What I cook all summer

A note-on-the-fridge formula and some hope

Jul 05, 2024

4 ways to make a tomato salad. Image: Matt Russell

Here in London, we are waking up to a fresh start for the UK. A very wet July day (yes, another one) but with some hope. A positive change in government and four green party MP’s. I stayed up watching the results roll in while my son slept beside me. Having him near me made me even more certain that change is not happening anywhere close to fast enough, especially on climate. And I was more sure than ever that politics is not about just a vote but woven into the everyday of everything we do, the clothes we wear, what we choose to buy and eat. Each decision we make is a vote for the world we want to live in.

On that note let’s get back to food. As I’d wager that’s why you are here. It is summer(ish). Windows are open, we are (mostly) eating outside, music is on, the wine/beers/kombucha is cold and life is great.

Summer cooking is about assembling peak summer ingredients with some good seasoning and some interesting flavours and herbs. Anyone can do it.

Summer cooking for me is a series of arranging these fruits/vegetables:

Tomatoes (good ones)
Corn on the cob (cut from the cob into kernels)
Cucumber
Melon
Watermelon
Peaches/Nectarines
Runner beans (blanched or charred)
Courgettes (thinly sliced, roasted or charred)
Red peppers (for me these must be roasted or roasted from a jar)

With these flavourings:

Summer herbs
Green chilli
Capers
Gherkins/pickles
Olives
Thinly sliced and fried garlic

Sometimes with some dairy;

Feta
Mozzarella
Ricotta
Thick Greek yoghurt or labneh

And serving it all with:

Toast
Flatbreads
Jarred chickpeas
A 7 minute egg

And that’s it for this week. Goodbye.

It could actually be as simple as that because I can safely say that any combination of these things will make a good summer dinner. I will rarely reach for a pan until mid September.

Let's look at a loose recipe though as I know its good to have a guide. We’ll call it my summer eating formula. If you have my books think of it as a summer version of the flavour maps.

Melon, tomato and mozzarella with two chillies. Image: Ana Cuba

A note-on-the-fridge formula

Pick 2-3 veg from the list

//

Dress with salt, lemon/lime or vinegar and olive oil (pepper if you like) until thye taste good

//

Add a couple (2-4) of flavourings

//

Do you need a dairy element?

//

And something to mop it up

Summer corn and tomato salad with olive oil-crisped bread Image: Emma Lee

That’s it. Let’s try it out. At random. Like a recipe fruit machine.

Tomatoes/ watermelon/ runner beans / feta / capers/ olives- YES (I’d blanch the runners)
Corn/ cucumber /peach / yoghurt / summer herbs/ green chilli - YES (I’d char the corn)
Tomato/ watermelon/ nectarine / ricotta / capers /summer herbs - YES (I’d choose basil, mint, parsley)

You see it works. Write this on your fridge and I promise you that you will use it every day this summer.

Of course there can be some cooking.

Tomatoes could be blistered in a pan or the oven with olive oil and garlic.
Corn on the cob could be cut from its cob into kernels and charred in the pan to take the raw edge off and char the edges or charred whole on the BBQ
Peaches or nectarines could be charred in butter in a pan cut side down or on a grill of BBQ
Runner beans (blanched or charred) should be cooked simply blanched in salted water until they have lost their squeak or charred whole in a hot pan or on a BBQ
Courgettes can be quickly pan fried, grilled, roasted or charred
Peppers - these would be the only thing I insist you cook as I don’t like raw red peppers, if you use some from a jar I will not be mad.
Feta can be roasted in the oven with spices, lemon and oil for 30 mins
Garlic - I am not a raw garlic on salads person so if I am eating garlic in the summer I fry it (you could also add capers and olives if they fit) in olive oil or butter until crisp and if the butter browns all the better.
7-minute egg - this is an egg boiled in water at a rolling boil for 7 minutes then drained, the shell is smashed by shaking it in the pan then it is covered in cold water and then peeled. This to me is the perfect egg.

What I want you to feel here is FREE. It’s summer. You have no shoes on, you are all about sitting in the park/garden with your friends and you are not feeling like turning the oven on.

If all of this feels too free then I see you, and here are some recipes I have written over the years which subscribe in some sense to this formula.

Summer corn and tomato salad with olive oil-crisped bread

Melon, tomato and mozzarella with two chillies

4 ways to make a tomato salad