You can find za’atar in any Arab or Middle Eastern grocers. There are several different versions around but most are based on thyme, sesame seeds and sumac.

250g cooked (roasted or boiled) beetroot – peeled and cut into chunks
1 clove garlic – chopped
1 red chili – chopped (remove the seeds if you don’t want it too spicy)
125g or so of grrek yogurt
75g mashed potato – not essential but takes a bit of the edge off the earthiness of the beets
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon za’atar
a little black pepper
salt to taste
2 spring onions to garnish – finely sliced

Place the beetroot, chili, garlic and yogurt in a food processor and blend until smooth. Don’t worry if you have a few smallish lumps of beetroot. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the potato, vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup, za’atar, salt and pepper.

Transfer to a flattish plate and spread evenly. Top with sliced spring onion. You can also add some chopped hazelnuts and crumbled goat of feta cheese.

I made this as part of a Mediterranean Medley on Sunday night. Very simple, serve with flatbreads as a tasty pre dinner snack. Sweet cherry tomatoes, fiery chili and salty feta cheese that goes very creamy when baked.

Serves about 4 with lots of bread as a starter

1x200g pack of feta cheese
Small bunch of ripe cherry tomatoes
splash olive oil
pinch of oregano – dried or fresh
1 red chili – halved or sliced depending on how hot you want it. I halved it lengthwise so as to remove the chili after baking for those that fear the heat

Place cheese, tomatoes, chili in tin foil. sprinkle with olive oil and oregano. Wrap in foil then bale in oven at 180C for about 15-20 minutes. Serve hot

So to break with tradition I thought I’d try and make a lentil salad – something resembling the lentil salad I bought for lunch from Green Valley a couple of weeks ago. My family never cease to spring surprises on me and everyone wanted some. One tin of lentils doesn’t feed five hungry people and having been to the supermarket twice a day every day I wasn’t going back a third time.

So I started by cooking a couple of cupfuls of long grain rice.

Place the rice in a pan, rinse with water a few times. Then, leaving about 1cm of water above the rice, bring to the boil. When peaks form, turn the heat off and put the lid on. Leave until cool.

Now for the rest of the salad

1 onion – halved then finely sliced
½ red pepper – finely sliced
½ green pepper – finely sliced
1x400g tin of green lentils – drained
olive oil
salt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon paprika

Heat about 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan. When hot add the cumin seeds and onion, then turn the heat to medium and fry gently until the onion is soft and starting to brown. Now add the rest of the ingredients and cook slowly until the pepper starts to soften. Remove from heat.

When cool, add to the rice, mix well and serve with feta cheese, olives and red wine.

This makes 6

2 handfuls of puy lentils
1 pack of puff pastry – ready rolled is easiest
2 spring onions – finely sliced
1 red chili – finely chopped
Handful of coriander – finely chopped
100g feta cheese – crumbled
1 clove garlic – very finely chopped
2 tablespoons greek yogurt
salt and pepper
Salad leaves – rocket, spinach, mizuna, etc work well

Place the lentils in a pan, cover with water and bring to boil then simmer for about 20 minutes until tender but still holding their shap. Drain and allow to cool.

Cut the pastry sheet into six squares, score inside the edge to create a frame, brush with milk then bake at 180C for about 15 minutes until puffed up and browned.

Meanwhile take the other ingredients and mix well in a bowl with the puy lentils.

When the pastry is done remove from oven, top with salad leaves then a dollop of the lentil mixture

Put your oven onto 220C. Take a large roasting pan and place 3 red peppers (halved and deseeded), 5 whole tomatoes and 6 unpeeled cloves of garlic on it. Drizzle with oil, add a little salt and pepper, then roast for about 30 minutes. Nw take 3 red chilis, half them lengthwise and deseed them. Add to the roasting vegetables and close the oven door for a further 20 minutes.

When everything is charred and wrinkly, remove from the oven and place in a pan with 900ml of vegetable stock. Bring to boil then simmer for about 15 minutes. Let it cool a little then whiz it all up in a blender or with a stick blender.

Take a handful of mint leaves. Chop finely and mix with some olive oil.

To serve, put the soup in a bowl, top with some of the minty oil and some crumbled feta cheese.

Reminder to self: Buy some new soup bowls

This is all I could fit into shot and as everyone was hungry, I wasn’t allowed much time to take photos. In addition to what you see here we had hummus and potatoes fried with chili

Beetroot and Radish Salad

Taze Fasulye

Filo triangles stuffed with feta, spinach and pine nuts

Ful Medames

Mushroom risotto with a whole roasted field mushroom to start. The mushrooms were topped with a heaped teaspoon of basil pesto and served with pea shoots.

