Roast peppers with lavender goats cheese

Ingredients 1 Bell pepper, lavender goats cheese, lavender vinaigrette, spinach, rocket, watercress

Serves: 2 preparation: 30 minutes

This recipe uses two of my recent lavender recipes - lavender goats cheese and lavender vinaigrette. It might sound like a whole lot of lavender... but you can never have too much. This is absolutely delicious, and such a lovely twist of the classic roast pepper and goats cheese combination.

1) Slice the tops from your bell peppers, remove the core and seeds, then slice between the membranes to leave 3 or 4 slices of pepper flesh. Discard the core, seeds and membranes. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees.

2) Top a slice of bread with the roast pepper, and add the lavender goats cheese balls. Roast in the oven for a further 5 minutes, then dress with the salad and eat hot.

Lavender vinaigrette

Ingredients 1 tsp grainy mustard, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 lemon, 1 tsp lavender, 1 tsp honey (or agave syrup)

Serves: 4 Preparation: 5 minutes

It's no secret that I love lavender, or that this Provençal glory features heavily in my cooking. The vinaigrette is one of the best loved French influences and adding lavender and lemon in place of herbs and vinegar gives this a really wonderful twist. Perfect with peppery salad leaves like rocket and watercress.

1) Add the honey into the lemon juice and whisk together - the fruit acid should help even crystallised honey break down and integrate well.

2) Grind the dried lavender in a mortar and pestle and add to the honey and lemon along with the olive oil and whisk thoroughly.

3) Toss your salad leaves in the dressing and serve.

Potato & halloumi salad

Ingredients Exquisa potatoes, halloumi,  Rachel's Organic Greek Yoghurt  cucumber, mint, spinach, rocket,

Serves: 2 preparation: 30 minutes

Since doing a pregnant, I have had to stop making my own mayonnaise and buy some Hellman's instead and for the most part, I just can't bear the thought of it. As a result, this mint & cucumber yoghurt dressing was born! It's perfect with the salty tang of halloumi and some crisp salad greens.

1) Boil the potatoes in hot salted water for 20 minutes, run under the cold tap for a minute, then slice in half and set aside to cool.

2) As the potatoes are cooking, slice your halloumi and grill for a couple of minutes until one side turns golden and the other remains gorgeously gooey.

3) Peel about an inch and a half of a cucumber and slice the flesh from the juicy seeds in the centre. Discard the seeds and pop the flesh into a blender along with 3 or 4 mint leaves and 3 tablespoons of Greek Yoghurt. Pulse until combined, then stir in the potatoes and halloumi and serve.

Ruby salad

Ingredients Rocket, radish, pomegranate, red bell pepper, feta, beetroot, lime, basil oil, pumpkin seeds.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 35 minutes

This salad is not only absolutely beautiful to look at, it's marvellously healthy and absolutely delicious. The peppery hit of radish and rocket, the sweet juicey pomegranate and the sharp tang of the feta and lime really does make this one of those salads that can't quite ever be boring. Should you be in the mood for red-themed valentines treats, this should get you in the mood for love.

1) Wash the beetroot and slice off the stalks and leaves. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Carefully peel the beetroot with the nick of a knife, then once it's cool slice thinly.

2) Slice the top from the bell pepper and remove the core and seeds. Slice between the membrane segments (usually leaves 3 or 4 slices of pepper) and roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until slightly blackened.

3) Slice the pomegranate in half and hold over a bowl, fruit side down. Bang sharply with a wooden spoon to release the jewels. Alternatively, if the pomegranate is very ripe, it's sometimes as quick to just break it in half and peel off the membrane.

4) Finely slice the radish and add the rocket to a bowl and squeeze over the juice of 1 small lime and a drizzle of basil oil. Toss and transfer to your serving dish.

5) Dice the feta and layer with the beetroot and roast pepper, then sprinkle over the pomegranate and sunflower seeds.

Avocado & pink grapefruit salad

Ingredients 1 avocado, 1 pink grapefruit, rocket, tsp balsamic vinegar, tsp avocado oil, feta

Serves: 2 Preparation: 10 minutes


I adore grapefruit. It's so refreshing and vibrantly coloured and better yet it's an acquired taste that I grew up wanting to like because my mother did so there's always that tiny sense of achievement that I trained myself to love it. It's the perfect partner to creamy avocado and this salad is a definite favourite of mine.


