I’ve always loved summer. I adore the warm sunshine, and the long, light days stretching deep into the evenings are those I look forward to most.
And, of course, this is the time of year rich with fresh produce – from the garden, fields, and orchards. My refrigerator is currently completely full of soft fruits, cherries, beans, herbs, courgettes, salad leaves, young turnips, beets, summer greens, and edible flowers, and I feel so very fortunate to have such a bounty.
Having said that, there are days when it’s genuinely difficult to know what to do with it all – not that I’m complaining! I have been jamming and fermenting as much as possible, and it looks as though I will be doing that for a good while yet.
But for me, one of the greatest pleasures of having all this food to hand, particularly from the garden, lies in being able to put together a wonderfully tasty salad in no time at all.
The other day I did just that. Using salad (rocket, mizuna, young beet leaves, radishes) and vegetables (slow-fried onions, courgette ribbons) from the garden, together with some Puy lentils and gorgeous burrata, our dinner was soon ready. Finished with an impromptu pesto (rocket, nasturtium leaves and flowers) and generous splash of a lush olive oil, it seemed to me to capture what summer is truly all about.
