The Currabinny Cooks: Three recipes using the vegetables growing in our garden

A salad with melon, grilled chicken with cherries and panzanella

 Melon, Feta, Mint and Chilli salad is the perfect dish to enjoy in the warm weather. Picture: Bríd O'Donovan

Up the garden, right at the back, under a few old trees, that is where the vegetable patch has always been. Here in our seaside, salt-saturated, windy patch of land, growing can be a challenge. Our patch is sheltered somewhat by the house and trees which surround it. The trees conveniently leave a nice gap above the raised beds for whatever sun we get.

Currently, there is a small greenhouse, four good, raised beds made with some leftover decking, six old fish boxes, repurposed as planters and two big barrels just for potatoes. In a good summer, the unlikely garden plot produces a considerable glut of tomatoes, salad leaves and roots like beetroot, radishes, carrots and potatoes. Courgettes, strawberries, herbs, cabbages and edible flowers also usually make a good showing.

We are signed-up members of the Irish Seed Savers Association who do amazing work sourcing and protecting endangered, native and special varieties of veg, fruits and other plants. One of the most exciting seeds we got our hands on this year is a Syrian white courgette which apparently found its way to Ireland in the pocket of a refugee and was subsequently gifted to the seed savers. They have a really interesting website with loads of tips and amazing stories and histories of all the exotic, endangered seeds they have. If you join as a member you can order all kinds of brilliant varieties to grow and plant yourself.

In these warm, bountiful summer months, the seeds we planted have grown and some are even swelling with delicious fruits and vegetables. Perhaps the most useful are the different leaves and herbs we planted. Heading up the garden with a big bowl to pick a couple of leaves for dinner is such a special thing, but salads can be so much more than just a couple of leaves. Especially in summer, a salad can make for a light but still filling meal.

These are some we have been working on lately.

Melon, feta, mint and chilli salad

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

Pairing sweet melon with punchy, contrasting flavours like salty feta and spicy chilli makes for a sophisticated and interesting start to a meal

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 11 mins

Total Time

 11 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• ½ melon (galia or cantaloupe) deseeded, flesh cut into bite-sized chunks

• Handful of ripe cherry tomatoes, sliced

• 200g good quality feta

• Good handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped

• 1 small red chilli, deseeded, very finely diced

• 1 tsp runny honey 

• Juice of ½ lemon

• Sea salt

Method

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the melon, tomatoes, feta and finely chopped chilli.

2. Squeeze the lemon juice in and miz around a little so everything is coated. Assemble between two serving plates and drizzle the honey over along with a sprinkling of sea salt.

3. Finely garnish generously with a good amount of fresh chopped mint leaves.

4. Grilled Chicken with Cherries, Chicory & Pea Shoots This is a great warm chicken salad to have as a light but still very filling and satisfying dinner.

5. We would usually do the chicken on the barbecue but on a grill pan stovetop works perfectly as well. sunflower shoots are simply the shoots of the sunflower plant and make for a wonderful addition to a salad, their flavour being lemony, nutty, green and fresh.

Panzanella with eggs

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

This is a classic Panzanella (Italian tomato and bread salad) to enjoy at a dinner party with the added bonus of some jammy eggs

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 7 mins

Total Time

 22 mins

Course

 Starter

Ingredients

• 4 eggs, boiled until jammy, deshelled and halved

• 500g ripe mixed heirloom tomatoes

• 2 tbsp capers

• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced

• 250g good quality leftover bread

• handful of fresh basil leaves

• For the dressing:

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• juice of ½ lemon

• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

• 1 garlic clove, crushed

• sea salt

• black pepper

Method

1. Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing and set aside. To achieve jammy eggs, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lower eggs into water one at a time. Cook 6½ minutes, adjusting heat to maintain a gentle boil. Transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water and chill until just slightly warm, about 2 minutes.

2. Gently crack eggs all over and peel, starting from the wider end, which contains the air pocket.

3. Grill the bread a little on a hot grill bad and tear into bite-sized pieces.

4. Quarter the tomatoes or slice if they are particularly big and place in a large salad bowl with the capers, thinly sliced onion and grilled bread. Drizzle all over with the dressing and scatter loads of basil leaves on top.

Grilled chicken with cherries, chicory and pea shoots

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

This is a great warm chicken salad with sunflower shoots adding lemony and fresh flavours for a light yet satisfying dinner

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 2 hours 25 mins

Cooking Time

 12 mins

Total Time

 2 hours 37 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts

• 4 garlic cloves, crushed

• juice of ½ lemon

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• small handful coriander leaves, chopped

• small handful of mint leaves, chopped

• 1 tsp ground turmeric

• good pinch of sea salt

• handful of sunflower shoots

• 350g cherries, pitted and halved

• 2 heads of red chicory, leaves separated

• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar

• ½ tsp Dijon mustard

• 5 tbsp olive oil

• small handful of parsley, chopped

Method

1. First make the dressing by whisking together the red wine vinegar, mustard, olive oil, a small pinch of sea salt and the parsley. Leave in the fridge until needed.

2. Marinate the chicken by placing the chicken breast in a bowl along with the crushed garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, coriander, mint, turmeric and sea salt. Rub the chicken all over with the other ingredients, cover and leave in the fridge for 2 hours.

3. Heat a little oil in a skillet or grill pan and remove the chicken breast from the marinade and place on the hot pan. Reduce heat to medium and cook for around 2 minutes before flipping over. Reduce the heat further to a low heat and cover the pan. Cook undisturbed for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let sit for a couple of minutes still with the cover on. The steam should cook the chicken through but check just in case.

4. Place the cooked breasts on a chopping bored and cut into strips.

5. Assemble the chicory leaves on a large platter with the sliced chicken on top. Dot the cherries around the plate and drizzle the whole thing all over with the dressing. Garnish with sunflower shoots.