1) Slice the avocado in half and use a tablespoon to scoop it from the shell. If the avocado is ripe enough the stone will pop out with a spoon but another good method is to prick it with a knife and pull it out. Slice the avocado into segments.


2) Peeling a grapefruit is best done with a chef's knife - peel through the thick skin and white pith until the pink of the fruit is revealed. Remove the segments by cutting into the natural sections of the fruit and popping them out with your knife.


3) Toss your rocket in a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and avocado oil, then arrange the grapefruit and avocado over the top - this salad is perfect just as it is but I like to also add a little goats cheese to bring out the tang of the grapefruit.

Roast aubergine & fig salad

Ingredients   100g Rasperries, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon basil oil, 30g basil, 2 figs, 3 baby aubergines, rocket, 30g goats cheese.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 20 minutes


I don't think I will ever get tired of the fig and goats cheese combination. If ever two ingredients were made for each other, it was these! If you haven't already - try my F&GC tart, F&GC linguine or F&GC parcels.
This salad has a zingy, tangy basil & raspberry vinaigrette dressing which brings out the sweetness of the fig, the tartness of the goats cheese and the warm, salty aubergine and peppery rocket bind it all together. The perfect autumn salad.


1) Remove the stalk and cut the baby aubergines in half, lengthways. Set them skin side down in an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with salt to draw out the bitter juices. Drizzle with a generous slosh of oil and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.


2) Grind the basil leaves in a mortar and pestle until as much liquid has been extracted from the leaves as possible. Add the raspberries and grind to a fine pulp and parse through a sieve to extract the basil and raspberry juice.


3) Add a tablespoon of basil oil, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar and whisk until combined.


4) Toss the rocket with a little of the dressing and arrange the roast aubergine and figs on top of the salad leaves. Crumble the goats cheese over the top and drizzle with salad dressing.

Hazelnut & goats cheese salad

Ingredients Salad leaves, goats cheese, hazelnuts, balsamic glaze, basil oil, pomegranate jewels

1) Roll the goats cheese into pearls and crush a small handful of hazelnuts.


2) Wash the salad leaves and toss them in a little basil oil.


3) Add the goats cheese, hazelnuts and and pomegranate jewels and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Smoked salmon pizza

Ingredients 1lb of strong white flour, 1 tablespoon of active dried yeast, 2 teaspoons of honey, 2 tablespoons of truffle oil, 250ml warm water, cream cheese, milk, dill, rocket, smoked salmon.

1) Pizza dough
Dissolve the yeast in 150ml of warm water and set aside to rest. After 10 minutes add the honey and truffle oil. Sift the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture a little at a time and mix thoroughly with your hands until it becomes dough like in consistency.
It is possible to make this if you have a dough attachment for your blender.
Transfer your dough ball to a lightly floured surface and flour your hands. Knead the dough for 10-15 minutes and then sit to rest in a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover this with a warm, damp cloth. The bowl must be big enough to allow the dough to double in size over the next hour.

Divide the dough into small dough balls and kneed these again before rolling out on a floured surface to make your pizza crust. Bake the base for 10-15 minutes.

2) Pizza sauce
Mix 2 tablespoons of cream cheese with a teaspoon of chopped dill and a little milk until it forms a smooth paste. Spread onto the pizza base.

3) Pizza topping
Top with smoked salmon and rocket and serve.

Artichoke and mozarella pizza

Ingredients 1lb of strong white flour, 1 tablespoon of active dried yeast, 2 teaspoons of honey, 2 tablespoons of truffle oil, 250ml warm water, passata tomatoes, white onion,

basil, basil oil, red wine, mozarella, artichoke, vine ripened tomatoes, rocket, lemon, balsamic glaze

1) Pizza dough
Dissolve the yeast in 150ml of warm water and set aside to rest. After 10 minutes add the honey and truffle oil. Sift the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture a little at a time and mix thoroughly with your hands until it becomes dough like in consistency.
It is possible to make this if you have a dough attachment for your blender.
Transfer your dough ball to a lightly floured surface and flour your hands. Knead the dough for 10-15 minutes and then sit to rest in a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover this with a warm, damp cloth. The bowl must be big enough to allow the dough to double in size over the next hour.

Divide the dough into small dough balls and kneed these again before rolling out on a floured surface to make your pizza crust. This dough recipe is best suited to thin, crispy pizza bases. I recommend baking the base first for 3 minutes in the oven to avoid the centre becoming soggy.

