food to glow

Like us humans, plants long for light and warmth. In the depths of winter, both us and plants tend to hibernate – them waiting for the first pale, watery sunlight to unfurl tightly-knotted shoots; us hunkered down and longing to shed heavy jackets and wooly layers.

Spring brings treasures of delicate flavours, blossoms and colours – curls of pea shoots, tufts of radishes leaves, those anticipated first spears of asparagus. Come summer it is a free for all of texture, rapidly expanding leaves and roots, and bright vivid swathes of colour. 

Now we are entering the best time, autumn. Not only are the dusky Victoria plums almost rude in their voluptuous ripeness, tumbles of fat juicy tomatoes threaten to somersault from their trusses and onto the ground. My inner forager also thrills at sneaking into a nearby deserted, secret car park (shh) and picking wild brambles, paying for it in stained fingers and long, thorn-gouged scratches. And still the summer fruits and vegetables continue to flourish as long as the sun is warm.

Here in the UK, September is often a late, welcome burst of summer. Right now my conservatory doors are open, the kitchen door too, and light is streaming in. I can see the apple tree from where I sit, and it is heavy with fruit. Likewise the plum tree, espaliered across the back of our south-facing garage wall, daily shifting from pale almost opalescent green to deep magenta.

But I am still craving summer food. Or rather food whose ingredients are still defiantly summery but heartier in preparation for the short days ahead.

Aubergines and tomatoes are still at their peak, my own tomatoes still ripening and threatening to push through the conservatory roof. This recipe uses both, along with creamy, ripe avocado, nutty chickpeas, salty-sharp capers, and a special, kind of out-there ingredient that I love, but don’t feel you need to rush out and get. I roasted the aubergines on a charcoal grill to get the smoky flavour that complements aubergines so well, but do them in the oven or on a gas hob as alternatives if your own barbecue grill is tucked away for the year.

Whether of not it is warm or just starting to cool for you, this textural mosaic of flavours and colours will hopefully pique your interest.

By the way, if this recipe looks at all familiar I wrote it to appear on Elaine Boddy’s lovely blog, foodbod, as a finale to her brilliant “What Would You Feed Me” series earlier this year. I wrote it for her, but I really wanted to share it with you too.

I’m popping this recipe over to Tinned Tomatoes for Meat-Free Monday and to Fuss Free Flavours, Utterly Scrummy and Feeding Boys for Extra Veg.

 

Disclosure: I am an ambassador for Froothie and some links in this post and in the sidebar are affiliate links. However, as always, all product reviews and inclusions are based on my honest opinion and genuine use. If you’d like to know more about Froothie health products, please visit the Froothie website for more details.