Followed by involtini (aubergine stuffed with feta, pistachios, bulghar and capers – Thanks to Nigella for this!) with baby new potatoes roasted in olive oil

Recipes to follow shortly

And so the glut moves on from courgettes, to beans and now to beetroot. This is delicious and makes a change from soup. I served it with warmed pittas, taze fusulye, grilled halloumi and felafel.

Take 2-3 beetroots. Boil for about 20 minutes, then allow to cool and little, slip off the skins, dice and leave to cool. Meanwhile take 3 tabelspoons olive oil, the same amount of lemon juice, a few mint leaves finely chopped and salt and pepper. Mix and leave to stand.

Put the cooled beetroot in a large bowl with 200g of dice feta cheese. Pour the dressing over, mix and serve.

The quantities make about 6-8 rösti.

1 largish courgette
1 medium onion
5 medium waxy salad potatoes – Nicola or Charlotte are good
1 200g pack of feta cheese
1 medium egg
few springs of mint
salt and pepper
a little olive oil for frying

Grate the courgette, onion, potatoes (just give them a good scrub and leave the skins on) and cheese. Place in a large bowl and add the egg, chopped mint and seasoning. Give it a good stir.

Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat. Take a handful or forkful of the mixture and shape roughly into a burger shape (I cheated and used muffin/poaching rings). Place gently into the frying pan and fry off slowly until the potato is cooked and the underneath os golden. Gently flip over until the other side is nicely browned.

To serve, place a large bunch of watercress or lambs lettuce on the centre of a dinner plate. Place one or two rösti on top depending on how big you made them and how hungry you or your guests are. I served mine with some home-made beetroot relish made with beetroot, bramley apples, sugar, onions and vinegar. You could also use a simple natural yogurt, mint and chive dressing which I think would work well.

Having eaten more than my fair share of sag paneer of late I thought I’d try something new. This recipe was my own creation but inspired by Leith’s Lentil and Cheshire Cheese Tart and The Gate’s Schnitzel from their first book.

Served with a saffron mash and green vegetables this would make a good dinner party dish to impress your guests.

First the filling
100g puy lentils
1 bay leaf
vegetable stock
100g bulghar wheat
large bunch of spinach
100g feta cheese – crumbled
1 tablespoon capers – roughly chopped
1 green chili – finely chopped
1 clove garlic – finely chopped
1 egg

Put the lentils in a pan with the bay leaf. Cover with stock and bring to boil then simmer for about 20 minutes until tender but still holding their shape. Drain, discard the bay leaf and leave to cool.

Put the bulghar in another bowl. Add enough boiling water to just cover, put a lid of plate over the bowl and leave for about 15-20 minutes until all the water has been absorbed. If some water remains, drain this off then add to the lentils.

Wilt the spinach in a large pan with a little water. Squeeze as much water as possible from the spinach and chop finely.

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan. Add the chili and garlic, stir, then add the spinach. Fry for about 5 minutes then add to the lentil and bulghar mixture.

Now add the crumbled feta, the chopped capers and a beaten egg. Season with salt and pepper, mix well and leave to one side.

Now for the aubergines
4 aubergines
lots of olive oil

Top and tail the aubergines then cut lengthwise into ¾cm slices. Discarding the edge ones that are mainly skin you should get four good slices per aubergine – 16 in total is enough to make 8 schnitzels.

Brush the aubergine slices on both sides with olive oil, place on a baking sheet and bake in a 220C oven for 10-15 minutes until soft and starting to brown. Allow to cool.

The crispy, crumbly coating
3 slices white bread
large bunch parsley

Stick the bread in the food processor along with the parsley and whiz into breadcrumbs. If you don’t have a food processor you could use bought breadcrumbs and add finely chopped parsely. Season well with salt and black pepper. Put the breacrumb mixture onto a large plate.

Take another plate and beat an egg on it.

To assemble and bake
Lay half of the aubergine slices on a chopping board. Divide the lentil mixture evenly between the slices then spread the mixture over each aubergine slice. Take the other 8 slices and place one on top of each lentil-covered slice.

Now carefully lift the aubergine sandwich and place in the beaten egg, making sure both sides are covered. It may be easier to spoon the egg over the aubergine to stop the filling falling out.

Now lift again and place in the breacrumb plate, covering top and bottom in crumbs. Lift again and place on a baking sheet. Do all the schnitzels this way then bake in the oven at 200C for around 25 minutes until the breacrumbs turn golden and the filling is hot.

To make the saffron mash, peel, chop and boil the potatoes. In another saucepan heat some milk or cream with a large knob of butter and a generous pinch of saffron. When the potatoes are cooked, drain, return to the pan then strain the milk to remove the saffron strands and add to the potatoes. Mash until all the lumps have gone.