11. June 2026

The Summer Kitchen

You are what you eat....an old wife's tale or wise words? For me, undoubtably wise words. For me there is nothing more important in the day than what we prepare and put into our bodies. Good quality, fresh, home cooked food can alter our mood, our health, our appearance. It can even help with symptoms of longstanding health problems.

I love to cook, which makes preparing and cooking each day an enjoyable and relaxing task rather than a chore. That said, I do not have time to spend slaving away for hours over the stove. Until recently I worked full time, now I'm only three days but teach yoga on my days off, so time is still limited. A little organisation ahead of time makes things much easier and also means less waste and smaller food bills. I plan my menus for the week and the shopping list well in advance, taking into account dinners for work and what to do with any leftovers. I try to use seasonal and local produce where I can.

Lots of fresh vegetables and herbs are common place in my kitchen. I'm so looking forward to my own veg plot taking off and harvesting super fresh produce. The cool temperatures are not helping at the moment and things are a little slow getting going, but all good things to those who wait!

My favourite thing to look forward to at this time of year is my Isle of Wight Tomato box. I usually have one a week delivered in the height of summer and normally the organic heritage box. Ordered on Monday, picked on Tuesday and delivered on Wednesday they are a box of joy and sunshine. I love that with your reward points you can take money off your bill, or better still plant trees that you can dedicate to someone. With the over-ripe produce that can't be sold they make small batch products such as vegan pesto, spicy aioli and oak smoked slow roasted tomatoes. The oak smoked balsamic vinegar is an absolute must......I can drink it straight from the bottle!!

The tomatoes are used in all manor of recipes. At breakfast they may join black beans, avocado (Spain) and herbs with a tiny kick of chilli piled onto wholemeal sourdough toast, spread with Marmite (love/hate). For dinner maybe roasted with garlic and onion then blitzed with cooked red lentils to make a light summery soup. At tea they are often found in a panzanella- two of my favourites include fennel, ricotta, basil and fennel seed and black onion seed sourdough croutons. Another is with mozzarella, olives and almonds with sourdough croutons and a small drizzle of honey and chopped mint. Both these dishes can be eaten as they are or make excellent side dishes to chicken, fish or meat. The tomatoes also go in curries, pasta sauces and pretty much anything, the possibilities are endless and limited only by your imagination.