Charlotte's Basket - August

What I'm growing, buying and cooking this month, plus some great recipes to try

It really hasn’t felt much like high summer recently - not that you need me to tell you that. But all the rain has meant that there is plenty of lovely fresh veg growing in the garden here, and it has no doubt helped the growers around the country.

When I’m buying vegetables in the shops, I do always try and buy British, to enjoy what’s at its best right now, and to get best value for money with the fewest food miles. It is trickier to do the same with fruit, but I do try.

In our garden, we currently have lots of beans, courgettes, beetroot, chard and brassicas. They are all plentiful In the shops, too.

Tomatoes are really good right now, and The Tomato Stall is a wonderful source for all kinds of tomatoes and some amazing aubergines, too, as is Natoora, available through Ocado.

Peaches and nectarines are getting really good at the moment, and I’ve got my eyes peeled for some good corn and plums, which should be around soon. Our local blueberry farm in Dorset is open for PYO, which is quite fun.

Here are some really good recipes I’ve made recently, which I hope you might like to try:

• Ixta Belfrage’s Squash lasagne from her brilliant book Mezcla. The recipe is also available online if you pop it into a search engine.

• I’ve made Meera Sodha’s courgette and chickpea dal so many times and really like it. It could hardly be easier to make. The recipe is here.

• My simple courgette fritters are really easy to make and so delicious. Great for lunch and children love them.

• Yotam Ottolenghi’s green beans with tomatoes from Simple is excellent.

• Diana Henry’s vin de pêche is really special.

And finally, here’s a gorgeous salad recipe I’ve not published anywhere. If you make it, please do let me know. Happy cooking! I’ll be back with my free subscriber newsletter next month. Paid subscribers will continue to receive newsletters in the meantime.

Green lentil, beetroot and butternut squash salad with feta

© Charlotte Pike

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash peeled, deseeded and cut into 3cm pieces

2-3 beetroot, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes

3 red onions, peeled and each cut lengthways into about 8 wedges

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons balsamic or sherry vinegar

350g cooked green lentils

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

8-10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

100g feta cheese, crumbled

50g toasted pumpkin seeds

50g rocket leaves (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 230°C/ 450°F/ Gas Mark 8. Place the butternut squash pieces, the beetroot wedges and the red onion wedges in a roasting tin and drizzle them with about 4 tablespoons of the extra-virgin olive oil. Season with the salt and freshly ground black pepper and roast in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until they are completely tender and slightly caramelised around the edges.

Once the vegetables are cooked, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the balsamic vinegar or the sherry vinegar, whichever you're using, over the warm vegetables and set them aside to cool to room temperature.

Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, and the remaining tablespoon of balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar, whichever you're using, over the lentils. Add the chopped parsley, and gently toss the lentils with the roasted butternut squash, beetroot and red onion and the quartered cherry tomatoes.

Taste and, if necessary, add more salt, freshly ground black pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, or balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar, whichever you're using.

Place on a serving plate and scatter the feta cheese chunks over the top of the salad if you’re using them, together with the toasted seeds and rocket leaves.