Easy dinner on the beach anyone?

I’m still on my travels and am in Bournemouth. I love to cook for my friends it’s a great way to say ‘thank you for having me’. So my last night with friends who have put me up for several nights over the last couple of weeks was definitely one of those occasions. One of my friends had to work that day so I thought it might be nice to prepare some dinner to take to the beach as soon as she got home and then we could swim and eat and enjoy the sun for the evening. Its been very warm for the last few days so I knew some kind of salad would be good and I was told they only possessed a maximum of three tupperware boxes if we could find them. So my challenge was set.

Roast Veg and Bean Couscous

1. Choose a range of your favourite veg chop it all into similar size pieces put on a baking tray with salt, pepper, cumin seeds, smoked paprika and a little olive oil and roast on a medium heat for as long as they need to go soft (will be different lengths of time depending on your choice of veg). I used red onion, sweet peppers and courgette.
2. Mix a gluten free stock cube with boiling water and pour over some gluten free couscous and leave to stand and absorb the liquid. If it soaks it up quickly add a little more and if you add too much so it doesn’t all absorb you can always drain off the excess.
3. Add a drained tin of mixed beans to the soaked couscous and some black olives, salt and pepper.
4. When the roast veg is done add into the couscous mixture with a large handful of chopped parsley and the juice of half a lemon.
5. Stir well and leave to cool.

Feta and Watermelon Salad

I have to give a credit here to my friend Nicky who introduced me to this salad when we were away in Florence a couple of years ago. It was very hot weather and this salad really hit the spot. It was sweet salty and refreshing I’ve  added a kick of mint for even more freshness.

1. Chop half a watermelon into bite size chunks. If you can be bothered and have time you could take all the seeds out but I generally don’t bother!
2. Dice up a packet of feta cheese and add to the watermelon.
3. Remove mint leaves from the stalks chop the leaves finely and sprinkle over the watermelon and feta. Add a good amount of fresh ground black pepper and mix well.

I sliced and buttered a gluten free rustic loaf and put that in the third box…all done!

We just needed three cans of gin and tonic and everything was set, the water was lovely and the food very welcome. A great way to end the day and my time with them.