Gloriously green: broad bean and dill hummous

Summer is here (not quite sure where the past few months have gone - life has been on fast-forward of late). The sun is shining, the washing is drying on the line and the tomato plants are actually bearing fruit (albeit green at present). Afternoons are spent in the garden with Master LBG tearing round in nothing but a nappy pulling the heads of flowers and eating handfuls of soil when my back is turned (boys will be boys, it seems).

This week's battle has been with the paddling pool. Rather than pack the pool neatly away in its box at the end of the sunny season last year, it was stowed unceremoniously in the corner of our leaky shed and has remained there throughout the Autumn, Winter and Spring. Mr LBG promised to clean it off a couple of weekends go but despite several 'helpful' reminders from his loving wife, I found myself busy with a scrubbing brush, sponge and bucketfuls of hot soapy water on Monday morning. After forty-five minutes of heavy scrubbing (hot and bothered is an understatement), I deemed the pool to be sanitary enough for use. I puffed up my lungs and set to inflating the three rings. Parents of older children will immediately recognise my fatal error and are probably chortling quietly to themselves at my ineptitude. I still have much to learn and am constantly reminded that I am still a novice in the parenting stakes. You guessed correctly. Punctures. In two of the rings. Note to self: ALWAYS inflate paddling pool prior to spending precious time and energy on cleaning. Better still, dispose of (admittedly, very cheap) paddling pool each September and simply buy a new one next year. 

Anyway, onto broad beans. Note lack of seamless topic transition. I simply felt the need to share my paddling pool woes. 

Broad beans are divisive, I find. Not in quite the same way as Brussel Sprouts but divisive all the same. In my own household even, we are divided. Mr LBG is a huge fan and might even go as far as naming them as his favourite vegetable. Master LBG is quite keen to insofar as he enjoyed them a fair few times before he realised they were a 'vegetable' and therefore to be regarded with extreme suspicion along with ALL other vegetables. I am not particularly keen on the broad bean, I must admit. What I dislike about he broad bean is the tough outer casing with its dull, greyish tone. It was years before I discovered (in a fancy restaurant) that one could enjoy beautiful, vibrant green broad beans if one took the trouble to slip them out of their skins prior to serving. What a revelation!

Someone clever once said that 'life is too short to stuff a mushroom' and the same could be said about peeling a cooked broad bean. For me, therefore, they are an occasional treat. I love them with peeled and popped into a pan with some smoked bacon lardons - delicious! I also particularly enjoy them whizzed up into this tasty dip. You do need to peel the beans once cooked but it is worth the bother for this vibrant green hummous. We enjoyed it as a pre-dinner nibble with some stunning purple carrots and wedges of cucumber but is works brilliantly as a canapé served on mini toasts and topped with a small piece of crisp pancetta.

Quantities are approximate - add more oil or lemon juice if you prefer a thinner consistency. This is quite thick. We just made enough to serve as a dip for 2-3 adults but is easy to scale up. It works very well with frozen broad beans too.

Broad Bean Hummous

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

500g Broad beans in pods (weight before podding)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Juice half small lemon (approx 1 tbsp)

Handful fresh dill, finely chopped

Salt and pepper

1. Pod the beans and simmer in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Plunge into cold water or cool in a sieve under running cold water. Slip the beans from their tough, grey outer skins.

2. Pop the beans into a food processor (a mini one is best, or you could use a pestle and mortar), along with all the other ingredients and blitz until you have a smoothish consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning/lemon juice etc until you have the dip of your dreams!

Crazy about the chipotle: sweet potato and chipotle mash with lime and coriander chicken

Occasionally Mr LBG has to stay away from home for work during the week. Whilst I would much rather have him here, there is a teeny tiny part of me that enjoys the fact that I don't need to think about what to cook for supper and that I can have ownership of the remote control. Whilst Mr LBG needs a 'proper' meal in the evening, some days I am happy just to look in the fridge and have a snacky type supper or keep it simple with scrambled eggs on toast or a filled jacket potato.

Earlier this week, on one such occasion, I decided to re-stock the freezer with handy meals for my son and spent the evening in the kitchen making a beef casserole, chicken and potato pies and cauliflower cheese. I hadn't given any thought to what I might eat other than throw a large sweet potato in the oven to bake. Halfway through baking and realising that I was rather peckish, I opened the fridge to see what I might put with the sweet potato. Staring at me from the top shelf was a half-used jar of chipotle paste. I LOVE chipotle paste. The smoky heat is so delicious and it adds fantastic depth to my usual chilli con carne. I am always looking for new ways to use it and once spied, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Sweet potato and chipotle mash - why hadn't I thought of this before (a quick google search confirmed my suspicion that plenty of other people had).

To accompany my gloriously smoky, sweet mash, I made a speedy marinade of yoghurt, coriander and lime into which I immersed a flattened chicken breast. A quick bit of cooking on a griddle pan and a delicious Mexican-inspired supper was mine in (almost) an instant.

This recipe serves just one but is easily increased to feed more. I was all rather last-minute so only had half an hour to marinate my chicken but next time, longer would be better!

Coriander and lime chicken with sweet potato and chipotle mash

Serves 1

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

1 chicken breast, flattened between cling film sheets

3 tbsp natural yoghurt (low-fat is fine)

1tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander

1/4 tsp ground coriander

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

zest half lime

freshly ground pepper

For the mash:

1 large sweet potato

1-2 tbsp natural yoghurt

1 tbsp chipotle paste

1. Make the marinade; simply mix all ingredients together. With a sharp knife, slash the chicken breasts in several places. Take a ziploc-type food bag and place chicken inside with marinade. Ensure chicken is coated in marinade. Leave for up to four hours or at least half an hour.

