83: A radish, mint and feta salad, p195

Nope, didn't like this. Glad I only made a quarter of the recipe. Blurgh. Don't like radishes. Wish I did, they are one of the few things I can grow in the garden without fail, everytime, but they aren't for me. T turned his nose up at proferred bowl of salad, declaring that there was nothing of interest to him there... Me neither, even with the use of very cute British 'purple' radishes. So pretty. So radishy. Ick.

77: Grilled chicken with lemon and couscous, p258, and 78: Zucchini cakes with dill and feta, p228

Another nice, fresh tasting, summery salad to go with recipes 75 and 76. I didn't have a preserved lemon. I did have some - I bought a whole jar of the damn things some time ago (they only come in huge jars...) but the wretched things had gone a little... furry... at the back of the fridge (note to self: look inside jars at back of the fridge when cleaning aforementioned fridge...), so ditched that idea midway through the recipe (too late to turn back now!) and added a bit more fresh lemon, in the form of a bit of the flesh, not just the juice. I can imagine the salty, intense lemony flavour of the preserved lemon would have been better and would have been good, but there are limits. Esp when grilling chicken, roasting aubergine, frying zucchini cakes, and toasting pine nuts, all at the same time...

Now, the courgette cakes. Not great. Ultimately I wouldn't make them again. Nor choose them on a menu. However, if served them at a vegetarian friend's house, I believe I would be able to eat them. They weren't as bad as I thought they might be, so was pleasantly surprised. Too courgettey, too dill-y, and too feta-y, if I was asked for specifics, but that rules out all the main ingredients, which is a shame... On the plus side, they didn't fall apart as easily as the recipe suggested and I made nice little round cakes, only slightly 'chargrilled' on the one side (see above mentioned multi-tasking issues). The chutney they were served with was a good thing, went really well, but possibly because it disguised some of the courgette taste. And feta. And dill. Apricot jam probably would have had a similar effect.

75: Marinated feta and artichoke salad, p369, and 76*: Baked aubergine with sheep's cheese and mint, p245

Oooh, how did I get to 29 years old without discovering artichokes? No, seriously? Mmm! No deli open this afternoon near us so had to make do with a jar of artichokes, and whilst waiting for the bus home I was starving... spying the 'ready to eat' bit on the jar, I had a nibble... yummy yummy!
Anyway, enough of them made it home to be included in the first of these salads, a veritable marathon of Nigeing whilst the hub was out. Feta, artichokes, aubergines, cous cous, courgette, none of these are recognised foodstuffs in his eyes, so I took advantage of the situation to blitz four recipes in one evening, in a Mediterranean festa of food. And a heck of a lot of olive oil and mint. I halved or quartered the recipes to make enough for me and some leftovers which got all mixed in together to make a very nice packed lunch for work...

Got a bit frantic in the kitchen though, with four recipes on the go at once, but I made it... slightly cremated aubergine or not... These two salads were easy peasy and jolly yummy, and will be repeated - I'm imagining nice swanky al fresco dinners with friends, in the garden we don't have, on the BBQ we don't have. One day :)

Roasted/grilled/baked aubergines are one of my favourite unexpected food pleasures. T would not agree, but something quite amazing happens to aubergine when it's cooked it one of these ways. It dries out slightly on the outside and then the moist insides spontaneously collapse, and it creates a delicious silky, almost meaty taste. Love it. Toasted pine nuts too. Another unexpected food pleasure - how can something so simple and unassuming, and frankly not that exciting looking, add so much to a dish? And they have to be toasted! Madness. An untoasted pine nut is a definite disappointment, and is a mistake never to be repeated. Feta is good stuff too, but needs to be used in moderation as it's such a strong, salty, sour taste, which can overdominate other flavours too easily.

*This is one of the 9 'extra' recipes, listed in the start of month recipes but not set out as a 'proper recipe' like the other 184

55: Thyme and feta lamb, p123

Another simple recipe, thank goodness as I was full of cold and fell into bed super early this evening... Simple lemony, herby marinade, and little chops allowed to crisp up on a hot ridged grill pan - but left nice and pink and soft in the middle. T doesn't like feta, but had a little - but left the rest. I couldn't decide on the feta - I liked the herb/cheese combination, but it seemed to overpower the soft, sweet lamb, and I ate most of it separately to the meat, so it didn't really work as an overall combination for me. Nonetheless, served with steamed rice and mangetout, and devoured in minutes, as lots of these recipes seem to be...