SEASONAL EATING FOR SUMMER

Here's my Natural Collection article on seasonal eating, summer - made me terribly hungry writing it all up:
http://www.naturalcollection.com/organic/seasonal-eating-summer.asp?bID=3582414

LOW-FAT BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

9oz self-raising flour
1.5tsp baking powder
2oz margarine
3oz caster sugar
1 punnet blueberries, washed
Juice of half a lemon
2 large eggs
235ml milk

Makes 12

Sieve flour and baking powder twice. Add the marg and rub gently until it resembles breadcrumbs; stir in the sugar and berries. Whisk together the eggs, milk and lemon juice. Add this to the dry mixture and stir briefly (enough to combine but leaving it lumpy).

Plop into 12 muffin cases and bake at 200deg C for 20-25 minutes. Eat warm with cappuccino!

OVEN-DRIED TOMATOES AND PEPPERS

Perfect for summer! Serve these gorgeous little things outside, with focaccia, hummous and a bottle of wine. Or eat in pitta with hummous, like I am right now. Toss through salad. Or just serve on a plate as part of antipasto.

Organic tomatoes and peppers, in season, produce the most astounding flavour. Better than shop-bought any day!

1 small punnet cherry tomatoes (from organic box)
1 large Romiro pepper (the pointy sweet one - from box)
2tbsp olive oil
1tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to about 100deg C (200deg F). Halve the tomatoes and the pepper (and de-seed the pepper). Drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with the salt, pepper and vinegar. Put in the bottom of the oven (poss when something else is cooking) for about an hour, then leave to dry out in the oven.

The tomatoes should only be semi-dry and the pepper should be soft. Chop the pepper into chunks, put the whole lot (scraping the tin's juices) into a small pot, and cover with olive oil. Refrigerate until needed.