Cucumber and Avocado Salad with Asian Style Dressing

The simplest of salads, quick, easy and divine. The cucumber and avocado so soft and delicately balance with the dressing.

Try some other cucumber recipes – Cucumber, Feta, Mint and Dill Salad, Cucumber Yoghurt Salad (Raita), Tomato and Cucumber Cold Soup, or Mozzarella and Cucumber Salad with Caperberries and Lemon.

Perhaps you are looking for Avocado Recipes? Have a look at Avocado and Celery Cold Soup.

Browse our other Cucumber recipes here and here, and our Salad recipes here and here. We have a collection of Bittman Salads here. Or be inspired by our Mid Summer recipes here.

Beetroot, Orange and Black Olive Salad

Did I tell you just how good Ottolenghi’s Beetroot, Orange and Black Olive Salad is? It is amazing. From Plenty, a favourite amongst his books. It is a great salad for late Winter and early Spring, but can be made any time.

Our similar recipes include Orange and Walnut Salad, and Orange and Olive Salad with Mint and Basil.

Or are you looking for Beetroot Salads? Try Beetroot, Herb and Nut Salad, Roasted Beetroot Salad with Sweetcorn, and Beets in a Herb Dressing.

Also browse our other Ottolenghi dishes, all of our Beetroot Recipes, Orange Recipes, and Olive Recipes. We have a wealth of Salad Recipes for you to try. Or explore our Early Spring recipes for more inspiration.

Zucchini Thoran | Zucchini Stirfried with Green Chilli and Coconut

Kerela food is so wonderful, full of the scent of coconuts and palm trees, spices and backwaters. So, blessed this week with large numbers of very large zucchinis, home and organically grown by my neighbour, this bland vegetable became a Thoran. Thorans are spicy dishes that turn mundane vegetables into a spicy delicious meal. How elegant the dish is!

Similar recipes include Spinach and Sweetcorn Bhurji, Cabbage Thoran, and Sweet Potato Poriyal.

You might like our other Thoran/Poriyal recipes, other Vegetable Fry recipes and other Zucchini recipes. Browse all our recipes from Kerala. Our Indian recipes are here and our Indian Essentials here. Or explore our Late Summer recipes.

Italian Tomato Sauce

This is a gorgeously herby tomato sauce with an Italian swagger. It cooks slowly down then is blended well (using a blender) or coarsely (with an immersion blender), and the sauce can be frozen. It pairs delightfully with cheeses like fontina, can serve as a fresh chutney, used as a spread in layered sandwiches and toasties, and of course serves as a sauce as well.

It was my daughter who first pointed out how good this recipe is. It has been in use in our household since 1998. That is how good it is!

Similar dishes include Umbrian Cure-all Sauce, Salsa Verde, Tomato and Chilli Jam, Tomato Paste, and Baked Tomato Pasta Sauce.

Feel free to browse recipes from our Retro Recipes series. You might also like our Tomato recipes here and here. Or you might like to browse Sauce recipes here and here. Check out our easy Autumn recipes here and here.

EARLY SPRING Hints, Tips and Info for an Easy Time in Your Spring Kitchen | Seasonal Cooking

As we move out of our dark winter kitchens we begin to stock up for our essentials for warmer, lighter weather cooking. Our minds and hands turn to stocking up for our Warmer Weather cooking.

You can also browse other Early Spring recipes:

• Indian Deliciousness
• Healthy Salads, Dips, Dressings and BBQs
• Delicious Vegetables
• Warming Soup Recipes
• Nourishing Goodies, Grains, Lentils, Preserves and More
• Comforting Drinks and Sweets
• Helpful Hints for Early Spring

 

Please let us know if you find links that are not working. We would love to fix them for you.

EARLY AUTUMN Tips, Hints and Info for Easy TImes in the Autumn Kitchen | Seasonal Cooking

We are stocking up for Winter and preparing for shorter days and colder nights. These Autumn months are busy ones, putting things away to be used when summer produce is no longer available.

Enjoy our Helpful Hint Inspiration for Early Autumn.

You can also browse other Early Autumn recipes:

• Indian Deliciousness
• Autumnal Soup Recipes
• Salads, Dips, Dressings and Sauces
• Wonderful Vegetable Dishes
• Goodies, Grains, Lentils, Preserves and More – Volume 1 and Volume 2
• Drinks and Sweets
• Helpful Hints for Early Autumn

If you notice any links that have problems, please let us know – we’d love to fix them for you.

EARLY SPRING Sweet Things and Drinks for Bliss in Spring’s Changing Weather | Seasonal Cooking

Sweet things comfort us during this move from Wintery weather to Spring warmth and Spring rains. Sweetness brings comfort in the Early Spring fickle weather. Don’t put away the coats and blankets just yet, and keep the heaters functioning – it is such a fickle season, Spring.

You can also browse other Early Spring recipes:

• Indian Deliciousness
• Healthy Salads, Dips, Dressings and BBQs
• Delicious Vegetables
• Warming Soup Recipes
• Nourishing Goodies, Grains, Lentils, Preserves and More
• Comforting Drinks and Sweets
• Helpful Hints for Early Spring

 

Please let us know if you find links that are not working. We would love to fix them for you.

EARLY AUTUMN Sweet Things and Drinks for Fun Times | Seasonal Cooking

Sweet things and a good cuppa always bring comfort. As Summer wanes, we miss her and grieve for the long days of Summer. Yet Autumn also brings great pleasures in her simpler and slower rhythms. A few sweet things punctuate the days and our teas and drinks still hold importance

Enjoy our Sweets and Drinks Inspiration for Early Autumn.

