Summer Salmon and Jersey Royals Tray Bake With Walnut and Basil Pesto

This is such a lovely, light and fresh dish which makes the most of beautiful salmon, the first crop of Jersey Royals which are in season now, and the first British asparagus (if you can get hold of it) plus a myriad of other spring and summer vegetables that you can mix and match depending what you have in stock. It's also quick and easy and can be on the table 20 minutes after getting in from work.

I've used some of my Walnut and Basil Pesto here - a portion from the freezer from when I made a big batch, but you could use an ordinary pine nut version, or store bought. You could also use something else entirely - a drizzle of olive oil, some fresh herbs or harissa would, and does work well here.

The below serves two.

Here's how:

• 2 fillets of salmon
• 1 red onion
• 150g Jersey Royals or other new potatoes
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 yellow pepper
• Handful green beans
• Handful asparagus spears
• Handful cherry tomatoes
• 1-2 tbsp Walnut & Basil Pesto

Firstly fill and boil the kettle and place the oven on at 180.

Rinse the potatoes then place into a pan and cover with the boiling water. Cook for twelve minutes or until just cooked.

In the meantime add the garlic cloves to a tray, and the cherry tomatoes.

Peel the onion and cut into cubes and cut the yellow pepper into similar sized and shaped pieces and add to the tray.

Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and add the green beans to the boiling water, still on the heat for two minutes.

Once you can handle the potatoes, slice in half and scatter into the tray.

Drain the green beans and add to the tray along with the asparagus.

Now gently sit the salmon on top of the tray and drizzle over the Walnut and Basil Pesto ensuring it is evenly distributed. 

Summer Salmon and Jersey Royals Tray Bake with Walnut and Basil Pesto

Finally place in the oven for 12 minutes exactly. Remove from the oven and plate up straight away.

Salmon Tray Bake

Enjoy a lovely taste of summer. 

Summer Salmon and Jersey Royals Tray Bake with Walnut and Basil Pesto

TIPPLE TIP: This is really lovely with a white wine, Champagne or Prosecco, I enjoyed it last night with some Laurent Perrier we had left over from the weekend.

Best Avocado on Toast

This is my absolute favourite version of avocado on toast. The heat from the chilli, the sharp lemon and the salty feta cheese just make every single mouthful a delight.

I could pretend to be precious about which type of bread I prefer this on – but to be honest the topping is what this is all about, so a slice of Warburton’s Toastie (as here) is absolutely fine. 

Best Avocado on Toast

Here’s how:

• 1 small avocado
• Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• 50g feta cheese
• ½ red chilli
• Sprinkling of sea salt
• Pinch of black pepper
• 1 slice toast (I use Warbuton's Toastie) 

Firstly pop your bread in the toaster.

Now halve the avocado and place all flesh into a small bowl and squeeze over a generous amount of lemon juice. Use a fork to mush it up a bit but don’t completely pulverize, as you want this to keep some texture.

Once the bread is toasted, spoon over the avocado and press down with the back of the spoon.

Now slice the chilli, keeping the seeds in if you like extra heat – scatter over the toast.

Take the feta and very gently crumble over the avocado toast.

Season generously with salt and pepper. Coarser sea salt is a must here – it’s almost make or break. Enjoy!

5:2 Honey, Ginger and Chilli Prawn Stir Fry

I've been doing the 5:2 diet on and off since January with some success on the weight loss front.

I've found that on fast days of only 500 calories, it's important to make friends with the best flavour-giving ingredients, such as citrus fruits, garlic, ginger, chilli, spices and fresh herbs, spices, oils and vinegars. They help to keep food tasting interesting and vibrant and avoid you getting bored of 'rabbit food'. 

This stir fry of prawns is absolutely delicious even when I've stripped off some of the quantities I would usually use to lower the calorie count. 

The frying of garlic, ginger and chilli in a tiny bit of sesame oil in a wok before adding the rest, gives the oil an amazing base flavour with a fiery heat running through and then the addition of honey towards the end gives a natural sweetness. The final flourishes of lime juice and some scattered coriander leaves just gives it a wonderful freshness and there's no way you could find this boring - fast day or otherwise. 

The below makes a dinner for two and each portion contains 297 calories which I've calculated using MyFitnessPal. (On the 5:2 diet, on two non-consecutive days per week your calorie intake cannot exceed 500).

• 140g raw prawns
• 1 red chilli
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 1 small green pepper
• 1 small yellow pepper
• 100g beansprouts
• 50g carrot
• 50g lettuce leaves
• 50g mushrooms
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 lime
• 2 tsp runny honey
• Few coriander leaves

Firstly crush the garlic and finely slice the ginger and chilli. 

Add the sesame oil to a wok and place on a low heat, adding the garlic, ginger and chilli to slowly soften and give the oil plenty of flavour whilst you get everything else chopped.

Slice the peppers. Peel and slice or grate the carrot and add these to the wok.

Slice the mushrooms and lettuce leaves and leave to one side. 

Roll the lime around a bit pressing down with the palm of your hand to release as much juice as possible and cut in half ready for squeezing over at the end.

