Isn’t it brilliant to be having the summer of the century? That is, of course, if you don’t have to take the crowded train to work, swelter on the London Tube, be stuck in traffic on M25, wear a suit, sleep in an airless bedroom bombarded by the sun all day, worry about your hydrangeas, suffer from hay fever or look at middle-aged blokes with their tops off. So indeed, one or two people are having a whale of a time.
Having staggered home from work after a journey from hell (and finding the windows shut all day, of course), the last thing you fancy is cooking. Salads then – couscous salad with anything, feel free to replace the chicken with ham or tofu. Or the vegetarian giant couscous salad – and by all means cut corners using red peppers from a jar.
Flake smoked mackerel into a bowl with avocado, cucumber and celeriac – or anything else you have in the cupboard. Make the potato and pancetta salad, swap pancetta for bacon or tempeh, add asparagus or not – it’s too hot to be a strict RECIPEIST.
If you’re feeling slightly more energetic, why not make chicken kung pao? Super tasty with the smashed cucumber salad – or you know, you could make just the cucumber salad and have it with plain rice, it sure is tasty enough.
Bake scamorza or mozzarella with a sprinkling of herbs and have it with bruschetta. Stuff tortillas with monterey jack or cheddar – and whatever else you find in the fridge – for all day breakfast quesadillas. Get a rotisserie chicken and shred it into pita breads with creamed sweetcorn and tomatoes. Cook too much pasta for fresh tomato pappardelle so you can make pasta fritta the next day.
And now, if the only thing you can face to cook, make, bake is cake, make it the blueberry and cream sponge. Oh, yes.