Bob Andrew, recipe box chef at Riverford, gives us ideas for getting creative with veg for summer entertaining.
Summer is the time of salads, and as a nation we can still feel a sense of trepidation at straying from a rather narrow path of prosaic produce. Raw courgettes, carrots or even runner beans, pulled into long thin ribbons with a swivel top peeler, add something visual and textural. Spindly matchsticks of beetroot add an earthy sweetness and vivid colour or you could opt for some crisp, refreshing shreds of kohlrabi or fennel. Unless you crave a specific character in your salad leaves try for an interesting selection; we fill our bags with a mix of strong, peppery and mild leaves to create an interesting overall balance. Try and do the same with any ingredients you add. Balance a salty cheese or olives with something sweet like nectarines, roast peppers or tomatoes. Combat any bitter tastes with something sharp and acidic. Toasted nuts, seeds or croutons will give a crunch to proceedings. Cooked and cooled pulses and grains such as puy lentils, spelt, farro and chickpeas will lend a bit of bite as well as bulk. Take the time to layer and place your ingredients so as best to show off their colours, shapes and contrasts. Herbs, crumbled cheese, nuts and vibrant coloured dressings are best added at the end as a finishing flourish.
Try eating something cold that you would eat hot, and vice versa. A tomato-based gazpacho is an obvious example, but a simple soup of peas and watercress or sweetcorn and chilli works wonders if served chilled with an artful swirl of crème fraîche. Conversely, we find that our award-winning mini cucumbers respond well to being lightly braised, in long batons, with a little white wine and stock and make a surprising accompaniment to some poached salmon. Stout wedges of little gem lettuce will take the same treatment and make a summery side with garden peas or smoked bacon, and plenty of freshly chopped herbs. We’ve even been known to cook our radishes; briefly with a little wine vinegar and butter until tender but still with a discernible bite.
Pickling and fermentation are very de rigueur and pose simple and effective DIY food projects. The summer larder is ripe for lightly pickling in a little vinegar, sugar and salt or piling into Kilner jars to bubble and fizz. Pointed cabbage, kohlrabi, beetroots, fennel and cucumbers are all contenders. Fold the results into slaws, salads, burgers, wraps or sandwiches.