FOREVER SUMMER REVISITED

I have rediscovered "Forever Summer" by Nigella Lawson recently, it was one of those books that I bought, tried one or two recipes and then forgot about - this was a mistake as it is jam packed with wonderful recipes that work beautifully and more importantly are easily changed to suit your taste and what you have in the pantry.

I tried the pineapple salsa with some organic ham and a tomato salsa, it was just perfect and was the ideal dinner on a very warm day (warmth - seems like a distant memory now!).The pineapple combined perfectly with the coriander and mint to lift the ham to sublime!

When I spotted some yellow courgettes in my  vegetable basket, I knew that this was the first recipe they were destined for!

It is a light tasty soup, again perfect summer fodder.  It is based on a Middle Eastern dish, where they believe that "eating yellow foods will result in laughter and happiness" - how could you resist trying that!!

I blitzed a couple of portions (faddy eaters!!) and for some strange reason it tasted much more substantial and warming - go figure!!

This is a version of Nigella's recipe for Sea Bass with Saffron, Sherry and Pine Nuts,  this time I used Plaice in place of the Sea Bass and it was excellent, the light delicate sauce  compliments the fresh flavours of the fish.  Neither the saffron nor sherry dominate, they just compliment.  I have cooked this with Sea Bass before and couldn't recommend one fish above the other - both were just right.  The dish would have looked better if I had used the white half of the plaice, but I think there is more flesh on the dark side.

This is the Old Fashioned Tomato Salad, and although it tastes lovely, it wouldn't be great on the "taste/labour ratio" scale.  There was quite a bit of faffing about making the Salad Cream, and I would prefer a nice garlic mayonnaise.

I loved this Short Pasta with Asparagus, Lemon Garlic and Parsley, but then I love anything with asparagus.  It is a super simple dish where you gently fry some garlic in olive oil add steamed asparagus and lemon juice to taste.  Combine with your pasta of choice and sprinkle over some parsley, yumm!

Finally, The Rainbow Room's Carrot and Peanut Salad was totally addictive.  Amo and I ate the whole bowl in the belief that "it's a salad therefore it's low fat and healthy", obviously this thinking was aided by the glass of wine (or two) we enjoyed with the salad!!!!  Well I suppose it was better than eating a bag of peanuts (not lower fat though :-{{ )  Here's the recipe

Carrot and Peanut Salad

4 medium carrots, peeled

75g    salted peanuts

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp groundnut oil

few drops sesame oil

Grate the carrots coarsely.

Combine with the peanuts, vinegar and oils.

Devour as you choose!