Top Ten Veggie Recipes for Summer!

When it comes to Summer our eating habits completely change… well I don’t know about you but mine do. I find that I am not as hungry and cannot manage half as much as I do in Winter. I also find myself snacking less, drinking more water and for some reason apart from the odd cider, tend to take on a much healthier approach to food. It’s almost like I am getting my beach body ready – in time for winter that is. Anyway, when Summer finally arrives (you know all 4 days of it) I am always looking out for some delicious new veggie recipes to enjoy. It’s all very well saying keep things simple to reduce the amount of cooking you have to do but it’s not exactly like us vegetarians can sling a steak on the BBQ and knock a salad together and call it dinner now can we?! I suppose we could chuck a lump of cheese on but that might get a bit messy trying to disentangle it from the burning coals. So, I put a shout out to some of my lovely blogging peers to see if I could round up a load of delicious veggie recipes for all my readers.Well, the blogging buddies came through again and I picked out my top ten favourites (including one of my own) that I will be trying out and enjoying this Summer. Let’s take a look…

1. Raw Tomato & Mozzarella Summer Pasta – I’m kicking things off with my own recipe. This is my favourite go to pasta dish. It takes like 5 minutes to make and is really delicious. Plus despite the fact it is pasta it doesn’t sit too heavily in the stomach so you do not feel ridiculously full after it – delicious!
2. Halloumi & Red Pepper Stacks – This recipe comes from My Mummy’s Pennies and looks absolutely scrummy. I am a huge fan of cheese as you well know (see my Ode to Cheese) but I also love Cous Cous as I think it is so versatile as it takes on any flavour you put with it. This is a quick and easy recipe and one that can easily be increased in size for surprise dinner guests!
3. Meat-Free “Peking” Duck – I am a big lover of Chinese food but I always worry about ordering takeaway as I am not sure they always grasp the concept of what a vegetarian is… the number of times I have found meat in a spring roll or they’ve used fish sauce!! So I quite often make my own and My Boys Club has given me a great excuse here once again to get out my wok and make some “veggie duck” pancakes….from fruit!! Definitely got to try this one!
4. Creamy Vegan Pasta Salad – My family and I are heading more and more into the world of veganism and if it wasn’t for cheese I think we’d pretty much be there, so I am all about embracing vegan recipes too. There is nothing I love more in summer than a delicious pasta salad for lunch with crunchy sweetcorn and juicy tomatoes. This has that and more plus even though it’s vegan it’s creamy. I think we all need to have a go at this recipe from The Sparkle Nest – ooo it’s got gherkins in it too!!

5. Asparagus and Pea Salad with Vegan Cheesy Toasts – As I said I am all for embracing the vegan, especially if I still get to have cheese and The Peachicks Bakery is giving me just that with this recipe. Plus they have included asparagus which is my absolute favourite summer vegetable – I could sit and eat it as a snack all afternoon and here they’ve mixed it with onion peas and garlic to make a delicious summer salad – yum!

6. Halloumi & Courgette Tower with Avocado & Tomato Cous Cous – So Buzymum is giving us another Halloumi and Cous Cous combo but completely different from the first one. The other was spicy where as this one appears light and fresh and also features another veggie that I adore – courgette. When I loved in Italy they used to grill slices of it on

the BBQ for me and here it’s been stacked with the cheese and a light cous cous salad on the side. I’d go one step further and possibly do a dash of lemon juice or white wine vinegar over the whole thing too!

7. Greek Style Salad with Baked BBQ Feta – The Mumzilla is one of my favourite foodie bloggers and she so did not disappoint me with this recipe. Greek salad. Delish! Baked cheese… ummm hello?! Cheese heaven. Put them together and I’ve got my lunch sorted for the next few weeks until I’ve eaten through the local supply of feta cheese. Seriously though, what a lovely idea and the whole thing just screams Summer. Definitely one to have with friends under a parasol with a crisp glass of white wine.

8. Fat Free Hearty Brunch – In the days pre-motherhood, when I wasn’t working I was able to totally indulge in long lie ins and take my time getting up by which point it would be too late for breakfast and too early for lunch so I’d have to indulge in elevensies or as The Accidental Hipster Mum calls it… Brunch. She’s also very kindly thinking of our summer waistlines here and made it Fat Free!

She said it was something she just made up one day, but they are often the best. Combining spinach, mushrooms, eggs, butternut squash and some curry powder this interesting concoction looks quite delicious. Of course, feel free to chuck in any other veggies you fancy too!

9. Chickpea, Lentil & Beetroot Vegan Burger – Now summer would not be summer without a giant fat juicy burger! Veggie burgers, if I am honest, can get really bloody boring (have you even seen Mcdonalds veggie options?! They are pathetic!!!) so I am always on the look out for new burgers to try out. The Topsy Turvy Tribe have gone all out with this vegan burger and I have to say it looks pretty bloody delish and the kids look like they’re loving it too which means it must be a winner. What I love about burgers is that you can customise them and put your own toppings on! I’ll take one with BBQ Sauce and fried onions please!

10. Creamy Cheese Pasta – Last but by no means least except in expenses, we have this delicious looking pasta dish from Little Paper Swans (another of my favourite foodie bloggers!) She took up the £2 challenge where she had to feed herself and each person in her family for £2 per head per day and do you know what?! She did it! Her dinner for the day was this delicious looking pasta combining peas and mushrooms in a deliciously light and creamy sauce which combines a couple of my previously chosen recipes all together!

Well there you have it folks. I think I have achieved several things within this round-up post. Firstly, I hope I have brought you some delicious vegetarian and vegan dishes that you will be looking forward to trying over the summer. Secondly, I also hope that I have highlighted some new foodie bloggers to you whom you perhaps weren’t aware of before. Finally, I have completely managed to succeed in making myself ravenously hungry despite the fact I only ate dinner an hour ago. So I am now going to pootle off to the kitchen and grab myself some supper for whilst I finish work! Why not head on over and see what other recipes these amazing foodies have on their blogs. You can also find the rest of my recipes and food posts over In the Kitchen!

Thanks to all the bloggers for taking part – links and pictures were used with the permission of the bloggers featured.