my big fat greek baked beans (gigantes plaki)

I have always had a soft spot for these delicious Greek baked beans, they are easy to make, all plant based and excellent with warm flatbreads (check out my pizza dough recipe to make truly fresh flatbreads) and my creamy bean hummus (takes 5 minutes) with a crisp green salad. If you aren’t going down the vegan route then they are fantastic served with a big block of feta, some olives and warm flatbreads for a tasty mezze.

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marinated tomato salad with pickled shallots

I was inspired to make this simple salad after I had a similar tomato salad at the excellent Turnips restaurant in Borough Market. It’s really delicious on its own or with burrata, as a side to a main meal or with or on toasted sourdough bread. You can add chopped herbs like basil and parsley to it too if you fancy. 

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Vietnamese(ish) noodle salad

A colourful refreshing salad that is really tasty and healthy and full of fresh veg, herbs and noodles. You can add hot fried prawns to it if you fancy and If I want to make a lower carb version I use zero noodles (there are lots of makes…) which have no carbs and are available in most supermarkets, Asian shops and online.

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cherry sorbet

I love cherries in anything, and this delicious sorbet is all raw. I buy a bag of frozen stoned dark cherries from the freezer department in my local Sainsbury’s (they are only £2.00 for 500g which is a bargain) 

The sorbet is beyond easy to make, no churn and I like to serve it with biscotti and or some shaved dark chocolate on top… or just garnished with fresh cherries.

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easy imam bayildi

This aubergine recipe is absolutely one of my favourite things ever. It’s an ancient Middle Eastern recipe that is so delicious I could eat it every day, normally it’s made with scooped out roasted stuffed aubergine halves which can go a bit too leathery. I serve it with warm flat breads, Greek yogurt (or Oatly crème fraîche if you are dairy free) and salad and it’s the perfect lunch or starter. It’s brilliant with my Baked Falafel too. Sometimes I add toasted pine nuts on top with the mint and parsley leaves. My friend Giada and I had it for lunch on toast with hummus and it was delicious.

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pasta alla norma

This is the classic delicious Sicilian aubergine Pasta Alla Norma recipe, which from everything I have read, was first created in the 1700’s in Catania in Sicily and was so delicious that it was compared to the beautiful opera Norma and thus named. Its a good store cupboard supper, and I’ve also served it up at dinner parties with a crisp green salad.

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rhubarb cocktail

I made these cocktails last night with my homemade rhubarb syrup which I served with gin (or vodka if you prefer) and sparkling water on ice… they were deliciously perfumed with the rhubarb which is the most gorgeous colour. If you prefer you can leave the alcohol out and have a delicious mocktail instead, pour it over ice cream or you can keep it in fridge as a cordial.

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