Yesterday was a record breaking hot day – and this was lunch.  I made some olive bread and put together a Greek-Style Tomato Salad, too, but I’ll post them next week.  I think I must be thinking ‘Greece’ because the news is so full of scenes from Athens.  Tough times ahead for a lovely country whichever way they vote, I fear.

I love Greek food, but then I love the herbs that predominate in it – oregano, mint, dill, bay leaves, Greek basil, thyme and fennel are the ones that spring to mind.  Being a home cook, I have to use what I can buy.  My oregano is not the evocative rigani, as far as I’m aware.  It’s Bart’s.  Greek basil, I can get.  The bitter salad leaves don’t taste quite as bitter as they do under Greek sunshine, but I probably would balk at so many unnecessary air-miles just to feed my children lunch.

Nothing for it, a visit to Greece is in my future.

In the meantime, we’re coming to the end of the British asparagus season.  I have treated my early spears with utmost respect and I’m now putting them in tarts, wrapping in pancakes and making them into salads.

I picked up a couple of bundles – which was a little over 500g.  There’s a point on an asparagus spear where it’ll snap naturally.  That place marks the end of the fibrous bit and the start of the tender, delicious bit.

(Incidentally, I read something the other day about the English style of eating – and cooking – asparagus.  Apparently, we steam the whole asparagus spear and then use the fibrous bit to hold.  I will confess to eating with my fingers on occasion, but I’m afraid I eat the whole thing and would be irritated to get fibrous bits between my teeth.  Plus, I am inclined to lick my fingers when no-one is looking rather than look for a finger bowl.  I would be more disappointed in myself if the writer didn’t labour under the assumption all households own an asparagus steamer but I have never lived in a household which possessed one.)

If you are aesthetically fastidious, you can neaten up the ends with a knife.  I do that.  Sorry!

My asparagus I would classify as ‘medium’.  What chefs call sprue asparagus (that’s the spindly ones) I’d use for something else.  Fatter asparagus will need peeling.  Just the lower part to make sure what you have in your salad is tender.

Whatever you are left with – pop the snapped off ends and any trimmings in a freezer bag.  That’s asparagus soup in the making.

The asparagus spears I give a rinse under running water and fill a wide saucepan with about 5cm/2″ of water.  Just enough to cover the asparagus in a single layer.  Ish.  You can be a little relaxed about it.

When the water is boiling add a little sea salt.  I season lightly, partly because I’m going to save the asparagus water for soup and that will intensify the salt content and partly because these spears are going in a flavourful dressing.

Simmer for 3 minutes.  It’s almost more of a blanch.  Just tender.  Then drain, reserving the water if you want to make soup.  I put mine in a freezer bag for another day.  Usually, I lay the spears on kitchen paper to dry .. but I’d run out.

And the dressing …

Finely zest one lemon.  Put it and the juice into a bowl.

100ml/3½fl oz of cold-pressed Greek olive oil.  Use one you like the flavour of.

1 teaspoon of dried oregano.

Salt and pepper.  This is such a subjective thing, but I used 2 scant teaspoons of coarse sea salt and crushed 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns in a pestle and mortar.

Give the drained – and still perky – asparagus a toss in the dressing.

Finely chop three shallots and add those.

A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley.  I had to use a small supermarket pot and I used it all.  Roughly chop.  It’s part of the salad so I like to see bits of parsley.

Give everything a light toss and leave it at room temperature for all the flavours to get acquainted.  If you want to leave it longer than an hour, pop into the fridge and bring it back to room temperature before serving.

Eat.

Greek-Style Asparagus Salad

Serves 4-6 as a side.

• 2 bundles of medium asparagus spears (about 500g/1lb)
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 100ml/3½fl oz of cold-pressed Greek olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 3 shallots, finely chopped
• small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon of roughly crushed black peppercorns
• Sea-salt, to taste

Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus spears and freeze to use in stocks or soup.  Rinse the spears under running water.

Bring 5cm/2½” of water to a boil in a wide saucepan.  Season lightly and add the spears.  Simmer for 3 minutes, or until the asparagus spears are just tender.  Drain and spread on kitchen towel to dry.

Place the zest and juice of the lemon in a bowl.  Add 100ml/3½fl oz of cold-pressed Greek olive oil, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano and season with salt and crushed black peppercorns.

