food to glow

Soft savory pancakes of roasted aubergine, caramelized onions and summer herbs, barely held together with a whisper of flour and eggs, and served with a smear of sweet red pepper sauce. Make-ahead steps and a do-everything sauce = easy summer lunches and appetizers.

Midsummer is fast approaching. I don’t know about you but all of a sudden I feel an urge to do every summer thing: paddle boarding on tree-fringed Loch Leven; bird watching in the Pentland Hills; deadheading and weeding after supper – cheeky G&T ready for a quick sip between the never-ending garden tasks. But, I’m marooned on the sofa with a foot bound and propped for the time being.

Without being a complete bore about it, two and a bit weeks ago I took a tumble down the stairs, my stupidly clog-shod feet obscured by an overflowing laundry basket. Tore some ligaments. And before you jump to any conclusions, no alcohol was involved. 😉

This didn’t stop us going on holiday to Brač in Croatia, but back home I am feeling quite out of sorts. From my central position in our open plan downstairs I can see everything that needs sorting and putting away. Half-read newspapers; vaguely important notes scrawled on the scrappiest of scrap papers; a small heap of to-be-ironed clothes.

Worst of all, I can see the garden. Nearest to me are a brace of peonies, big bowls of pink and custard-yellow blossoms nestled with fading salmon-rose aquilegia (both needing deadheading). These summer stalwarts are punctuated by an obelisk of untied sweet peas, the intense fragrance only available if you wish to lie on the ground. The hostas too are fully up and fully prey to gungy-gross slugs, which in normal circumstances I would be “tidying up” in dawn-ish patrols – a good occupation for the occasional insomniac in the summer time.

You can perhaps feel my frustration.

I can still carry on with my cooking though. Taking things carefully and breaking down tasks, I am making food for work and testing recipes to share with family and all of you. Slowly, slowly I am washing, slicing, mixing, cooking and tidying up, a crutch at the ready. Everything proceeds at a snail’s pace.

In a way, this has been the silver lining. I can’t rush and do three things at once, worrying that I may have forgotten to add a vital ingredient: it’s added because I am present in every step.

I might yet get the hang of being methodical. Doubtful, with my ADD-brain.

This is what I have been making lately – dinky little eggplant pancakes, smeared with creamy roasted sweet red pepper sauce and topped with vinegared chickpeas and herbs, plucked from just outside my kitchen door.

I have developed a similar recipe for Waitrose that will be in their September magazine, using Duchy products to celebrate the brand’s 20th anniversary. They will be re-shooting the images to visually work with other recipes in the same section, but I’m so pleased to have been asked to create a recipe for their flagship Duchy brand. My pix will be on their social media and on their website.

Anyway, the recipe below is just for us. Have it for lunch, a light supper, or even make them smaller for an interesting take on blinis and serve as appetizers. The sauce is massively versatile: mix with cooked pasta, combine with ricotta as a stuffing for grilled vegetable roll-ups (a la involtini), mix into steamed or boiled greens, slather onto roasting cauliflower, smear onto fish, chicken or tofu and bake in the oven. The pine nuts are a must, btw.

Perhaps by the time you are reading this I will have slowly tidied my way around the room, and hirpled my way out into the back garden to do some high-level deadheading. Or maybe I will just have the cheeky G&T, sans deadheading. 😉

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Froothie News* For this recipe I used the new 750g (single serve) jug available for the Froothie Optimum 9400 power blender. I adore this new dinky jug as it is PERFECT for smaller batches of hummus, dips, nut butters, smoothies, cocktails, sauces and nut flours. It has replaced my mini chopper for small tasks that need the power of a proper blender (i.e. everything!). It is so easy to get every last scrap out of the blender, too. No waste! Right now Froothie has a SUMMER SALE on, so do go over if you fancy an upgrade in your quality kitchen equipment. Use this link for purchases, or click on the badge in my sidebar and claim free shipping, too. Disclosure: I’m an ambassador for Froothie and receive a small payment for purchases through the above links.

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