The ‘urban garden’ has been a moderate success – ok, so the potatoes weren’t exactly abundant! The tomatoes are going strong though, the herbs flourishing (even two types of basil I’ve been unable to grow before) and these pretty salad leaves, the first harvest. One is a type of rocket, the other is known as ‘bull’s blood’ – presumably due to its striking red veins. Both have a slightly bitter flavour, a good foil for the sweet peaches and creamy cheese.This is salad number 7, the end of my (rather over the top) week-long blogiversary celebrations. Why not? I like salads.

I could not have anticipated that a simple online recipe log could become something much bigger. I was a long-time reader of food blogs way before I ever considered starting my own, lapping up the musings of veterans such as Jeanne, Sam, Molly, Pim and of course, Clotilde. Food blogs are special because they are written by mere mortals, real characters with ‘other lives’, moonlighting as food junkies. Recipes come to life through these people. The story behind it, what went wrong, what works for people who are doing it for nothing but love, at home, in real life.

Want to know what’s good for eating in other parts of the world? By default, you learn a bit about how other people live. You can follow Peter in Canada, Christie and Peter G in Australia, Aidan training as a chef in Catalonia, David ‘Up Norf’ (championing those beautiful ingredients), Wendy in Scotland, Cynthia in Barbados, Fanny in France, Kalyn in Utah, Nina in South Africa, Sophie in Oxford, Jenn in Florida, Heather in Oregon (that’s what OR means, right?) and of course my fellow Londoners like Niamh, Lizzie and Spaghetti (Your real name?!). I could go on and on, that’s only a tiny selection of the food blogs I read, as are those listed on my blogroll. I really need to update….

Food blogging is about being a part of that community, connecting with people who feel the same way and sharing your experiences. Although I love my cookbooks, most sit gathering dust for long periods – if I want a recipe, I search the blogosphere first. I’m part of a global phenomenon, a network of people as obsessed with grub as I am – sometimes it’s good to know it’s not just me getting funny looks when I’m waxing lyrical about a peach or something.

Speaking of which, these were supposed to be grilled. I forgot to light the BBQ, so I cooked them gently in a little butter and black pepper. I tossed them with the salad leaves, some walnut halves, roasted beets, crumbled gorgonzola - all drizzled with a dressing made by whisking olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. A little chopped mint is good too if you have it.

So that’s it for salad days. What shall I do next? Dessert days? Maybe not, there’s a bikini moment looming in a couple of weeks. The stew series? Not until winter. Bread Bites? No, again – the bikini. Anyway, Susan’s got it covered. BBQ Bites? Now, that could be a winner. I’ll get back to you…

So there we were, me with trowel in hand, Chris brandishing the half a grow bag with the potato plant sprouting forth – putting it down on the table as if we were about to chop it’s head off or something. We cut through the grow bag and start pushing fingers into the earth, searching for potatoes – keep searching, keeeep searching…..

It turns out our first mighty strong potato plant managed to produce all of five (ish) potatoes, poor thing! With hindsight I think it would have produced more had we left it another couple of weeks after the flowers died. Still, I must say – the flavour of those few potatoes was fantastic!! We savoured every bite – all two of them.

So, I was a bit cocky about the potatoes – but they looked so healthy! Anyway, we have another plant so there is still hope for the crop. I used Anya potatoes for this salad in the end – they have a nice waxy texture – and mixed our measly offerings in too. You can see one of them on the left of the picture above. Fight for it?

The flavours in this salad are wonderfully punchy – salty, umami-packed salami (umami-salami, umami-salami), finely shredded spring onions and that salsa verde. It’s a nice peppery variation with the watercress that’s around right now – and just think of all those extra vitamins! Oh, go on – think about them…

When we get around to digging up that other plant (aka, pulling it out of the grow bag) – I’ll take some pictures so that you can all have a good laugh admire our bountiful harvest!

New Potatoes, Crispy Salami & Watercress Salsa Verde

New potatoes
Salami Slices (I used German), cut into strips
3 spring onions, finely shredded

For the salsa verde

50g watercress
2 cloves garlic
10 anchovy fillets (the brown, salty kind)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Juice of 1/2 small lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
1 small handful capers
1 small handful cornichons (baby gherkins)
1 small handful each basil leaves, parsley leaves and mint leaves
1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard

- Cook the potatoes until just tender, drain and set aside in a serving dish.
- Add the salami slices to a hot, dry pan and cook until crispy. Drain on kitchen paper.
- Add the garlic, watercress, herbs, anchovies, cornichons and capers to a blender and pulse to a coarse paste. You can do this by hand if you like, or with a pestle and mortar. Add the lemon juice and/or mustard to loosen if necessary so you can blend it properly. Decant into a bowl and add any remaining wet ingredients, loosening it with the oil to the desired consistency. I left mine quite paste-like this time.
- Add some salsa verde to the potatoes, mix in the salami and sprinkle over the onions.

Alfalfa sprouts used to be terribly unfashionable didn’t they? My how times have changed. Cast your minds back to when ‘health food shops’ were only frequented by people who modelled their lives on Neil from The Young Ones. Dried pulses, fruits, nuts, carob, tofu, gluten-free, lactose-free, spelt – all of these things are now widely available and celebrated.

So, let’s cleanse our virtual systems shall we? After all those potatoes and cheeses we’ve been cyber-munching the past few days (I ate the lot fo’ real don’t forget), it’s time to lighten up a little. The inspiration for this salad came from the most unlikely of places. A little while ago I found myself stranded late at night in a train station with a problem, I was hungry, really hungry. I can’t remember where I was going or why I ever considered buying food at that moment rather than waiting for the safety of my own kitchen but we’ll let it go.