You can also browse other Early Autumn recipes:

• Indian Deliciousness
• Autumnal Soup Recipes
• Salads, Dips, Dressings and Sauces
• Wonderful Vegetable Dishes
• Goodies, Grains, Lentils, Preserves and More – Volume 1 and Volume 2
• Drinks and Sweets
• Helpful Hints for Early Autumn

If you notice any links that have problems, please let us know – we’d love to fix them for you.

EARLY AUTUMN Goodies, Grains, Lentils, Preserves and More for Autumn Sustenance | Volume 1 | Seasonal Cooking

Autumn is such a joy. The cooling weather of Autumn arrives, yet food is bi-seasonal — we are not yet ready to let the last season go but are making tentative forays into the food of the coming season. We need dishes to remind us of summer, and others to warm our hearts.

Enjoy our Goodies, Grains and More Inspiration for Early Autumn.

You can also browse other Early Autumn recipes:

• Indian Deliciousness
• Autumnal Soup Recipes
• Salads, Dips, Dressings and Sauces
• Wonderful Vegetable Dishes
• Goodies, Grains, Lentils, Preserves and More – Volume 1 and Volume 2
• Drinks and Sweets
• Helpful Hints for Early Autumn

If you notice any links that have problems, please let us know – we’d love to fix them for you.

 

EARLY SPRING Goodies, Grains, Lentils, Preserves, and More for Spring Revitalisation | Seasonal Cooking

Early Spring is such a transitional season as we let go of heavier dishes and move to lighter dishes. Grains and Lentils still feature as they are the perfect transitional food. We finish off making preserves with winter stock, and move into using the spoils of Spring. Grains and other Goodies still feature well into Spring.

You can also browse other Early Spring recipes:

• Indian Deliciousness
• Healthy Salads, Dips, Dressings and BBQs
• Delicious Vegetables
• Warming Soup Recipes
• Nourishing Goodies, Grains, Lentils, Preserves and More
• Comforting Drinks and Sweets
• Helpful Hints for Early Spring

 

Please let us know if you find links that are not working. We would love to fix them for you.

Cranberry Tea with Fennel, Cardamom and Coriander Seed

Summer time is the time for sweet refreshing herbal infusion teas of an evening. You can make them from ingredients that you have in your kitchen. This one came about on a hot summery night on the Island of Kauai.

You might like to also try The Making of Herbal Teas, The 5 C’s Golden Spiced Tea, and Yogi Tea. You can browse all our tea and infusion recipes.

Pitta Tea | For Rainy Weather | A Household Essential

I like to drink a cuppa tea each day. It can be anything, white, green, brown, black. Fermented. Not. Herbal, spices or flowers. Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Ayurvedic. Gingery. Minty. Rosebuds. Dried apples. Dried mandarin skins. You name it, I drink it. I even grow it! (Lemongrass, lemon verbena, cardamom leaves, kaffir lime leaves, parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary…)

Just a note. In India, where so much of our tea comes from, Tea is Tea – real, proper, genuine tea. Anything else is something else. Here, “tea” means something, anything, that is infused in hot water.

Pitta tea, an ayurvedic tea very good for Rainy weather (here, late Autumn and late winter/pre spring weather), is quite drying, so I also make it when I need something to stop runny noses and other unpleasant symptoms of colds and flu.

You might like to read The Making of Herbal Teas.

Similar Teas include Cumin, Coriander and Fennel Tea, Unusual Herbal Teas, The 5 C’s Golden Spiced Tea, and Yogi Tea.

You can browse all our tea recipes and our Chai recipes. Or explore our Mid Autumn recipes.

EARLY SPRING Soups for Managing the Changable Spring Weather | Seasonal Cooking

Soups help that transition from Winter to Spring, and nourish us on the Wintery days of fickle Spring. How we still cling to Soups in Early Spring to help us through those cold, windy Spring days. Don’t put your coats away yet!

Enjoy our transitional Soups for Early Spring.

You can also browse other Early Spring recipes:

• Indian Deliciousness
• Healthy Salads, Dips, Dressings and BBQs
• Delicious Vegetables
• Warming Soup Recipes
• Nourishing Goodies, Grains, Lentils, Preserves and More
• Comforting Drinks and Sweets
• Helpful Hints for Early Spring

 

Please let us know if you find links that are not working. We would love to fix them for you.

EARLY AUTUMN Soups for Autumn Warmth | Seasonal Cooking

The importance of soups slowly emerges once again. Lighter foods begin still abound, but our thoughts are on the cold weather to come. Still, it is a transitional month, and the weather demands warmer dishes on the colder, autumn rain type of days.

Enjoy our Soup Inspiration for Early Autumn.

You can also browse other Early Autumn recipes:

• Indian Deliciousness
• Autumnal Soup Recipes
• Salads, Dips, Dressings and Sauces
• Wonderful Vegetable Dishes
• Goodies, Grains, Lentils, Preserves and More – Volume 1 and Volume 2
• Drinks and Sweets
• Helpful Hints for Early Autumn

If you notice any links that have problems, please let us know – we’d love to fix them for you.

EARLY SPRING Salads, Dips and Dressings for Endless Variety in Spring | Seasonal Cooking

At last, Spring arrives and a variety of vegetables, fresh greens especially, are available. And oh the joy of having a variety of Salads again! How important it is in Early Spring to increase the intake and variety of fruit and vegetables. Try some bitter greens too.

Enjoy our Salad Inspiration for Early Spring.

You can also browse other Early Spring recipes:

• Indian Deliciousness
• Healthy Salads, Dips, Dressings and BBQs
• Delicious Vegetables
• Warming Soup Recipes
• Nourishing Goodies, Grains, Lentils, Preserves and More
• Comforting Drinks and Sweets
• Helpful Hints for Early Spring

Please let us know if you find links that are not working. We would love to fix them for you.