Seasonal recipes
Monday 28 April 2008
If you want to reap all the benefits from eating seasonal produce, here are some great recipes for the summer season to get you started!
Salads are the perfect diet food but a lot of people still feel like they’re missing out when replacing a meal with ‘rabbit food’. But this needn’t be the case because there are some fab new recipes that will give you all the health benefits of a salad plus great taste.
Harry Eastwood and Sophie Michell from Channel 4’s hit cookery show Cook Yourself Thin are celebrating the start of the UK salad season (May-October) and have come up with this delicious, seasonal salad recipe:
Gourmet Seared Tuna Nicoise
Serves: 4
Ingredients
450g/1lb baby new potatoes, scrubbed
100g/4oz fine green beans, trimmed
4 medium eggs
4 (150g/5oz) tuna steaks
A little olive oil
1 bag Herb Salad
2 spring onions, finely sliced
20 pitted black olives, halved
For the dressing:
1 tsp clear honey
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas Mark 6. Lightly oil the potatoes and place in a baking tray, bake for 40 minutes or until crisp and tender. If you are short on time, simply boil them for 15 minutes instead. Once the potatoes are cooked, cut them in half.
Whilst the potatoes are cooking, blanch the beans in boiling water for 3 mins, drain and rinse in cold water. Place the eggs in a small pan and cover with cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 6 mins. Remove from the heat, drain, then rinse in cold water. Tap the shells all over and remove. Cut each egg in half and half again. Whisk all the dressing ingredients together and season to taste.
Heat a large non stick frying or griddle pan until hot. Brush the tuna with a little oil then add to the pan and sear for 2-3 mins on each side, depending how pink you like your tuna. Set aside to rest.
Empty the salad leaves into a large bowl, add the spring onions, olives, cooled green beans and half of the dressing. Divide the mixture between four plates, scatter over the halved potatoes, quartered eggs and finally lay the tuna on top. To finish, drizzle a little of the remaining dressing over the tuna steaks and serve.
If you fancy yourself as a culinary creative why not enter The Great British Salad competition to win a cash prize of £1000 and the opportunity to have your recipe published nationwide. Visit www.salad-recipes.co.uk for more information.
Salmon and Asparagus Couscous with Lemon and Mint
Serves 2
Ingredients
200ml hot chicken stock
200g asparagus tips
100g couscous
2 Lightly Smoked Select Farm Salmon Fillets, together about 260g, from the fish service counter
1 small garlic clove
1 tbsp capers, rinsed
20g pack fresh mint
Grated zest and juice of 1⁄2 lemon
Pinch of caster sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
4 salad onions, thinly sliced
Instructions:
Preheat the grill to medium. Place the stock in a small pan, add the asparagus, cover and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the couscous, stir; then cover and leave off the heat for 10 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed. Meanwhile, grill the salmon for about 5 minutes on each side until cooked through. Break into large flakes.
Place the garlic and capers in a mini blender or food processor and chop finely. Add the mint and lemon zest and whizz. Add the lemon juice, sugar, olive oil and 2 tablespoons of cold water and whizz again until well blended. Season to taste.
Gently stir together the salmon, couscous, asparagus and salad onions, then ripple through the lemon and mint drizzle. Divide between bowls and serve warm.
Roast Ratatouille
Serves: 4
Ingredients
3 medium courgettes, sliced on the diagonal
1 large red onion, peeled, halved and cut into thin wedges held together by the root
1 red and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into chunks
1 medium aubergine, halved lengthways and sliced into half-moons
3-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tsp olive oil
6-8 ripe tomatoes, cut into large chunks
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 220°C, gas mark 7. Put the courgettes, onion, peppers, aubergine and garlic into a non-stick roasting pan large enough to fit them in one and a half layers (if the vegetables are more crowded, they'll steam, not roast). Toss with 1 tsp olive oil.
Roast for 20 minutes, stirring 2 or 3 times. Remove from the oven, stir in the tomatoes, and cook for 10 minutes more, till the tomatoes are soft and all the vegetables cooked. Remove from the oven, stir in the extra virgin oil, season to taste, and serve.
You could add chopped olives and capers to create a flavourful accompaniment for fish.
Tip: To cut down on the fat-content of this dish, roast the vegetables in a hot oven with just a hint of olive oil. Stir in a further tablespoon of your very best olive oil at the end, for flavour and richness.
Berry Soup
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 cups strawberries or blackberries
1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoon instant tapioca
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup Sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon and zest
1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
Blend 2 cups of washed and hulled strawberries in a processor or blender. Heat the orange juice in a saucepan. Place the blended strawberries in a strainer over the orange juice and push through. Add tapioca, cinnamon and sugar. Let it thicken a little over heat.
Add the lemon juice and lemon zest from the other half of the lemon. Add the buttermilk and heat up for 1 minute. Refrigerate for 8 hours. Serve in chilled bowls.
Tip: Why not add other berry varieties to the mix to add your personal twist to the recipe?
For loads of delicious, healthy recipes visit www.closerdiets.com
With many thanks to www.waitrose.com and www.salad-recipes.co.uk