A wholesome summer menu
Tasty, fuss-free and designed to share, these dishes are destined to become favourites, says NZ House & Garden’s Sally Butters.
Bean and feta salad with minted kale dressing
This is a simple and delicious combination, full of green goodness. Creamy goat’s feta is wonderful with the charred, tender-crisp vegetables. The dressing is a really handy recipe because it is so versatile in terms of which herbs you use – for instance, you could use parsley instead of kale.
For the salad
1kg mixed round green beans, butter beans and sugar snap or snow peas
1 tbsp olive oil
150g goat’s feta, crumbled 70g pine nuts, toasted*
For the dressing
2⁄3 cup mint leaves 1⁄2 cup kale
1 lemon, juice and finely grated zest
3⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil
To make the salad, bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil. Blanch each type of vegetable separately then drop into iced water and dry on paper towels.
Heat oil in a griddle pan. Once hot, sear beans and peas in batches for a few minutes until lightly charred. Transfer to a large bowl. Pour dressing over and toss to combine. Transfer salad to a serving dish and sprinkle with feta and the toasted pine nuts.
Dressing: Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well combined. Season to taste. If you don’t have a food processor, finely chop the herbs then place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk well to combine.
* To toast the pine nuts, cook them in a hot pan, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes until fragrant and coloured. Remove from pan to cool. Serves 6-8 as a side dish
Wholesome coconut & blueberry scone
This is made as one large, round scone to make things quick and easy. The recipe uses wholemeal spelt flour and coconut sugar but it would be fine to use another sugar, such as brown sugar, and regular wholemeal flour – but use slightly less or the mixture will be dry (spelt flour contains more moisture).
Honey and coconut yoghurt make the perfect sweet and creamy topping. 1 cup plain flour
1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
2 tbsp coconut sugar 1⁄4 cup desiccated coconut 1⁄2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
100g butter, chopped
1⁄2 cup cream
2 eggs
1 lemon, finely grated zest 3⁄4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)
1 egg, beaten for basting
1⁄2 cup coconut chips
Icing sugar for dusting Coconut yoghurt and liquid honey
to serve
Heat oven to 200C and set a rack just below the middle of the oven.
Place flours, sugar, coconut, salt, baking powder and butter in a food processor and pulse until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Tip into a mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together cream, eggs and lemon zest. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and fold together until almost combined then gently mix in blueberries.
Turn out dough on a lightly floured bench and press into a 15-20cm circle. Place on a lined baking tray and score into wedges with a knife. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with coconut chips.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden (allow a little extra cooking time if using frozen berries). Serve dusted with icing sugar and topped with coconut yoghurt and a drizzle of honey. Serves 6-8
Summer seafood curry with coriander couscous
This light, tomato-based curry is quick and simple and a perfect way to enjoy your catch after a successful day’s fishing.
For the curry
1 tbsp flavourless oil, such as rice bran 1 onion, diced
3 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1⁄2 tsp chilli powder
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves garlic, crushed
5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled
and grated
3-4 green chillies, seeded and
finely chopped
30 curry leaves, fresh or dried 400ml coconut cream
400g tin chopped tomatoes
3 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 lemon, finely grated zest and juice 1 cup water
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp flaky sea salt
2 good-size fillets of fresh fish,
cut into chunks
About 10 large prawns
1 large handful coriander Fresh limes to serve
For the couscous
2 cups couscous 1 tbsp olive oil Handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Heat oil in a large pot and fry onion until soft. Add turmeric, coriander, nutmeg, chilli powder, cinnamon stick, garlic, ginger, chillies and curry leaves. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add coconut cream, tinned and fresh tomatoes, lemon zest and juice, water, brown sugar and salt. Bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the fish and prawns and cook for 5-10 minutes until seafood is cooked. Place into a large serving bowl and garnish with coriander leaves and lime wedges.
Serve with coriander couscous.
Coriander couscous:
Prepare couscous following packet instructions. Add olive oil, season with salt and pepper and fluff up with a fork. Fold in coriander and place in a serving bowl. Serves 4-5