24th July 2013

I am always happy when I get to tick recipes off my very long ‘to make’ list.  

I was meant to be meeting N and K for drinks last week, but given that every restaurant and bar with outside space in London is full to bursting at the moment, we made a last minute decision to cook at home.

I decided on two summery salads and a Spanish omelette – a light colourful dinner that we could eat in the garden.  

The first salad is a simplified version of Ottolenghi’s Tomato and Pomegranate.  The second is a recipe I found on BBC Food.  And the omelette is a Jamie Oliver classic.  Here’s how to make them…

Chop red and yellow tomatoes, red pepper, garlic, red onion – and chuck it all in a serving dish.

Drizzle the mixture with good olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Finally, garnish with pomegranate seeds and oregano leaves.  (Hint – you can buy pomegranate seeds packaged separately from Waitrose.  It’s way easier and quicker than getting them from the fruit yourself!)

Easy to do, but it looks beautiful.

Next salad up!

Lightly toast some almonds in a pan – this will only take a few minutes.

While the almonds are toasting, lay out some mixed salad leaves – ideally spinach, watercress and rocket (the bitter flavour will contrast well).  

Chop up some crumbly feta…

The almonds should be ready by now, so take them off the heat.

More pomegranate seeds go on this salad as well, so make sure you have enough. Shake the feta, seeds and almonds onto the green leaves.  

This one also gets a dash of olive oil, but add some sesame oil too (just a little).  Season, and squeeze half a lemon over everything before tossing it.

Last but not least – the omelette.  I wanted to add a bit of body to the meal, and this is a good option – not too carb heavy, but still satisfying.  

Boil a few potatoes until cooked, and then cut them roughly into slices/chunks.  While you’re waiting for the potatoes to boil, beat the eggs in a mixing bowl with a fork.  I used ten eggs and this was plenty for four people as an accompaniment to the salads.

Cook the potato pieces and a bit of chorizo and onion in a large frying pan until they’re golden.  Add some fresh rosemary after a few minutes.  

When the rosemary is crisp, pour the egg mixture into the pan.

Cook on the hob for another minute or so, and then pop the frying pan into a preheated oven (about 200ºC).  When the omelette is cooked through in the middle, it’s ready.

Take everything outside and serve with white wine (and in our case, Summer Fruits squash as well – why not hmm?!).

A plate full of goodness…

And what else to finish?  Strawberries, of course.

It was a lovely girly evening of food, gossip… and snapchat.  Everyone loves a bit of snapchat.

Here are the original recipes if you want to browse:

• Ottolenghi’s Tomato and Pomegranate recipe
• Leafy salad with feta and pomegranate recipe – BBC Food
• Jamie Oliver’s Potato and Chorizo omelette recipe