Five a day?!

We went to Waitrose (for those who are not familiar with the name this is my favourite supermarket as though probably more expensive I prefer its ethos and it can be relied upon for quality foods) on Wednesday - it is in the next town so we don't go every week but Wednesday we did and I stocked up on fruit and vegetables. They had "Buy one get one free" on packs of English strawberries so we had some of those. The blueberries and redcurrants were reduced as the sell by date was that day so I got some of those as well as a pack of fresh figs at half price and some conference pears as well as the usual bananas and a couple of veggies and the ingredients for the recipe below.

Just like jewels aren't they? So shiny and delicious looking?

Yesterday for lunch I tried out a recipe from the BBC Good Food website which I had been meaning to try for ages - Roasted Summer Vegetables with Chick peas. It was so easy to make - simply cut up an aubergine, a courgette, a red pepper and an onion and put them into a roasting tin. Add a peeled cubed potato and some garlic. Toss in some corriander seeds as well as seasoning to taste and roast in a hot oven for 45 minutes turning once or twice during cooking. (This is the amount I used for 2 of us ie half what the recipe stated)

Remove from the oven and add a tin of tomatoes and some tinned chickpeas drained and sit the tin on a burner to bring it all to a simmer - stir gently. When it is all piping hot add chopped fresh corriander and it's ready to serve - how easy is that?

Serve with some crusty bread fresh from the local bakery.

As I had some Chantenay carrots left from the previous day's meal I cooked those to serve with it too though for presentation points it would have looked better with a green veg wouldn't it?! That said the crisp texture of the carrots went well with the softer roasted vegetables and we enjoyed it anyway.

No leftovers!

For dessert some of the lovely berries served with some amaretti biscuits and ice cream - mmmm!

I noticed that we even had amatching design on the table mats - but of course!!


Don't you just love my little vintage plate? My mother-in-law gave me several of these together with a couple of cups and saucers many years ago and I find the plates really useful. The cups are not really good enough to drink out of now but I have some flowers in one of them and they look good too. I just love really old china and I have quite a few pieces - I feel an idea for another post coming on!! Watch this space.