Once a fortnight we hold a cook club at the Botanic Cottage. Anyone is welcome to join us to learn new cooking skills and to enjoy a healthy meal that’s been freshly prepared by the group. Sadly, the Botanic Cottage is closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but we won’t let that stop us! Cottage Cook Club tutor Ailsa has prepared some great recipes from store cupboard ingredients to encourage us to keep home cooking and keep eating right. Over to Ailsa…

Hello everyone,

I hope you’re all well and enjoying these long, light evenings. While the Edinburgh weather has been a little patchy still, at least the ingredients in the kitchens are starting to taste of summer.

Happily, we can now easily find Scottish strawberries and British tomatoes both are tasting so sweet this year and I think we deserve them all!

Today we’re bringing strawberries into a warm breakfast and enjoying tomatoes in their element in a bruschetta. For a supper dish we’re cooking salmon and pairing it with a kale colcannon and a spritz of lemon, with some green vegetables on the side. For a quick pudding, meet the autumn crumbles’ speedier, more summery cousin grilled nectarines with pecan crumble and honey yogurt.

I really hope you enjoy these recipes. I’d love to know what you’re cooking?

Best wishes

Ailsa

A nourishing breakfast

Oat and chia porridge with strawberries and almonds

Try this summery twist on porridge, topped with the season’s best. The addition of chia seeds gives this porridge added protein which is a great boost for the morning. (If you can’t find any, just leave them out.)

A summery lunch

Best bruschetta

This is a simple recipe that really showcases summer tomatoes. Don’t attempt to make it in winter, it will taste of nothing. Any tomatoes will work, use a variety if available and make sure they are ripe and at room temperature.

A tasty supper

Salmon fillets with kale colcannon

This is a lovely way to enjoy salmon. Colcannon is a traditional irish dish of mashed potato with either cabbage or kale and goes really nicely with simply cooked fish. Serve this salmon with some extra greens on the side if you like, lemony broccoli or peas make a great addition.

A speedy pudding

Grilled nectarines with honey yogurt and pecan crumble

This is a gorgeous summery pudding – and you can use any stone fruit in place of the nectarines. If you don’t have a grill then cook the nectarines gently in a frying pan with a little butter.

The Edible Gardening Project is kindly supported by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.