A Salad of Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Broad Beans and Feta

A good salad is all about contrasts of texture. This one provides a masterclass - combining crisp broccoli and seeds with creamy avocado, mint and salty feta. Purple sprouting broccoli unfortunately doesn't retain its beautiful amaranthine tint, but cooked al dente it adds a crispness to the salad and has, in my opinion, a better flavour than normal broccoli. I often make this for packed lunches and it is perfect for eating al fresco, particularly when the garden is looking so lovely..

Ingredients

30g quinoa
200g purple sprouting / tenderstem broccoli (can be substituted with normal broccoli)
90g frozen petits pois
90g frozen broad beans
1 medium, ripe avocado
10g / small bunch flat leaf parsley
10g / small bunch mint
100g feta cheese, crumbled
30g mixed seeds (I use pumpkin and sunflower)

For the dressing:

1/2 clove garlic, crushed
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

Tip the quinoa into a pan of simmering water. Simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and spread out to cool.

Steam the broccoli, until just cooked for about 3 minutes. It should retain a good crunch. Run under cold water to retain the colour.

Tip the peas and beans into boiling water for a couple of minutes until just cooked. Leave the veg to cool.

Finely chop the parsley and mint, peel and slice the avocado, set aside.

Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil and tip in the seeds, fry until they are popping and just turning brown. Tip out onto some kitchen roll and leave to cool.

To make the dressing, mix all the ingredients together and adjust to taste.

Now you are ready to assemble. Mix the peas, beans, quinoa, herbs, avocado and a couple of tablespoons of dressing. Season with salt and pepper. Toss with the broccoli and sprinkle over the toasted seeds.

Pinhead Porridge with Blackberries

Last bank holiday weekend I dragged myself out of bed at an unsocial hour after a rather late night and headed over to East London for breakfast at the Workshop Coffee Co. in Clerkenwell, which proved to be well worth the effort made on all of our parts. 

The coffee is roasted on site, it was unbelievably good and worth a trip alone. Liv's smashed avocado was a total winner, my unadventurous choice of poached eggs were pleasingly runny, and Tali's Eggs Benedict with Ham Hock and Chipotle sauce was also good - if less photogenic.

 Pinhead Porridge with Blackberries 

When it comes to breakfast, I am a total devotee of porridge, which has deservedly seen a bit of a renaissance in recent years. It is filling and economical and can be made into something really special with a bit of effort.

I usually use jumbo oats, slowly simmered with a mixture of milk and water and a scattering of Demerara or some Agave Nectar. On the weekend though, I made a little more effort with pinhead oat porridge and some blackberry compote. Pinhead oats are cut rather than rolled like most porridge oats and so take a little longer to cook. Take time with this - simmer the oats gently and keep stirring. The resulting bowl of soft, steaming oats, crunchy sugar and cool cream contrasts beautifully with the fruity compote.

For 1

1/2 cup pinhead oats

1 cup water

1/2 cup full fat milk

For the compote

50g or so of blackberries

Sugar, to taste

Squeeze of lemon

To serve

Demerara sugar

Double cream (optional)

Soaking the oats in water overnight reduces cooking time but is not essential. Combine the oats, milk and water in a pan and simmer gently over a low heat, stirring regularly until the porridge reaches your preferred consistency, this can take up to half an hour. If you are lucky enough to have an Aga, put the porridge in the simmering oven overnight. I like my porridge quite runny but reduce the liquid if you prefer it drier and if it dries out too much, add in a little more milk adjusting as you go. Once the oats are soft and amalgamated, turn off the heat and let the porridge sit for about 10 minutes, with the lid on.

While the porridge is cooking, make the blackberry compote by whizzing 1/2 the blackberries in a food processor and putting through a sieve, stir in the sugar and lemon to taste, and combine with the remaining blackberries. If you don't have a food processor to hand, heat the blackberries with a tablespoon of water and some sugar until softened and push through a sieve.

Serve with the blackberry compote, a sprinkling of sugar and, if you're feeling a bit decadent, a swirl of cream. It reheats well so make double the amount if you wish.

Courgette and Basil Salad with Sea Bass

This is wonderfully simple, springy food. Intensely aromatic basil and smoky grilled courgette combined with flakes of lightly cooked fish is a special thing. Bass is a fantastic accompaniment but can be substituted with other fish - Salmon, Mackerel or Cod would work a treat. 

Serves 4

4 Courgettes
5 Tbsp Olive Oil
Pinch chilli flakes
1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Generous bunch Basil
1 Clove Garlic
100g blanched Hazelnuts (almonds or pine nuts could also be used)
100g Parmesan (finely sliced with a potato peeler)
Salt and pepper

2 Fillets Sea Bass
Salt and Pepper
1/2 Lemon

Preheat the oven to 200C. Lay out the hazelnuts/ almonds or pine nuts out on a roasting pan and roast until golden brown and shiny - about 5-10 mins. Leave to cool and roughly chop.

Cut the Courgettes on a diagonal into 1/2 cm slices. Toss with a couple of tablespoons of Olive Oil, chilli flakes and some salt and pepper. Preheat a ridged griddle pan until smoking and lay out the slices onto the pan. Do not move around as you want clear lines from the griddle to show on the courgette. Turn over and cook on the other side for a further few minutes. They should be firm and slightly al dente with visible lines from the griddle pan seared across them. Set aside to cool.

Chop up 1/2 of the Basil finely and mix with the remaining olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and crushed clove of garlic. Set aside.

Toss the courgette slices with half of the basil and balsamic dressing. Layer up the salad with the remaining basil leaves, hazelnuts, parmesan and courgette slices.

Score the skin of the sea bass fillets and season on both sides. Heat a non stick pan with a little olive oil, and once hot, place the bass in the pan, skin side down. Cook on a medium - high heat for about 3 minutes without moving. Once the flesh starts to look lose its translucency, flip over and cook for a further minute on the other side. It should be just cooked through, with a crispy skin. Squeeze some lemon over the flesh (not the skin), drizzle over the remaining basil and balsamic dressing and serve with the courgette salad.