Author: Chef M

Tomato salads that feature big, meaty slices of succulent, multicolor heirloom tomatoes are a classic way to enjoy what is perhaps the most popular type of all summer produce. The addition of grilled tuna and white beans dressed with an aromatic citrus-anise dressing turns a side salad into a main-dish salad that’s elegant enough to serve to company.

There are many versions of succotash that most Southern of summer side dishes. Some are simply lima beans and corn and others include chopped sweet pepper as well. This hearty salad expands on that theme with butterhead lettuce, blue cheese, chicken, and bacon. Lima beans have a very short growing season and are very seldom available fresh. If you can find them, by all means use them. Otherwise, frozen lima beans like frozen peas are very high quality.

Fresh bay leaves add a heavenly flavour and scent to this lovely dish. They make a really pretty dessert – perfect with a coconut or conventional rice pudding. Cut them using the chopstick trick outlined in the hasselback coquina squash recipe, but leave in the cores, or they will collapse during the cooking process they’re easy enough to remove later.

Carnaroli risotto rice and coconut milk are both favourite ingredients amongst my storecupboard staples, so making this splendid dessert is something I can usually do whenever the fancy takes me. I’ve paired it with inky blackberries and lime zest here, but you could happily vary the fruit to suit the season.

Queen of puddings is an old-fashioned British nursery pudding made of bread or cake crumbs cooked in an egg custard, topped with jam/jelly and crowned with meringue. I’ve swapped the traditional base for a chewy coconut macaroon mixture, which I think adds something deliciously different and rather special.