Notes about Recipes in this book

• Asparagus and quinoa salad with peas and broad beans

  • Hansyhobs on March 29, 2022

    I freestyled a bit with this one and cooked the asparagus (chunky white and green from Natoora) low and slow in butter. I used Tropea onions instead of spring and cooked these in the butter as well. Added everything to the quinoa as per the recipe. Delicious!

• Sea kale with capers, rosemary, parsley and cream

  • grindabod on September 02, 2020

    Not a lot of recipes for sea kale going around, so thank you Gill. We happen to have a plant in the garden and this preparation was really delicious; full of flavour and complementing the kale so well. Would obviously be just as great with any other type of kale.

• Wild garlic pesto

  • Stantonjulie on March 15, 2026

    Made this many times. Great seasonal recipe and freezes well.

• Wholemeal rhubarb and ginger upside-down cake

  • corylavell on April 04, 2021

    I halved this and cooked it in a 6in/18cm round loose bottomed cake tin which worked really well. Suspect my tin choice was partly why I didn’t get a beautiful reveal of rhubarb stalks on the base. I used the thinnest maincrop stalks from the garden. Also, I don’t keep whole meal self raising around, so added a tsp (total) of baking powder. It was a delicious cake, especially with hot custard on for our cold Scottish outdoor Easter lunch.

• Aubergine, courgette and lettuce salad with toasted seeds, mint and tahini dressing

  • Pimlicocook on August 12, 2021

    Delicious - the crisp salad and smoky, toasted seeds make all the difference. I only realised afterwards that the mint in the title is missing both in the ingredient list and the instructions - but I think a few torn leaves strewn over would work well. Next time.

• Cucumber salad with dill and apple cider vinegar

  • eliza on August 25, 2021

    Gill posted this on his Instagram so I gave it a try. The cucumber is sliced and salted, then rinsed and the rest of the ingredients added. I found it a little too salty (probably just personal taste as I don't eat much salt), but otherwise excellent. It's a great recipe to have up your sleeve to help use up the glut of cucumbers and dill. My changes; less salt, omitted the green onions and flowers as I didn't have any. Very tasty and very easy to make. A definite repeat for me.

• Roast tomato and lentil soup

  • toxiedriver on August 09, 2021

    Has rapidly become a favourite in our household and when we have friends over for a simple dinner. Really nice balance of flavours. Roasting the tomatoes gives a light sweetness to the soup which is really nice in combination with the spices. Great to make a bigger batch and freeze to have on hand.

  • stepharama1 on October 24, 2025

    This is a memorable lentil soup due to the fresh caramelized tomato sauce which is added to the soup. It tastes lighter and fresher than a typical lentil soup.

• Carrot soup with lentils, salted almonds, chilli and rosemary

  • grindabod on January 06, 2022

    Gill Meller - and I know this might sound like a weird thing to say - is my favourite soup cook. Every time I make one of his soup recipes I'm more convinced. This one is so full of flavour and looks (and tastes) so chic and beautiful thanks to the toppings. Instant hit, and I learned that cooked and crisped lentils make for a wonderful soup topping. If anything, I might make more of the topping next time. I served this as a starter for a dinner party.

• Red peppers with smashed white beans, roasted nuts and pumpkin seeds

  • Hansyhobs on April 01, 2022

    My beans must be old because they took HOURS to cook. I would definitely recommend an overnight soak instead of just a day time one. Was very nice once ready! The crunchy topping is addictive.

• Chard with garlic, quinoa, tomatoes and parsley

  • Nancy402 on October 27, 2020

    Delicious. The warm dressing adds a lot of flavour, and the colourful stems of the rainbow chard were put to good use. A few pots were involved, but it was worth it.

• A mushroom risotto – made with spelt

  • grindabod on September 01, 2020

    As is always the case with risotto, the stock makes the dish. We used the broth left over after cooking beans earlier in the week as the basis for the vegetable stock and it was a really delicious dish. The spelt works really well with the mushrooms, it had the perfect consistency, and it somehow felt healthy and decadent at the same time.

• Apple, rhubarb and beetroot salad

  • Hansyhobs on April 26, 2022

    Nice and easy, I used a mandolin for the beetroot but it still felt too thick and chewy. Had with stracciatella cheese and some sourdough to give more substance

• Apple, carrot, lemon and cinnamon cake

  • debkellie on July 03, 2020

    The combination sounds weird.. but it works. It's a distinctly lemony cake (maybe a consequence of freshly picked home grown lemons), and to me was reminiscent of the flavour & texture of a good old fashioned bread pudding. It was very moorish. The frosting was a bit boring though.

• Leeks and lentils with lovage dressing

  • Hansyhobs on March 30, 2022

    Didn't have lovage but made it anyway with parsley. Pretty basic but nice enough.

• Roast sprouts with onions, fennel seeds, garlic, smoked paprika, dill and eggs

  • Hansyhobs on January 16, 2023

    Incredibly tasty

• Radicchio, celeriac and blood orange salad

  • Hansyhobs on February 08, 2022

    A bit one-note for me, very salady leafy texture which didn't make it a joy to eat