Lightly toss the asparagus spears in the dressing.

Add the finely chopped shallots and the roughly chopped parsley.  Give everything a final toss and serve at room temperature.

Eat.

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The parent dish of this salad is peperonata.  It must be sixty plus years since Elizabeth David’s ‘A Book of Mediterranean Food’ was published in the UK and brought it to our notice.   I do think we’ve got over the grief of not being a misplaced mediterranean country now, but peperonata remains a lovely part of my summer.  It’s that silky mix of sweet peppers, onions and tomatoes. Sometimes with garlic, basil and, I read the other day, potatoes …

Really lovely – and I make it and use it in all kinds of sacrilegious non antipasto situations.

Here, the same ingredients become something different.  Rather than stew everything together over a low heat for 40 minutes or so, I’m roasting my peppers and onions.  It’s super easy to make and, like the French-Style Potato Salad, sits perfectly happily in the sunshine.

If you want to make it ahead, it will only taste better if it’s been allowed to sit in the fridge overnight.  It makes a good side dish for a barbecue or buffet and the leftovers are fantastic in a wrap.  (Try it with hummus.)  I love it in a baked potato with or without cheddar.  And, if I’m still trying convince you to give it a try, it freezes brilliantly.

It begins with lots of good things.  This is the recipe in which to make use of the bowls of small peppers you find at the market or bagged together at the supermarket.  If they are particularly small, simply add an extra pepper or two in.  As far as colour goes, I like a sunshine mix but it really doesn’t matter.

Cut off the top and the bottom.  Then run your knife along the remaining pepper strip, removing the seeds and the pith.

And slice into 5mm strips.

If presentation were my main concern I’d probably use the ends for something else, but it isn’t – and I don’t.  Slice them up.

A bowl of summer sunshine.  I’ve used 6 medium sized peppers here.

Then, top and tail the onions.  Peel and slice into 5mm crescents.  1 onion for every 3 peppers.  Roughly.  It really isn’t an exact science.

Don’t be horrified at how much garlic is going in this.  Once it has been roasted it’s sweet and mellow.

2 whole bulbs of garlic went into my salad.  1 bulb for every onion.  Roughly.  Peel and cut in half if the clove is particularly enormous.

Place everything into a big bowl.  Add 4 teaspoons of dried oregano, 2 teaspoons of ground cumin, a grinding of peppercorns and a drizzle of olive oil.

Then spread out onto baking trays.  You want the vegetables to roast rather than steam, so don’t overfill the baking trays.  Cook at 200ºC/Gas Mark 6/400ºF for 15 minutes.  (Aga Roasting Oven:  fourth set of runners for 10 minutes.)

Meanwhile, prepare the tomatoes.  6 tomatoes.  De-seed.

And cut into cubes.

When the initial cooking time is up, add the chopped tomatoes.  Give everything a stir and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes.  (Aga: 10 minutes).

Squeeze the juice from a lemon.  (I used a microplane grater to remove the zest first.  You don’t need it for this, but it freezes.  I made ‘rock cakes’.)

Place all the roasted vegetables into a big bowl and add the juice of the lemon.  Give everything a stir and let it all cool.

Just before serving, roughly chop a large bunch of parsley and add that to the salad.  Basil is a nice alternative.

Eat.

Roasted Pepper Salad

Serves 8

• 6 medium-sized peppers in a mix of colours, de-seeded and sliced into 5mm strips
• 3 onions, peeled and sliced into 5mm crescents
• 2 bulbs of garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3 teaspoons of oregano
• 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tomatoes, de-seeded and cut into cubes
• juice of 1 lemon
• large bunch of chopped parsley

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/Gas Mark 6/400ºF.

Place the pepper strips, the onion crescents and the peeled garlic cloves into a big bowl.  Add the oregano, ground cumin, freshly ground black pepper and olive oil.  Mix everything together.

Lay everything out in a shallow layer on baking sheets and cook for 15 minutes.  (Aga:  Roasting Oven fourth set of runners – 10 minutes.)

Add the chopped tomatoes and give everything a stir.  Return to the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes.  (Aga:  Roasting Oven fourth set of runners – 10 minutes.)

Transfer everything into a bowl and add the juice of a lemon.  Allow the salad to cool.  Just before serving add a large bunch of roughly chopped parsley.  Stir.

Eat.

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