red onion... dressing with mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic).  Followed by boeuf bourgignon (with rice and mash (don't ask!), green beans and peas (again, don't ask).  Finally, apple and cherry spongey pudding with (and without) ice cream.  All gathered victims left VERY full, so we had to leave the Scalectrix tournament to the cats.