2) Pizza sauce
Finely dice half a white onion and sautee in a tablespoon of basil oil. As the onions begin to soften, add a glass of red wine and cook it off until only half the liquid remains. Add the passata tomatoes and simmer the sauce on a low heat, adding a haldful of freshly chopped basil and a good pinch of salt and black pepper.

3) Pizza toppingTo prepare the artichoke vinaigrette: Break the stem of the artichoke as close to the base as you can, then put the artichoke head first into a pan of hot, salted water and keep it submerged with an upturned pan lid (or plate). It will take 20-30 minutes to cook until tender - test the base with a knife - if it goes in smoothly it's ready! Slice the artichoke leaves and mix into equal parts of basil oil, lemon juice and sprinkle with chopped basil.

Top the part baked pizza crust with half a ladle of the pizza sauce, layer with slices of mozarella and artichoke, a few vine ripened tomatoes and bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve with rocket and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.

Roast pork loin with pineapple chutney

Ingredients Pork loin, pineapple, red chilli, white onion, butter, lemon, potato, rocket, mizuna, basil, basil oil, artichoke, honey, cumin, onion powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt.

1) To prepare the artichoke vinaigrette: Break the stem of the artichoke (enlist the help of a big strong man if it's a stubborn one and you're gender-biased *tee hee*) as close to the base as you can, then put the artichoke head first into a pan of hot, salted water and keep it submerged with an upturned pan lid (or plate). It will take 20-30 minutes to cook until tender - test the base with a knife - if it goes in smoothly it's ready! Slice the artichoke leaves and mix into equal parts of basil oil, lemon juice and sprinkle with chopped basil. Toss with the salad leaves.

2) To prepare the pineapple chutney: top and tail the pineapple and slice off the skin. Cut the pineapple flesh from the core and finely dice about a third of it. Dice half a white onion and a red chili pepper and add into a pan with a knob of butter. As the butter sizzles squeeze the juice of one lemon into it along with a dollop of honey and cook in the pan until soft.
Serve on top of a grilled pork loin.

3) To prepare the potatas bravas: peel and finely dice a large potato and sprinkle with ground cumin, onion powder, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Drizzle with olive oil and bake in an oven proof dish for 30 minutes.

Sunshine salad with artichoke vinaigrette

Ingredients Red, yellow and orange bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, artichokes, lemon, basil, basil oil, chrysanthemum petals, salad leaves, Wensleydale with cranberries.

1) To prepare the artichoke vinaigrette: Break the stem of the artichoke (enlist the help of a big strong man if it's a stubborn one and you're gender-biased *tee hee*) as close to the base as you can, then put the artichoke head first into a pan of hot, salted water and keep it submerged with an upturned pan lid (or plate). It will take 20-30 minutes to cook until tender - test the base with a knife - if it goes in smoothly it's ready! Slice the artichoke leaves and mix into equal parts of basil oil, lemon juice and sprinkle with chopped basil.

2) Core, de-seed and slice the peppers into slivers. Halve the cherry tomatoes and place under the grill (seed side up) for 5 minutes, turning the peppers half way through.

3) Mix the salad leaves with the artichokes and arrange on a plate with the tomatoes and peppers.

4) Cube the Wensleydale and add to the salad, then wash the chrysanthemums, pluck the petals and sprinkle onto the salad.

If you like the idea of flowers in salads from a decorative point of view, but don't like the idea of eating them then why not use them as a garnish? (please note - gerbera daisies are NOT edible, though daisies are!)

Asparagus hollandaise

Ingredients 4 eggs, white wine vinegar, lemon juice, butter, pine nuts, asparagus, rocket, watercress, brie

1) To make hollandaise sauce separate 3 egg yolks from the whites, discard the whites and beat the yolks. 

2) Mix 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and heat. Whisk the hot mixture into the egg yolks in a steady stream and continue to whisk until the mixture is smooth.

3) Melt 4oz of butter in a pan on a low heat and pour the egg yolk mixture into the pan in a slow stream whilst continuing to whisk. As the sauce begins to thicken take it off the heat and whisk until thick and glossy.

4) Asparagus can be boiled, steamed or grilled - personally I prefer to grill it for 2-3 minutes, it has a beautiful colour, crunchy texture and doesn't dry out

5) Assemble the salad - rocket leaves and watercress, layers of sliced brie (I used Coeur De Lyon - brie should always be French and this has a wonderful honeyed flavour), then the asparagus topped with hollandaise and pine nuts.