Yemi's Food Stories: effortless summer cooking

Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in the 2022 series of BBC TV’s Masterchef competition.

Every Saturday Yemi writes on the Stray Ferret about her love of the area’s food and shares cooking tips – please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.

I came back from work with some ideas of what I wanted to cook for dinner. I had roasted some sweet potatoes which I planned to turn into a purée topped with scallops and a coconut milk-based broth. 

My second idea was to use the purée to make sweet potato gnocchi with a cream-based sauce and a herb oil for a contrast of colours and my final idea was to make sweet potato ravioli.

After a really hot and busy day at work, when it came to it, I didn’t have the energy to embark on pasta making but I wanted more than a salad for dinner. I had scallops, prawns and a desire to make a tasty dish with minimal fuss.

Great food doesn’t have to mean spending hours in a sweltering kitchen. 

Summer is here, and the last thing you want is to be stuck inside when the sun is shining. We need minimal fuss, maximum flavour cooking that is perfect for hot summer days. 

Here are some tips to help you make the most of your summer.

The beauty of fresh ingredients

Summer brings an abundance of fresh produce, which means you can create delicious dishes without much effort. Think crisp salads, vibrant fruits, and garden-fresh herbs. 

A tomato-basil salad with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, for example, takes minutes to prepare but bursts with flavour. Pair it with some crusty bread, and you have a perfect light meal.

Embrace the grill

If you have a grill, now is the time to use it. Grilling adds a smoky depth to your food without heating up your kitchen. A simple marinade of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and herbs can transform chicken breasts, fish fillets, or vegetables.

Just let your ingredients marinate for 30 minutes, then throw them on the grill. You’ll have a delicious meal ready in no time, with minimal cleanup.

One-pan wonders

One-pan dishes are a lifesaver for busy summer days. They reduce cooking time and cleanup. A sheet pan filled with seasonal vegetables, a protein of your choice, and some simple seasonings can be roasted in the oven for a quick, nutritious meal.

Try a combination of bell peppers, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and shrimp, tossed with olive oil, garlic, and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning.

Cool and refreshing

On particularly hot days, opt for no-cook recipes. Gazpacho, a cold Spanish soup made from tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and onions, is refreshing and packed with vitamins. Simply blend the ingredients and chill before serving.

 Smoothies and smoothie bowls are also great options for breakfast and brunch. Blend your favourite fruits with some yogurt or a splash of juice for a quick, cooling meal or snack. 

You could also smash some cucumbers before roughly dicing them; top with a dressing made from soy sauce, sesame seeds, chilli oil, sesame oil, rice vinegar, grated garlic, finely chopped fresh chilli and honey for sweetness. 

An alternative is to make a cooling cucumber-strawberries salad finished with some black pepper and salt. You can add a light dressing of balsamic vinegar and honey.

Seafood pasta with tomatoes and capers

Ingredients

• 300g of pasta.
  
• Olive oil.
  
• 150g slow roasted tomatoes (sliced into smaller piece).
  
• 3 – 4 garlic cloves.
  
• 1 medium white onion and/or shallots.
  
• ½ small red onion.
  
• 1 – 2 tsps of Aleppo chillies.
  
• A pinch each of ancho and chipotle pepper flakes.
  
• Smoked sea salt.
  
• 3 tsps of capers.

Method

• Bring some heavily salted water to the boil and add the pasta.
  
• Finely slice the onions and shallot if using, grate or finely chop the garlic.
  
• Add the olive oil to a pan and heat up.
  
• Add the garlic, followed by the onions and shallots; cook over medium heat until the onion starts to caramelise whilst still maintaining some texture.
  
• Add the tomatoes and mix through.
  
• Add the capers and some of the juice, season with Aleppo chillies and smoked sea salt.
  
• Drain the pasta and add to the sauce with some of the pasta water, mix thoroughly and serve.
  
• I quickly seared the scallops and prawns in a hot frying pan with neutral oil and finished it with seaweed butter. 
  

Yemi's top tip: You can swap prawns and scallops for salmon, sea bass or sea bream.

Yemi's verdict

To get through the hot summer without spending too much time in the kitchen, embrace the simplicity of fresh ingredients, leverage cupboard, fridge and freezer staples, the efficiency of grilling and one-pan meals, and the refreshing appeal of no-cook dishes.

Here’s to a summer of easy, enjoyable cooking and more time spent soaking up the sun.

 Look out for more fuss-free recipes in the coming weeks.

Thank you for reading this article. Next week the Stray Ferret will become a subscription publication. For less than a pound a week you will be able to access all our content.

Please subscribe and support quality, local journalism - to find out more click here.