As the good “support your local produce” meets “watch the pennies” person that I am I try to keep an eye out for foods that are in season when I go to do my food shopping and I must admit I love July with cherries, blueberries, clams, broadbeans, radishes and aubergines all coming in!
So this week I have kept it simple and picked 3 of my faovurite recipes to make the most of the month and what it has to offer.
Enjoy!
Roast aubergine dip
1 aubergine
Garlic to taste
Fresh parsley
1/4 tsp cumin
2-3 Tbsp plain yoghurt
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Cut the aubergine in half lengthways, brush the cut sides with olive oil and roast skin-side down for about 20 minutes. Allow cooling and once fresh enough scoop the flesh out of the skins with a spoon. Pulse the aubergine flesh, yoghurt, garlic, cumin and parsley in a food processor until a chunky paste forms. Don't over-process - you want some texture!
Spoon the mixture into a bowl and serve with warm pitta bread.
Broad bean and feta salad
200 gr cooked and cooled broad beans
1 lemon (you will need both the juice and the grated rind!)
A bunch of fresh mint
20g feta cheese
Extra Virgin olive oil
Combine the broad beans, lemon rind, mint and feta in a large serving bowl. Pour the lemon juice and olive oil over the salad and season with pepper to taste.
Spiced Mackerel
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
A pinch of cayenne pepper
A pinch of turmeric
Juice of 1 lemon
2 mackerel fillets, skin on and scaled
Mix the spices with the lemon juice and season well. Make diagonal slashes in the skin of the mackerel and rub mix all over. Leave for 20 minutes to marinate and then grill skin-side up for about 10 minutes.
Serve with crushed potatoes seasoned with olive oil and parsley.
