I promised you a marrow...and here it is. A great big organic lovely marrow from Sainsbury's, of all places. Well, we couldn't not buy it, could we? You know you want some...



For those of you going "Ewwww! Marrow!" I promise you it's yummy and scrummy roasted and in soups. Buy it! Or we risk losing vegetables that are part of Britain's food heritage. It was reported recently that shops were considering not stocking cauliflower because no one was buying it. Same to marmalade. Vote with your fork and fight back, I say, before it's all eerily perfect apples, shrivelled blueberries and Kenyan string beans (so called because they actually taste like string 0_o).
I used some of this marrow in a split pea and broccoli soup. It was pretty darn good.



More soup...but cold. Beatin' the heat with a not quite authentico, but quick and simple gazpacho for my afternoon snack. So refreshing and yummy. Here's the recipe:

Cheaty Gazpacho (Chilled Tomato Soup)

Serves 2

Ingredients
400g tin chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
1/2 a red pepper
About 1/4 of a smallish cucumber
1 tbsp olive oil
1-1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp tomato puree (optional but makes it more tomatoey)
Chopped mint, chives or basil, to garnish (optional)

Method
Chill all the ingredients in the fridge for a good couple of hours. Stick some soup bowls in the freezer (this helps it all stay cool-tepid gazpacho is a friend to no-one).
Whizz all the ingredients in a blender (briefly mind, or it'll go a bit frothy), adjust seasoning and serve, sprinkled with your choice of herbs.
You can serve this with some little cubes of fried bread, or some wedges of hard-boiled egg, or Spanish olives, or whatever you fancy.
If you want to put ice cubes in, like I did, I suggest you use those plastic ones with gel inside. You can get loads of cute shapes, and they don't dilute the soup, which is what happened to mine and I had to fish them out (I loathe thin soup).
You can also make this ahead and leave it in your fridge. Enjoy!



Dinner yesterday. A pretty simple supper of cous cous and veggies roasted with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (marrow!, courgette, aubergine, pepper, carrots and cauliflower). I chucked some chickpeas in mine and Pie and my mum had grilled haloumi cheese. I toasted almonds but ate them all beforehand out of hunger (it was a late supper)! Roasted was definitely a winner. Sweeter than courgette and yummy, yummy, yummy!



Dinner tonight. A jacket potato with cherry tomatoes and tofu "ricotta" with basil. Plus a HUGE pile of lovely organic broccoli. Pie didn't want any at first:
Me: How much broccoli do you want?
Pie: I don't want any. It doesn't go.
Me: Yes it does.
Pie: (Incredulous) Cheese and butter (she ALWAYS has this on jacket potatoes, without exception. She doesn't even vary the cheese. It's ALWAYS cheddar.), and BROCCOLI?
Mum: It's nice. Like a cheese and broccoli gratin.
Pie: No!
Me: Do you want some in a separate bowl?
Pie: That would be nice.

What.

I've never had tofu "ricotta" before, and it was pretty good. I was so scared of not liking it and wasting a big lump of tofu. I used this recipe from the PPK and added a bit of miso and tahini to make it slightly more "cheesey". It had a perfect consistency, but it would have been better with sundried tomatoes added (I couldn't find them in our cupboard of doom). However, it was what I call a "nervous" food-one that you wouldn't serve to anyone else because you just know they wouldn't like it. You have to be used to fake cheese to "get it" I think. The trick with "uncheeses" is not to expect them to taste like dairy cheeses, because they just won't. You have to appreciate them for what they are.
God, I've been tired today. Going to the hospital tomorrow though, so a lie in for me :-)
Have a nice day, wherever you are!