We love this Turkish yoghurt dish with cucumber, yoghurt, garlic and dill. We served with barbecued lamb one night and salmon the next. It’s a good one.
Cacik – serves 4 as a side
1 large cucumber, coarsely grated
300ml Greek yoghurt
1 fat clove of garlic, crushed
20g dill, stalks and leaves finely chopped
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Wrap the grated cucumber in a clean teatowel and squeeze out as much water as possible.
Put the cucumber into a large bowl and mix in the yoghurt.
Add the garlic and dill, mix and season well with sea salt and black pepper. Decant into a serving dish and drizzle with your best olive oil.
(Original recipe from Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour, Mitchell Beazley, 2014.)
We know you don’t need to be told how to make a tomato salad, but this one was particularly nice so we thought we would share.
Tomato salad – serves 4 as a side
700g mixed tomatoes, slice large ones into thick slices and halve tiny ones
a generous handful of basil leaves
a small handful of parsley leaves
1 heaped tbsp chopped oregano
a handful of watercress
½ a red onion, thinly sliced
balsamic vinegar
good olive oil
a ball of top quality buffalo mozzarella
Put the tomatoes into a large bowl with the herbs, watercress and onion. Drizzle over some olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then season with salt and pepper. Toss well together, then transfer to a platter.
Top with torn mozzarella and drizzle with a little more oil.
Cut the potatoes into small chunks. Bring a large pan of salty water to the boil, add the poatoes, and simmer for 10 minutes or until just cooked. Drain well in a colander, then transfer to a large bowl.
Meanwhile, mix the mayonnaise, yoghurt, crème fraîche, mustard and milk together, then stir through the onions and most of the chives and tarragon. Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon the dressing over the potatoes while still warm and toss gently to coat. Transfer to a serving bowl and scatter over the reminaing herbs. Serve at room temperature.
(Original recipe by Angela Nilsen in BBC Good Food Magazine, September 2012.)
We’ve been serving this salad from Ottolenghi Flavour with just about everything this summer. We were surprised at the amount of lemon but it works perfectly and produces a really zingy and fresh salad.
Cucumber, za’atar and lemon salad – serves 4
3 lemons
4½ tbsp olive oil
1¼ tsp dried mint
1½ tsp za’atar
1 banana shallot, halved lengthways and finely sliced
1½ green chillies, finely sliced into strips
1 large cucumber, halved lengthways, seeds scooped out, and cut at an angle into ½ cm thisk slices
60g lamb’s lettuce
10g dill, roughly chopped
10g basil leaves
5g mint leaves
salt
Squeeze 1-2 lemons to get 2½ tbsp of juice and put into a large salad bowl.
Cut 7 thin slices from another lemon. Discard the pips and pile the slices on top of each other. Remove and throw away half of the rind, then finely chop the slices inlcuding any remaining rind. Add this to the bowl along with the oil, dried mint, za’atar, shallots, green chillies, cucumber, and 1 tsp of salt.
Mix it all together really well, then add the lamb’s lettuce and all of the herbs, toss gently and serve.
(Original recipe from Ottolenghi Flavour by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage, Ebury Press, 2020.)
This recipe is from Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around the Levant by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich. They have memories of cooking potatoes in bonfires as children and how delicious they tasted. They really are delicious and if you’ve made the effort to light your barbecue you may as well throw a few potatoes in the embers too.
Baked potatoes with charred spring onion sour cream – serves 4
4 baking potatoes, about 250g each
FOR THE SOUR CREAM DRESSING:
8-10 scallions
300g sour cream
1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
3 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp flaky sea salt
black pepper
zest and juice of half a lemon
Wrap each potato in tin foil and place in the embers of your barbecue or campfire. Leave there for about 45 minutes or until a metal skewer goes in easily, turn them over a couple of times as they cook.
Meanwhile, char half the scallions on the grill for a few minutes on each side or until charred. Remove from the heat and finely chop.
Finely slice the green parts of the remaining scallions and set aside to sprinkle over at the end. Cut the remaining white parts into small pieces and stir into the sour cream along with the charred scalllions and the rest of the ingredients.
Remove the cooked potatoes from the fire and remove the foil. Cut each one down the middle and sprinkle with the flaky sea salt and fill with the sour cream mixture. Spinkle over the green scallions and some black pepper before serving.
(Original recipe from Chasing Smoke: Cooking over fire around the Levant by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, Pavilion, 2021.)
We’ve done this a few times this week. It’s a great side for a barbecue and it looks after itself in the oven while you organise everything else. Make it while you can still get local asparagus.
Roasted balsamic asparagus & cherry tomatoes – serves 4 as a side
350g asparagus, snap off the woody ends and discard
330g pack cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
50g feta, crumbled
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Put the asparagus and cherry tomatoes onto a baking sheet and drizzle over the olive oil and balsamic. Season, then toss together. Bake for 15 minutes or until the asparagus is cooked through. Sprinkle over the feta to serve.
