The last supper at home.  Well, for a while anyway as we are off to the Green Man Festival in the Brecon Beacons and then Warwickshire for a few days.

The health benefits of curly kale are widely extolled.  But it is one of the few veg I really struggle with.  I asked some friends at Houston’s Nutrition how they cook it and one suggestion was in an omelette for breakfast.  Hmmmm.  Food for thought indeed.  I had never considered eating leafy greens for breakfast.  I don’t actually have any curly kale but I do have lots of Swiss Chard in the garden that needs eating up so I thought I would try that.

A few simple ingredients; one small onion, button mushrooms, swiss chard and 2 eggs ……

and le voila, a delicious omelette.  I fried the onion in a tbsp of groundnut oil, then added the mushrooms.  I cut the stalk away from the leaf on the swiss chard and chopped it up and added it to the onions and mushrooms.  I let them cook for a few minutes until they softened and added the beaten eggs.  And it was tasty.  Really tasty.

Harvey had an archery lesson at Bedgebury which was really good.  Steve, the teacher, was excellent at explaining what to do, and reassuringly very strict about safety.  Harvey loved it.  So anyone who lives locally and fancies some archery for their children and/or themselves should book a session.  It only costs £5!  Thanks for the tip Ruth and for taking him home for the afternoon so I could get lots done.

I was busy planning and packing so just had a very quick lunch of a ham, mustard and lettuce sandwich with some Sungold cherry tomatoes I had grown.  These little tomatoes are so sweet they are like fruits.  As my pedantic son would say, “Mummy, they are fruits”.  Yes, I know they are but you know what I mean!  I was lucky to find any as they are so sweet he usually eats them before I get a chance so I really enjoyed my simple lunch today and relished every little tomato.

As we are going away I needed to use up leftovers in the fridge and eat up some of the abundance in the garden.  One of our favourite suppers is ‘Cheesy Vegetables’.  Lara’s and mine that is.  James doesn’t really like vegetables much and Harvey can’t eat dairy.   This is a very simple and comforting meal.  It is high fat so I can’t eat it too often but I think it is redeemed by being full of vegetables.  You can use whatever you have.  Just cook them until they are al dente, cover in the cheese sauce, grate extra cheese on top and bake in the oven for half an hour.

I seem to have some very prolific courgette plants and the spinach and swiss chard has suddenly gone mad.  So I had lots of that to use and some more french beans to eat up.  I also had half a bag of carrots lurking about at the back of the fridge and fancied some peas and sweetcorn as I haven’t had any for ages.  You really can use whatever you have.

I steamed the carrots, french beans and swiss chard stalks, which had all been chopped up, for about 4 minutes.  I added the swiss chard leaves and courgette to the steamer and put the frozen peas and sweetcorn in the boiling water and let it all cook on for about another 4 minutes.  I cooked the spinach in another pan.  I just wash it and then put it in a saucepan with the lid on and cook over a low heat for a few minutes until it wilts.

Mix all the vegetables together and make the cheese sauce.  I buy strong cheddar so you don’t have to use as much to get a good strong cheesy flavour.

Cheese sauce – for 2 people :

• 25g butter
• 25g plain flour
• 300ml milk ( I use semi-skimmed and it does work with soya milk too)
• Grated cheddar to taste

Method

• Melt the butter
• Add the flour, cook over a low heat for a couple of minutes
• Add the milk, and stir enthusiastically so it doesn’t go lumpy.  If it does go lumpy, turn the heat UP and use a whisk to beat the lumps out.
• Keep on the heat until the sauce thickens and add the cheese.
• Mix the cheese sauce in with the vegetables, pile in to an ovenproof dish, grate more cheese on top and bake in the oven (about 180) for 20 – 30 minutes so the cheese melts over the top.

It is wonderful comfort food that you don’t feel too bad about eating occasionally as it is full of vegetables.  Tonight we didn’t have time to do the bake in the oven part and neither of us wanted the extra cheese on top.  So I piled the vegetables in to a bowl and poured the cheese sauce on top and it was still delicious.

I do confess that once I had taken this photo I completely covered the veg in the cheese sauce.  The quantity above made loads and it was perfectly smooth and really cheesy.  It was a truly wonderful supper.

And I am now sitting here with my second whisky of the evening.  Not my usual tipple but sometimes I get a real fancy for a whisky with Ginger ale and so I had one.  And then another.  After all, I was home,  finishing off the ironing and packing and not out at the pub with friends, celebrating A-Level results as I could have been.

Congratulations to all those who were successful today with getting their places at University for September/October.  And farewell folks for a few days.  I will be sitting in a field in Wales with happy hippies eating lentils with no wifi so no blogging until next week.