I discovered this salad in a Cook with M&S promo leaflet I picked up in store. It was the only seasonal dish I could find in it!

The best squash to use is Crown Prince, which we have in Camel CSA’s veg boxes this week, but any full-flavoured variety will do.

If you can’t get blood oranges, which are in season at this time of year, use other decent ones instead. I’ve also adapted the recipe to include pumpkin or pomegranate seeds, oriental salad leaves or rocket, and parsley or coriander. It’s up to you.

Serves 6

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 35-40 minutes

Ingredients
800g full-flavoured squash (such as Crown Prince) peeled, deseeded and cut into 4cm cubes
3 sprigs thyme
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
3 tbsp olive oil
200g couscous
5 oranges – ideally blood oranges
75g pomegranate or pumpkin seeds
100g rocket or oriental salad leaves
small handful chopped parsley or coriander
200g feta cheese, crumbled

Method
Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put squash, thyme and garlic in a roasting tin and season. Drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil, then roast for 35-45 minutes. Squeeze the garlic from its skin.

Meanwhile put the couscous in a bowl and add 100ml boiling water and set aside for 15 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Peel and slice four of the oranges. Squeeze the juice from the remaining orange, whisk this with the remaining olive oil and season.

Stir the pomegranate or pumpkin seeds, salad leaves and parsley into the couscous, reserving some to scatter over. Divide the mixture among six plates and top with the squash, orange slices, feta, seeds, salad and parsley. Drizzle with the dressing and serve.

This recipe comes from Jamie Oliver‘s The return of the Naked Chef.  If, like me, you don’t like prosciutto in the salad just leave it off the plate.

Serves 2

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
Mixed salad leaves
1 mozzarella
2 peaches, skinned and quartered
4 slices prosciutto
a few mint leaves, torn

olive oil and lemon dressing – whisk together the following:
5 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method
Put the salad leaves and mint on a flat serving dish and dress with a little of the dressing.  Scatter the peach quarters and torn up mozzarella over the top.  Lay the prosciutto (if using) over the top.  Serve with some good bread to mop up the juices.

This is a perfect dish to serve on a hot summer’s day.  It’s from Cordon Vert by Colin Spencer.

Serves 4-6

Preparation time: 30-40 minutes
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients
2 tbs parmesan cheese, grated
55g fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
170g gruyère cheese, grated
4 eggs, separated
150 ml single cream
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2-3 pinches cayenne pepper
2 tbs warm water
4-5 tbs mayonnaise
salad leaves, shredded
2-3 tomatoes, finely sliced
30g mushrooms, finely sliced
1 tbs fresh chives, parsley or mint, chopped
bunch of watercress to garnish

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.  Line a swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper and sprinkle with half the parmesan cheese.

Mix the breadcrumbs and gruyere cheese together in a bowl.  Add the egg yolks, cream, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.  Stir in the water.  Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold into the cheese mixture.  Pour into the swiss roll tin and bake for 10-15 minutes until firm and springy to the touch.

Remove from the oven and let cool.  Sprinkle another piece of greaseproof paper with the rest of the parmesan cheese and turn the cheese roulade onto the paper.  Peel off the paper on top and spread the mayonnaise over the roulade, then sprinkle with the salad leaves, tomatoes, mushrooms and herbs.  Roll up loosely, but firmly.  Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with watercress and serve in slices.

Yes – you can cook lettuce, provided the leaves are firm, crisp ones. There are cos/romaine lettuce leaves in Camel CSA’s mixed salad bags in this week’s boxes. 

This is a side dish from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the Guardian. Hugh says: “It’s based on the delicious petits pois à la française, only it’s more petites pommes de terre. A little later in the season, you could throw in a handful of baby peas near the end of cooking.”

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients
25g butter
A trickle of olive or rapeseed oil
1 onion, peeled, quartered and sliced
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
350g new potatoes, cleaned and cut into 2-3cm pieces
About 400ml hot chicken stock
½ large head of romaine or 2 little gem lettuces, shredded
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion, let it sweat for about 10 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for two minutes more. Add the potatoes and about 250ml of stock, bring to a simmer and cook, half-covered, for around 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the spuds are tender. Add a little more stock if you need to, but the idea is to end up with reasonably well-reduced juices, so don’t go mad.