There should be some good value asparagus around by now and this is a very tasty way with sweet potatoes.
Roasted sesame sweet potatoes & asparagus – serves 3 as a side
750g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm pieces
3 garlic cloves, sliced
a thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
½ tsp sesame oil
1 tsp Thai fish sauce
1½ tbsp reduced-salt soy sauce
a bunch of asparagus, snap off the ends and cut in half
1 tsp sesame seeds
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Put the potatoes into a large roasting tin and toss with the garlic, ginger, sesame oil, fish sauce and 1 tbsp of the soy sauce. Roast for 20 minuts or until tender.
Add the asparagus, 3 tbsp of water and ½ tbsp of soy sauce. Roast for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over and serve.
We definitely have a bit of a thing for Asian-style greens and rice. And while it may seem like you need another dish on the side, you really don’t, it’s just a bowl of healthy, delicious things. Having said that, this would also be great on the side of some white fish.
Wine Suggestion: Anthony Girard’s La Clef du Recit Menetou Salon is a star here. A Sauvignon Blanc grown on Kimmergian clay-limestone, this has a depth, texture and body that belies the grape a little and a wine that we think gets better with a few years in the bottle … if you can wait that long. Don’t worry if you can’t though, it’s delicious from release too.
Asparagus with ginger & garlic – serves 2
12-16 spears of asparagus, snap off the woody ends and slice on the diagonal into 4cm pieces
2-3cm piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into very fine matchsticks
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
80ml water
1 ½ tbsp oyster sauce
cooked rice, to serve
Put your wok over a medium-low heat and add the sunflower oil. When warm, add the ginger and cook briefly until fragrant.
Add the asparagus, garlic and chilli and toss, then pour in the water and turn the heat to high. Cook for a minute, then add the oyster sauce. Toss well to coat the asparagus and cook for about 30 seconds or until tender but with a bite.
Remove from the heat and season with some black pepper, you shouldn’t need salt.
Serve hot over rice.
(Original recipe from My Favourite Ingredients by Skye Gyngell, Quadrille Publishing, 2008.)
We’re a bit salad-obsessed these days. This one is huge and will feed a crowd when you have them over to your garden. Perfect with a piece of barbecued lamb.
Minted pea and spinach salad with bacon – serves 4-6
extra virgin olive oil
6 slices streaky bacon or pancetta, cut into lardons
200g frozen peas, defrosted (only Birds Eye will do in our opinion)
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed with a little salt
a bunch of mint, finely chopped
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
200g baby spinach
juice of 1 lemon
50g feta cheese, crumbled
Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and cook the bacon over a medium heat until starting to crisp up.
Mix the defrosted peas with the garlic, mint, red onion and baby spinach.
Dress the salad with 4 tbsp of olive oil and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Toss in the bacon and scatter the feta on top.
(Original recipe from Avoca Salads, edited by Hugo Arnold, Avoca Ltd, 2007.)
Barbecue season is coming (hopefully!) and potato salad is the perfect accompaniment. The dressing will make far more than you need but you can keep it in the fridge for a couple of weeks and dress all your salads with it, so worth making.
Potato Salad – serves 4
900g small new potatoes
2 tbsp French dressing (see below)
6 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
a large bunch of mint, chopped
FOR THE FRENCH DRESSING:
100ml red or white wine vinegar
100ml extra virgin olive oil
200ml sunflower oil
½ a clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 ½ tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp honey
To make the French dressing, put all the ingredients into a food processor, season with salt and pepper, and whizz to combine (or you can do like us and shove it all in a jar and give it a good shake!).
Put the potatoes into a pan of salty water and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until completely tender, then drain and put into a bowl. Mix in 2 tbsp of French dressing and leave to cool.
Mix the mayonnaise, yoghurt and mint together and toss with the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to serve.
(Original recipe from Avoca Salads, edited by Hugo Arnold, Avoca Ltd, 2007.)
We’re getting very impatient for spring veg. Ideally this would be made with locally grown asparagus and freshly podded peas and broad beans. In reality we had to settle for purple sprouting broccoli and frozen peas and beans. Still a delicious spring dish. This makes enough to serve 6 for lunch or a generous side dish. Cook the veg at the last minute if you can as it nice served slightly warm.
Spring Panzanella – serves 6
350g ciabatta, torn into bite-size chunks
1 shallot, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil,
300g fresh pea or frozen peas
300g fresh broad beans (podded weight) or use frozen broad beans
400g asparagus, trimmed (we used purple sprouting broccoli)
leaves from a large bunch of basil
1 clove of garlic, crushed
35ml extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar (ideally white balsamic)
75g Pecorino or Parmesan, shaved
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Toss the bread in a roasting tin with the shallot, seasoning and oil. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden and crunchy.