Once the peppers and carrot have softened a bit add the mushrooms and prawns. Prawns literally take a few minutes to cook and please don't overdo it or you'll be left with horrible rubbery things as they are useless once overdone. They are easy to gauge anyway as they turn pink on each side once cooked through. 

Use a wooden spoon or spatula to turn the prawns over once cooked and keep everything moving in the wok. 

Once almost cooked add the honey and mix through, then add the beansprouts and lettuce and cook for a further minute and then remove the wok from the heat.

Squeeze over the lime juice and scatter over some coriander leaves and you're ready to dish up.
If you're making this just for yourself, simply half the quantities and if for two, and your dining companion isn't on the 5:2, serve with some rice or noodles.

Tricolore Salad

There are many glorious salads that make summer eating so wonderful and the tricolore is an absolute classic. Named so after the triple colour or three coloured elements that make up both the Italian flag and of course the salad - it's simplicity doesn't take away from it's fresh, vibrant deliciousness. 

Again, this is hardly a recipe. merely a few ingredients thrown together to make up a big bowl of loveliness that can either make up a meal or act as a side with a versatile range of dishes. 

The one thing that I will advise on here is ensuring you buy the best possible quality ingredients to prepare this - with a dish so simple, there is nothing to hide behind so you don't want brown, bruised avocados or unripe tomatoes, everything needs to be just so. 

So to prepare a salad as a side for four, you need 3-4 decent sized and perfectly ripe tomatoes. Simply wash then slice and add to your salad bowl. Halve a large, ripe avocado and remove the stone, then using a teaspoon, scoop out curls of avocado flesh and add to the bowl. Pull or slice a ball of the best quality buffalo mozzarella and scatter around the salad. The final flourish is to add a generous handful of full basil leaves around the bowl and then to dress. 

Drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil, be generous as this really does aid the flavour with it's peppery tang. Finally, throw over some coarse sea salt a large pinch will do and some freshly ground black pepper and give a stir or a shake. 

Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes - Serious Sides

These are the first in my ‘Serious Sides’ series of posts. I’ve realised that I have a ton of side dishes that I constantly make, that friends ask for when visiting that need to get a mention on here.

These Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes are a favourite, whether with a roast chicken, fish, or with pork as I used with my Mediterranean Pork Belly Strips.

This recipe is enough for two with leftovers that make a very tasty accompaniment to sliced meat and salad for lunch the next day.

Here’s how:

·         400g large Charlotte potatoes

·         1 onion

·         3 cloves of garlic

·         1 tbsp dried oregano

·         150ml olive oil

·         1 ½ lemons

·         Salt & Pepper

I prepare the potatoes as I would for general roast potatoes. Firstly pop the oven on around 180-200◦ and then peel and wash the potatoes. Cut into half or quarter and plunge into boiling, salted water and par-boil for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, peel and slice your white onion and garlic cloves and squeeze the juice from the two lemons and set aside. Then cut the lemons into chunks and place into an ovenproof dish.

After fifteen minutes, drain the potatoes and give a good shake to ‘scuff up’ a little in the colander. Then place into the ovenproof dish. Throw over the onion and garlic and give a good mix with a wooden spoon.

Pour over the olive oil, lemon juice, season well and give a good scattering of oregano and then give a good shake. Cover with foil and place into the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove the foil from the dish and replace to the oven for a further 30 minutes or until just starting to crisp.

You should be left with deliciously soft centred, just-crisp on the outside and lemony fragrant potatoes that are divine.

Greek Briam - Glorious Summer Vegetable Stew

Briam is a wonderful Greek vegetable stew that can be adapted according to what's in season - or in the larder. It's a great vegetarian main course that takes very little preparation but tastes fabulous and is economical too.

I've experimented with recipes from several online sources as well as one from The Food and Cooking of Greece - a wonderful book which gives lots of information about ingredients used in Greek cookery and the history and origin of many dishes. With a little trial and error, the below recipe is the one I believe most resembles the delectable dish I associate with my beloved Corfu and glorious hot summer nights. 

This will serve four people with rice and some fresh, crusty bread. 

Here's how:

200g peeled potatoes
1 tin chopped tomatoes
Handful fresh cherry tomatoes
1 courgette
1 onion
1 green pepper
3 cloves garlic
1 carrot
1 bay leaf
1tbsp dried oregano
1tsp sea salt
Pinch of peppercorns
1/2 glass of red wine 
Couple strands of celery
1/2 pint of vegetable stock

Firstly peel the potatoes and chop into small cubes, rinse then parboil. 

In the meantime slice the onions and garlic and add to a deep casserole dish. Halve the courgette and then halve again and chop into equal discs about the thickness of a pound coin and throw into the dish.

Cut the pepper into similar sized chunks as the courgette and cut the tomatoes in half and add both. 

Peel the carrot and chop into fine oblongs. Chop the celery and add both to the casserole dish.

Add the tin of tomatoes, the drained potatoes (drain when you can pierce the flesh with a fork easily) and the red wine.

Add the bay leaf, seasoning and oregano and pour over the vegetable stock and 2 tbsp olive oil and give a good stir. Place the lid on and pop into the oven for 2.5 hours at around 150-160 degrees. Remove the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking and stir every 40 minutes or so.