I’ve been chasing my tail a little this week. Nothing much has been planned more than a few hours ahead. A few nights of pasta, quite a lot of things have been wrapped in tortillas. But other than a slight shortage of vegetables, this is a good pattern for summer cooking. Nothing heated for too long, lots of tomatoes, things eaten with fingers. It feels just right for when you’re eating dinner barefoot, with the back doors open and the tennis on.

Recipes:

• Pasta with broccoli and peas, loosely from the Five O’Clock Apron Broccoli Pesto recipe

Cooking without a recipe:

• Pizza
• Breaded chicken with roasted tomato and pepper pasta
• Lamb kebabs from the freezer, in wraps with hummus and salad
• Roast chicken
• Burritos with black beans, avocado and chicken

Reading:’

• Diana Henry on the next big regional cuisine – food from Russia and the Caucasus (via Rocket & Squash’s Supplemental roundup of last weekend’s papers)
• Also from last weekend, Thomasina Miers’ Cocoa-rye cardamom custard tart sounds amazing
• After hearing a bit about them on the America’s Test Kitchen radio show podcast, I’m interested to try out their Authentic Baguette recipe (requires registration)
• This simple Gluten Free Girl recipe for barbeque sauce is first on the list to be made this weekend
• A town in Spain has installed a ‘solidarity fridge‘ for people to deposit their nearly-expired food, and for others to collect it and use it up.
• An interview with the founder of Blue Apron, one of a growing number of ingredient delivery services. These companies, including Hello Fresh in the UK, work directly with suppliers and deliver measured ingredients to make a range of meals each week, minimising food waste. Expect to see much more of this model in the next few years.