Cook the peas and broad beans in salted boiling water in separate pans, then drain. Slip the skins from the broad beans.
Meanwhile, cook the asparagus in salted water for 3-4 minute or until tender. Drain in a sieve and refresh briefly under cold water, just long enough to stop cooking but not cool down completely.
Put the crunchy bread into a large, shallow bowl. Add the asparagus, peas, broad beans, basil & garlic. Season well. Pour on the extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar and add the cheese. Toss gently and serve.
(Original recipe from Food from Plenty by Diana Henry, Mitchell Beazley, 2012.)
This is easier to make than you think, particularly if you have a food processor to hand, though a whisk and a bowl will also work. So much nicer freshly made than any bought version and good with fish dishes or a roast chicken.
If you go a fraction too fast pouring in the oil, it is easy for it to de-emulsify and go to liquid again as we did with this one. Do not dispair as it’s also easy to save – just pour the split mix into a jug and start again with 10ml water in the food processor, slowly adding the split mix and then the remaining oil. It all, miraculously comes back together again!
Aïoli – serves 4 to 6
2 egg yolks
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp red wine vinegar
a big pinch of salt
200ml groundnut oil or sunflower oil
50ml good olive oil
Put the egg yolks, garlic, mustard, vinegar and salt in a food processor and blitz for 20 seconds. Keep the motor running while you add the groundnut oil/sunflower oil. You need to add slowly in a very thin drizzle, and then finish with the olive oil.
You should get a nice thick mayonnaise and if it all goes wrong, follow the instructions in the introduction. If it’s a bit too thick at any point, you can add a splash of cold water to thin it, then continue adding the oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
(Original recipe from Home Cookery Year by Claire Thompson, Quadrille, 2020.)
We know it’s a bit early for tomatoes, but this salad tastes good even with the blandest of specimens, so you’re good to go. A great side dish for a barbecue. You can get everything prepped up to an hour in advance but don’t toss it all together until ready to serve.
Tomato & za’atar fatoush – serves 4
1 pitta, cut in half to make two thin round pieces
olive oil
1 head of Little Gem lettuce
250g mixed tomatoes
150g feta
2 springs of fresh oregano, leaves picked
2 tsp za’atar
2 heaped tbsp fresh pomegranate seeds
FOR THE DRESSING:
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp good olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
¼ tsp sea salt
a pinch of black pepper
Peel the garlic and bash with a knife to flatten. Mix it with the other dressing ingredients and allow to infuse for an hour at room temperature. Discard the garlic clove before mixing the dressing with the salad.
Brush the pitta bread with a little olive oil and toast until lightly golden and crispy. Break into bite-sized pieces.
Separate the lettuce leaves and cut into large strips.
Cut the tomatoes in different ways – slice some, chop into chunks and just half the little ones. You want them bite-sized rather than finely chopped.
Break the feta into chunks.
When ready to serve put the pitta pieces, lettuce, tomatoes, feta, oregano and za’atar into a large bowl. Pour over the dressing and gently mix everything together. Serve on a large platter with the pomegranate seeds sprinkled over.
(Original recipe from Honey & Co. Food from the Middle East by Sarit Packer & Itamar Srulovich.)
The first thing to mention, is that this is not like the cauliflower in cheese sauce that we all know and love, but no less because of that. This dish is more set, more ‘eggy’ and has a distinctive tang from the soured cream. It also reheats particularly well, regular cauliflower cheese tends to split. So the verdict is that you should definitely give this a go – we served as a side with a dish of minty peas and lettuce and some baked ham. It could definitely work as a main either with a green salad or green veg.
Cauliflower gratin with soured cream – serves 4
a knob of butter, for greasing the dish
50g breadcrumbs
1 large cauliflower, about 1kg when the leaves have been removed, cut into medium-sized florets
350ml soured cream
125g Cheddar cheese, grated
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp ground nutmeg
3 tsp mustard
2 tsp salt
1½ tsp black pepper
50g sunflower seeds
Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
Grease a ceramic baking dish with butter, then sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the florets for about 6 minutes, or until just tender. Drain, then steam dry in the warm pot for a few minutes and drain again on some kitchen paper to make sure no water remains.
Combine the soured cream, 100g of the cheese and eggs with the nutmeg, mustard and seasoning in a large bowl.
Put the drained cauliflower into the prepared dish, then pour over the soured cream mixture. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, covering with foil if it starts to brown too quickly.
Serve with the sunflower seeds scattered over the top.
(Original recipe from Carpathia: Food from the Heart of Romania by Irina Georgescu, Frances Lincoln Publishing, 2020.)