2. Preheat the oven to 180C. Prick the sweet potato and bake for approx 1 hour. 

3. Preheat a griddle pan. Once hot, griddle the chicken for 5 minutes each side, depending on thickness.  Ensure the juices run clear and the chicken is fully cooked.

4. Meanwhile - make the mash. Scoop the flesh from the skin of the sweet potato and mash with yoghurt and chipotle, adding seasoning to taste. You make like a little more or less chipotle and yoghurt - just do to taste.

5. Serve the chicken on top of the mash with a crisp green salad and a wedge of lime.

Pretty in pink: beetroot and watercress salad

For some time now we have subscribed to a weekly vegetable box scheme via Abel and Cole. The vegetables are almost always in peak condition, taste exactly as they should and offer excellent value for money compared with our usual supermarket. Whilst we enjoy the challenge of cooking with vegetables we might not ordinarily choose, we also appreciate the fact that vegetables of which we are least fond can be swapped for something else. 

One of the vegetables which I struggle with is beetroot. I think it harks back to school days when it used to be served cold, swimming in vinegar, alongside mashed potato. The way the potato used to go pink still sends shivers down my spine. I still find the sweet taste and slightly strange texture of boiled beetroot hard to stomach but I have recently been converted to raw beetroot. Mr Little Bit Greedy loves beetroot and gets quite excited when it turns up in the veg box as he knows that it is highly unlikely that it will make an appearance in our household any other way. He usually roasts them whole and devours them whilst I nibble politely on the smallest one I can find. On this occasion, however, I decided to take the matter into my own hands. Accompanying the beets in our box was a suggested recipe which also made use of the fabulous watercress that was party of this week's bounty and I thought that I would try it out.

The combination of the grated sweet beetroot and peppery watercress did work together extremely well. A little freshly chopped chilli and a handful of toasted pinenuts were good additions too along with a simple balsamic and olive oil dressing. Next time, a good few bits of crumbly goats cheese will make an appearance too. Crusty bread to mop up those pink juices was all but essential.

I loved this salad. Mr Little Bit Greedy was less keen. After tasting just one mouthful he looked at me in horror and asked whether there was orange in the dressing. Mr LBG has a severe hatred of orange (unless combined with chocolate and made by someone called Terry). There was no orange to be found but it was rather curious - the salad did indeed taste strongly of orange. Further investigation found the 'culprit' to be the beetroot itself which had a surprisingly orangey flavour. I know that orange is often paired with beetroot but have never eaten a beetroot that actually tasted 'orangey' before!

The recipe for the salad can be found over here and so I won't repeat it here. 

I am entering this salad into the No Croutons Required blogging challenge which this month is being hosted by Lisa over at Lisa'a Kitchen. The event requires participants to make a soup or salad which is suitable for vegetarians.

A riot of colour: purple carrot and goat's cheese salad

We subscribe to a weekly organic veg box scheme from Abel and Cole and recently we have been receiving some unusually coloured produce. First came a veritable rainbow of squashes (I don't need to eat another squash for some time), then the almost neon orange cauliflower and now, these little beauties:

Purple carrots.

Apparently this is the colour that carrots used to be before orange became fashionable. Word has it that they are also even healthier than their regular orange cousins - they contain the same sort of antioxidants as blueberries and can therefore be classed in the 'superfood' category. I have to admit that I do find them rather splendid. I love the way that when you cut into them, you reveal the orange inner core.

Rather than serve them up alongside an ordinary weeknight dinner, I wanted to make them the centre of attention in a dish that was as pleasing on the eye as on the palate. Although it was chilly, the sun was streaming through the kitchen windows yesterday so I decided upon a sprightly salad to eat alongside some crusty bread and cold meat for a light lunch ahead of a hearty roast in the evening.

I cut the carrots into ribbons using a potato peeler and paired them with a sharp goats cheese (feta would work just as well), some toasted pine nuts, chopped fresh parsley and a classic vinaigrette. The colour definitely plays tricks with the mind - I kept expecting the carrots to taste of beetroot (they didn't). My husband said the multicoloured ribbons reminded him of Frazzles. I suspect he was a little disappointed that they tasted nothing like!

I loved this colourful salad and would make it again, perhaps with a mixture of different coloured carrots and vary the nuts (walnuts or cashews would work well, I think).

Purple carrot and goat's cheese salad

Serves 2

Ingredients

3 medium purple carrots

50g crumbled soft goat's cheese

small handful pine nuts

small handful flat-leaved parsley, finely chopped

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp runny honey

pinch sea salt

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or rapeseed oil

1. Toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan until starting to brown - watch carefully as they burn very easily. Transfer to a small dish and set aside.

2. Peel the carrots into ribbons with a potato peeler and place in a bowl. Crumble over the cheese and sprinkle over the parsley. 

3. Prepare the dressing: with a fork or tiny whisk, combine the mustard and honey with a good pinch of sea salt. Add the vinegar and whisk together. Add the oil and whisk until you have a smooth dressing. Season to taste with pepper and more salt if required. Alternatively, shake ingredients together in a sealed jam jar.

4. Drizzle over as much of the dressing as you like and gently and briefly toss together. Sprinkle over the pine nuts and serve.