The options were bad, real bad. No decent purveyor of grubbage in sight. Not even a Pret or an EAT for chrissakes. And that is when it happened. I was forced to buy a sandwich in Boots. Yes, Boots the chemist. After a quick soul destroying scan of the pre-packaged sarnies my eyes settled on a sandwich that looked slightly more edible than the rest (not made by Boots I hasten to add), containing carrot, alfalfa and houmous. So there, I nicked the idea and made it better. Ha. It’s crunchy, fresh, damn good for you and surprisingly filling. I like to make a batch and add a good pile to my plate for extra angel points. Don’t worry, there’s a zingy dressing to liven things up a bit and of course, you could add some cheese, if you were feeling naughty. Cheers bugs!

Carrot, Alfalfa and Chickpea Salad with Seeds

4 large carrots
1 large handful alfalfa sprouts
1 handful sunflower seeds
1 tin chickpeas (or soak you own, if you have the time)
1 dessert spoon wholegrain mustard
Juice of 1 large lemon
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

- Grate or shred the carrots and mix with the alfalfa and chick peas.
- Mix the mustard , black pepper, a pinch of salt, lemon juice and oil. Adjust the quantities to your taste if necessary.
- Mix some (or all) of the dressing into the salad and sprinkle in the seeds.

When I first went to university, around 7 years ago now, I remember thinking that a butternut squash was a pretty exotic ingredient. For a start, it looked funny, had an almost impenetrable skin and would keep for what seemed like an age – perfect for the absent minded student. A butternut squash risotto was probably the most adventurous dish I ever cooked back then – I remember that trying to find the sage was a bit of a challenge.

I think a lot of students must start out cooking risottos, stirring and stirring until, voila! A meal! And it tastes good! When I knew next to nothing about cooking, I would chuck a bit of everything in, ruining many a decent effort in the process. Experience gives you the confidence to leave things the hell alone.

That is why I make so many salads – you can showcase seasonal ingredients at their best, with very little effort. I was a little surprised to find a butternut squash in the veg box this week – it must be an early bloomer. I wanted to roast it but still keep it nice and summery mixed with the grilled, salty cheese, spiked with red chilli and lots of herbs. The key here is to cut the beetroot into small dice and the squash into larger, bite size chunks to ensure they are both cooked at the same time. My halloumi could do with a little more grilling but I am very impatient when it comes to one of my favourite cheeses.

You could use any mixture of soft herbs – I added a bit of mint to contrast the chilli heat, some chives and a little parsley for freshness. Make sure you have some sort of citrus on hand too for cutting through everything – I used lemon as I always have loads hanging around. In fact, I think they must be in my top ten store cupboard ingredients. Running out of lemons is a major crisis at Food Stories HQ. A final flourish of sunflower seeds for a bit of crunch and it’s a goer.

Beetroot, Squash and Halloumi with Chilli-Herb Dressing

100g halloumi cheese, cubed
3 small beets, cut into small dice
1 small butternut squash, cut into large chunks
1 small handful sunflower seeds
1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
1 handful mint leaves, chopped
1 handful chives, chopped
1 handful parsley, leaves picked and left whole
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
Juice of 1 lemon
1 bulb garlic

- Preheat the oven to 200C (425F, gas 7).
- Put the squash, beets and garlic in a roasting tin, splash with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast for around 45 minutes until the veggies are tender.
- Fry the halloumi in a dry pan until golden.
- Mix the lemon juice, herbs, chilli and mustard together with some pepper fine salt and mix well. When the veggies are done, squeeze a few cloves of the roasted garlic in too. I like to serve the rest of the cloves on the side but they are also delicious spread on toasted bread with some fruit and/or cheese.
- Put the veggies and halloumi on a serving dish, pour over the dressing and add the seeds.

Happy blogiversary Food Stories! One year old today – how time flies when you’re having fun. As you may know by now (if not, where have you been?!), I am celebrating for a whole week by updating with a new summer salad recipe every day. This post however, is not about salad – we’ll get back to that tomorrow, this post is about a kebab. Yes, you heard me – I am celebrating my first blogiversary with a kebab and I make no apologies. Food Stories is classy you see….Anyway, I maintain that a kebab can also be top notch grub – so there.

My very first post (cringe – please don’t read it), exactly one year ago today, was about the very same subject – a fine way to start a food blog in my opinion. Of course, this isn’t going to be your average slimy offender with unidentifiable brown meat and cheap-tasting, gloopy, chemical infused sauces. Would you like some brown tinged iceberg with that? Nah, you’re alright thanks mate. Not that I haven’t eaten one quite a few of course (alcohol can be a terrible thing) – that’s how I know…..

This, this, is lamb infused with a heady spiced rub and cooked slowly on our shiny new barbecue – topped with a cooling tzatziki, a drizzle of Chris’ chilli super sauce, crunchy tomato, onion and coriander salad – all sealed in a warm freshly made flat bread. This is by no means an ‘authentic’ recipe for the lamb or even the tzatziki but it is ours and we are very happy with it. Nom, nom, nom. Happy blogiversary Food Stories! Nom, nom, nom….

P.S – We also ate pickled chillies. Nom, nom, nom…..

Spiced Rub for Lamb
This made enough for a really small leg of lamb (about 600g).

3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 sprig rosemary
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon cayenne
Zest of 2 lemons
5 black peppercorns
4 cardamom pods, seeds removed and husks discarded
Small pinch saffron (optional)
Olive oil

- Pound everything to within an inch of it’s life in a pestle and mortar and loosen to a paste with olive oil. Rub on your chosen cut and leave to marinate overnight if possible.

Tzatziki

Total Greek yoghurt (that’s my fave brand)
Small bunch mint leaves. shredded
Small bunch dill, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed with some sea salt
Black pepper
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 large cuke

- Mix together and adjust quantities until you are happy with the flavour.