Do we need to provide another recipe for Italian roast potatoes with rosemary? Probably not, but this version uses regular potatoes, rather than the baby waxy variety. So perhaps it will come in handy, as it did for us.
Roast Potatoes with Rosemary – serves 4 to 6
2kg potatoes e.g. Maris Piper or Roosters
a large handful of rosemary sprigs, leaves picked
extra virgin olive oil
Maldon salt and black pepper
Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks, then boil in salted water until just cooked through. Drain in a colander and leave for 10 minutes to cool slightly and lose some mixture.
Preheat the oven to 220C/220C Fan/Gas 7.
Heat a roasting tray in the oven with most of the rosemary leaves and a good few glugs of olive oil, salt and pepper.
Remove the tray from the oven and add the potatoes, turning to coat well in the oil and rosemary .
Roast for about 45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes or so.
(Original recipe from Polpo by Russell Norman, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012.)
PSB is our veg saviour early in the year when winter is lingering and spring still seems too far away. We loved this roasted version with a tangy lemon dressing.
Roasted PSB with feta & preserved lemons – serves 4 to 6 as a side
500g purple sprouting broccoli
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red chilli, chopped
1 preserved lemon, flesh and rind chopped, plus 1 tbsp juice from the jar
80g yoghurt
1 garlic cloves, grated
30g feta
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Put the PSB into large roasting tin, add the olive oil and red chilli, season with salt and pepper, then toss with your hands.
Roast for 15 minutes, turning halfway, until tender and starting to char.
Meanwhile stir the preserved lemon, juice and garlic into the yoghurt.
Crumble the feta over the roasted broccoli and drizzle with yoghurt dressing and your best olive oil.
This is a great little side salad to serve with Middle Eastern flavours. Here we had a chicken roasted with garlic and preserved lemon. Lots of delicious flavours on the plate.
You need to roast chicken for 20 minutes at 190C/375F/gas 5 for each 500g, plus an extra 10 minutes.
Wine Suggestion: a red wine … with chicken … of course you can. We chose the Cantos de Valpiedra, a single estate Rioja, as we wanted hints of Moorish and Middle Eastern spices which tempranillo is good at transmitting. The Cantos is super elegant and smooth and has such a supple weight that it effortlessly matched the chicken and salad.
Herb salad with pomegranate & pistachios – serves 6
juice of 1 orange
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp clear honey
a small bunch of dill, roughly chopped
a small bunch of mint, leaves picked and torn
a bunch of scallions, finely sliced
100g mixed salad leaves
seeds from 1 pomegranate
100g pistachios, roughly chopped
Whisk the orange juice, vinegar and honey together in a small bowl with some seasoning.
Tip rest of the ingredients into a large salad bowl, drizzle over the dressing and gently toss to serve.
Such a simple and foolproof way of cooking rice from Ottolgenghi Simple. This gives a lovely texture and the salsa is delicious. We served with pulled lamb shawarma but it would be great with all sorts of dishes.
Baked mint rice with pomegranate and olive salsa – serves 6
400g basmati rice
50g unsalted butter, melted
800ml boiling water
50g mint (leave 40g on the springs and shred the leaves of the remaining 10g for the salsa)
150g feta, crumbled into 1-2cm pieces
FOR THE SALSA:
40g pitted green olives, thinly sliced
seeds from a small pomegranate
50g walnut halves, lightly roasted and roughly broken
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 small clove of garlic, crushed
Preheat the oven to 230C fan or as high as your oven goes.
Put the rice into a high-sided roasting tin, about 20 x 30cm. Season with ¾ tsp of salt and plenty of pepper, then pour over the melted butter and boiling water. Top with the mint sprigs and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 25 minutes, until the rice is fluffy and the liquid absorbed.
Meanwhile, mix all of the salad ingredients, except the mint leaves, together in a bowl with ¼ tsp of salt. Mix well and set aside.
When the rice is ready, pull the leaves off the mint sprigs and scatter them over the rice, then sprinkle over the feta. Just before serving, stir the shredded mint into the salsa and spoon over the rice.
(Original recipe from Ottolenghi Simple, Ebury Press, 2018.)
We often end up with all sorts of odds and ends after cooking at the weekend. So a regular Monday night dinner for us is lots of veggie side dishes, all served together. It’s a bit like a roast dinner but you really don’t need the meat and you get to try lots of new dishes too. We served these with Cooleeney & tarragon cauliflower cheese, roasted parsnips and steamed sprouts. Don’t worry to much about the herbs, just use what you have, parsley on it’s own would be fine.
Put the potatoes into a large saucepan, just cover with boiling water, then simmer for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and leave to steam dry.
Mix all of the persillade ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat, add the bacon or pancetta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly caramelised. Add the potatoes, then the butter.
Season with salt and black pepper and cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until golden brown all over. Stir in the persillade, then serve.
Jono & Jules do food & wine 