January 16th, 2025
~~~
Hello dear foodies and welcome to 2025!
I know I am not the only person happy to see the back of 2024. It wasn’t the easiest year for many reasons – both personally and professionally. I have spent the day looking ahead to 2025 feeling more optimistic than I have for a while. I have a lineup of delicious recipes, events and plans for the year ahead. Stay tuned.
I have just returned from a family funeral, which although sad was also a moment to celebrate a beautiful life – in this case, my special aunt. Listening to the stories of her full life; what she achieved, the people she connected with, and the moments and memories she created for those around her. My aunty was an amazing gardener, probably one of the best I know, and it was a privilege to walk around her Whanganui garden gathering wildflowers to lay on her coffin. I returned home with little packets of seeds from her collection, along with numerous dried seed pods from her garden, to continue her legacy in my own backyard.
I hope 2025 is off to a good start for you. Many thanks for being here, it is your enthusiasm for what I share that keeps me going. In a world of ever-increasing content to consume I am grateful to everyone who chooses to take a moment to read my offerings, and hopefully cook a recipe or two. I look forward to sharing more recipes and goodness for this new year ahead.
Happy cooking, Nicola
Read on for my latest mid-summer dispatch…
With recent hot summers, I had unrealistic expectations for my tomatoes this season. As the cool and wet days of late December into January progressed my tomato plants were painstakingly slow to grow and I knew my hopes for fresh tomatoes before the new year was a distant dream. Finally, the first tomatoes and cucumbers are now ready to harvest. Fresh, still-warm from the sun, tomatoes from the vine are a completely different eating experience than the hothouse tomatoes we see in stores year-round. They are sweet and fleshy and lend themselves perfectly to be thickly sliced on toast with a sprinkle of salt and a twist of cracked pepper.
As the ripe tomatoes start to line up on the windowsill (they lose their vibrancy and sweet flavour if kept in the fridge) I begin to use them in meals. Summer favourites are Greek Salad to reminisce of distant travels, and a chilled, summer-in-a-bowl, Gazpacho soup. Including adding some avocado ‘croutons’ (simply diced avocado) to the soup because the one fruit we are abundant in this year is avocados. All the years of care and attention for the trees we planted 8 years ago are now paying off! Find both recipes below.
More Summer Produce Recipes on Homegrown Kitchen
- Summer Barbecue Rissoles – Little patties to cook on the BBQ, perfect served alongside grilled summer vegetables. Including two options: Green Pea, Chickpea & Herb + Lamb, Mint & Oat Rissoles. Also, these Double Beetroot Burgers.
- Summer Minestrone with Zucchini Linguine – A light summer soup using thinly sliced zucchini in place of pasta. A throwback to 2014 when I was a mama of toddlers.
- Pasta Salad with Tomato Dressing – A simple and flavoursome dressing using a whole grated tomato combined with olive oil and lemon juice to perfectly complement the other ingredients.
- Chocolate Zucchini Bread (or Muffins) – This deliciously moist bread isn’t too sweet and keeps well for several days. It’s a good use for larger zucchini and marrows.
Grilled Capsicum Gazpacho with Avocado “Croutons”
Ingredients
- 1 red capsicum, halved and seeds removed
- 1/4 cup olive oil + extra for drizzling
- 1 slice sourdough bread - can use gluten-free bread
- 4-6 vine-ripened tomatoes, about 500g
- 1/2 large telegraph cucumber, peeled
- 1/4 red onion
- Small handful basil leaves
- 2 tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Fresh cracked pepper to taste
Avocado “Croutons”
- 1 perfectly ripe avocado, cut into 1-2 cm cubes
- Lemon juice
Instructions
- Prepare the capsicum ahead of time so it can cool before adding to the soup (or skip this step and use raw or jarred grilled capsicum). Heat a heavy-based frying pan over a moderate heat. Drizzle the capsicum with olive oil and place skin side down in the hot pan. Cook for 12-15 minutes, turning occasionally until the skin is nicely charred. Transfer the capsicum to a bowl and cover with a plate to sweat and release the skin. Once cool, peel off the skin and roughly chop.
- Cut the bread into cubes and place into a food processor. Blitz into coarse breadcrumbs. Roughly chop the tomatoes, cucumber and onion and add to the food processor along with the grilled capsicum, ¼ cup olive oil, basil, vinegar and seasoning. Blend until smooth.
- Check taste, adjusting the flavour with extra vinegar, salt and/or cracked pepper if needed. Pour into a jug, cover, and chill for at least an hour and up to 24 hours.
- When ready to serve, prepare the avocado “croutons”. Place the cubed avocado into a small bowl and drizzle with a little lemon juice. Pour the soup into chilled bowls, spoon over the avocado “croutons” and drizzle with olive oil. Serve immediately.
Greek Island Salad
Ingredients
- 400 g selection of vine-ripened tomatoes
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers
- ½ red onion
- ⅓ cup kalamata olives
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 120 g Greek-style or goat feta
- 1 tsp dried oregano (preferably Greek oregano)
Instructions
- Prepare the fresh produce by cutting it into bite-sized pieces. Place into a shallow bowl, scatter over the olives and drizzle with olive oil. Add the feta - either as a few large slabs or chop into cubes if preferred - and scatter with the dried oregano.
- Serve immediately - breaking off chunks of feta for each person.