Summer recipes to stop you wilting!

Crickey it’s hot today! We’ve just finished a pretty full on schedule over the last couple of weeks, running our own summer courses as well as taking part in the amazing Art of Hosting training event in central London with a fantastic bunch of creative world-changers seeking tools for interconnection in these troubled times. But there’s no rest for the wicked as they say, and over the next few days our focus is on adding the finishing touches to the timetable for our brand new Forest Gardening course taking place next weekend at The Naturally Vegan Plot in Cornwall – exciting stuff and we are really looking forwards to it! Yet we always try to make time for good food, so here’s a couple of simple and seasonal summer recipes we’d like to share that we guarantee will keep you from wilting away!

Gazpacho (Cold summer soup)
Originating in Andalusia in Southern Spain, Gazpacho is a refreshing soup made of raw vegetables around a fresh tomato base. Served cold, it’s the perfect thing to cool you at the end of these long hot summer days!
1 medium courgette
½ a large cucumber
2 cloves of garlic
1 large onion
1 green pepper
7-8 large, very ripe fresh tomatoes
1 bunch of watercress
Juice of 2 large lemons
Olive oil
A generous dash of red wine vinegar
Herbs and seasoning, e.g. black pepper, oregano, etc.
Blend all ingredients in a liquidiser. Chill for half an hour or so and serve with crusty white bread, or with a side salad of tomatoes and fresh broad beans (see below).

Broad Bean, Basil and Tomato Salad

Luckily the days are now long gone when a ‘salad’ meant a bit of limp lettuce, a watery tomato, a few bits of cucumber and a spring onion or two to add a hint of the exotic. Nowadays they can be healthy, satisfying meals in their own right, or perfect accompaniments to main dishes whatever the time of year, and can be as complex or as simple as you like. Don’t forget the aesthetic dimension when creating a salad, aim for a pleasing mix of colours, smells, textures and flavours, and if possible make them local and seasonal – this was knocked together in a couple of minutes with produce fresh from the greengrocers and our allotment…
2 cups of fresh young broad beans, or mature beans that have been cooked for 10 minutes or so
Fresh basil leaves
4-5 fresh tomatoes
Olive oil
Cut tomatoes into quarters, tear up basil and combine with broad beans in a salad bowl. Lightly dress with olive oil.

Lots more summer recipes can be found in The Vegan Book of Permaculture by Graham Burnett – order your SIGNED copy today and get a bonus free copy of ‘The Ecology of the Self – Zone Zero Zero Permaculture Design Notes’, or buy it together with ‘Permaculture A Beginner’s Guide’ plus extra booklets for the special price of just £21!