Add the shredded lettuce and a little more stock, stir, cover and cook for four to five minutes, until the lettuce is wilted. Season to taste and serve.

This quick stir-fry side dish is adapted from a couple of Thai-style recipes for oriental leaves. The fish sauce will provide enough salt, so you shouldn’t have to add any extra.

Serves: 2
Preparation / cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
1 bunch mizuna / mibuna, about 300 gm
2 cloves garlic
thumb-sized knob of ginger
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon fish sauce (nam pla)
1/4 lemon, fresh
freshly ground black pepper

Method
Wash and drain mizuna / mibuna. Roughly chop into 1-inch segments and set aside. Finely chop the garlic and shred the ginger into matchstick-like strips.

Place a wide and shallow pan or a wok over a high heat. Add the two tablespoons of oil, then the garlic and ginger and toss around until golden.

Add the greens to the wok or pan and stir fry for one minute, stirring constantly. The leaves should soften but remain crisp. Add the fish sauce and stir, then sprinkle with freshly-squeezed lemon juice and black pepper. Serve warm or tepid.

A simple way of using the wet garlic in Camel CSA’s boxes this week comes from Riverford Organic Farms in neighbouring Devon. You could also use wild garlic leaves instead.

“Wet” or green garlic is freshly-harvested garlic that hasn’t been hung up to dry. It’s sweeter, milder and less pungent at this stage. You simply slice it up – bulb, stalk, leaves and all – into salads, stir fries or risotto. Or you can roast it whole.

Usefully, this is a salad recipe for one! It’s also good made with broad beans and rocket.

Serves: 1
Preparation / cooking time: 12 minutes

Ingredients
40g cooked pasta, preferably orecchiette or another small pasta
40g cooked white beans, eg cannellini or haricot (drained, tinned beans are fine to use)
a little oil for frying
small handful finely sliced wet garlic OR large handful wild garlic leaves
large handful salad leaves or watercress
juice ½ lemon
approx 2 tbsp feta cheese, crumbled
freshly ground pepper to season

Method
In a small frying pan, heat the oil and fry the wet garlic for a couple of mins, until just softened slightly. If using wild garlic, just wilt the leaves quickly.

Remove and drain on kitchen paper, and leave to cool. Place in a bowl and toss with the pasta, beans, lemon juice, lettuce and just enough extra virgin olive oil to coat the salad.

Season with pepper and transfer to a serving bowl. Crumble over the feta cheese to serve.

From Nigel Slater on the Royal Horticultural Society’s ‘Grow Your Own‘ website, in the ‘Eating and Cooking‘ section’ – the ideal recipe for the selection of Camel CSA’s own leaves in this week’s boxes.

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking: 15 minutes

Ingredients
200g piece of pancetta or bacon
2 thick slices of bread, crusts removed
a little olive oil
For the salad:
4 handfuls of leaves to include soft, mild lettuce and a spicier leaf such as one of the mustard family
a small bunch of flat leaf parsley
6 bushy sprigs of tarragon
about 10 basil leaves
For the dressing:
1 tbsp tarragon vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp walnut oil
a dab of French mustard

Method
Cut the pancetta into small dice and tear the bread into larger pieces. Cook the pancetta in a shallow pan with a little oil until the fat is golden, then lift it out and drain on kitchen paper.

Using both the fat remaining in the pan and a little more oil if needs be, cook the bread cubes until they are golden on all sides. Watch them carefully, they can burn quite easily. Put them on kitchen paper to drain.

Rinse the leaves carefully, so as not to damage any of the fragile leaves. They are best dried in a salad spinner. Pull the leaves from the herb branches, tear the basil roughly and chop the others.

Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together with a small whisk or by shaking them in a jar. Toss the warm bacon and croutons of bread with the salad leaves, herbs and the dressing. Serve straight away …