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It’s the June Bank Holiday and for tens of thousands of women across the country (not to mention the odd man in drag), the training’s done and the Women’s Mini Marathon beckons. Some of you have trained, some of you may have taken – well – a more relaxed approach to preparing yourself for 10 kilometers through the streets of Dublin.

Either way, you’re going to need a good breakfast inside you beforehand…..and afterwards, those of yo u who won’t be heading straight to the chipper will probably be looking for something to minimize the stiffness and soreness of the day’s exertions.

Catherine Fulvio was here with some ideas.

It’s a busy life and you may be short on time – the kids need to be picked up from school and entertained, or you may be stuck in traffic and not get home until late. By the time you get around to cooking you may be too hungry to wait three hours for a roast lamb. But quick meals don’t have to be boring.

And here to give us a pointer in how to make our speedy suppers that bit more interesting was Catherine Fulvio.

Moroccan Style Chicken and Butternut Squash Casserole

Serves 4

Serve this with bulgar wheat or couscous, both are quick and easy to cook. Have readily available in you store cupboard spices and even some toasted nuts to sprinkle over for extra flavour.

2 tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp paprika

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp turmeric

2cm grated ginger

3 medium chicken fillets, sliced horizontally

½ small butternut squash, diced in 2cm pieces

400g tinned diced tomatoes

250ml chicken stock

1 lemon, zest and juice of ½

1 tsp honey

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted

7 mint leaves, to garnish

Basmati rice, to serve

Heat the olive oil in a casserole over a medium heat, add the onion and cook for about 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.Add the cumin, paprika, cinnamon, turmeric and grated ginger to the onion and garlic mix. Stir well and cook for 1 minute.Add the chicken and lightly brown on both sides. Add the diced butternut, pour in the tomatoes and chicken stock, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Check the seasoning and add the lemon zest and honey and cook for a further 10 minutes.Serve with basmati rice, sprinkle over the mint leaves and flaked almonds.

Tip: Exchange the chicken for pieces of monkfish.

Fish Pot Pies

Makes 4

Use up any leftover mash potatoes or even sweet potato which is delicious instead of the filo pastry and any fish can be added.

500ml low fat milk

100ml vegetable stock

8 black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

3 large sprigs parsley

2 sprigs dill

200g haddock, roughly diced

200g salmon, roughly diced

2 sheets of filo pastry

2 tsp sesame seeds (optional)

2 tbsp melted butter

50g butter

50g flour

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 spring onions, thinly sliced diagonally

½ lemon, zest and juice

1 tbsp chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/gas 5. Line a baking tray with parchment.Pour the milk, stock, peppercorns, bay leaf, parsley, dill and fish into a medium size saucepan over a medium heat and bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 6 to 7 minutes or until the fish is just cooked.In the meantime, unwrap the filo pastry, place one sheet onto a board, brush with melted butter and add the other sheet on top. Draw circles the size of the ramekins adding 2cm on the edges. Using a clean pair of scissor, cut the circles. Scrunch the pastry a little and sprinkle over the sesame seeds. Place on the baking tray and into the oven for 6 to 7 minutes or until golden and crisp. Using a slotted spoon, lift the cooked fish and set aside in a bowl. Strain the poaching liquid into a jug. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat and add the flour and about half of the liquid, whisking all the time until a thin sauce has formed and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Return the fish to the sauce and warm through.Add the spring onions, lemon juice, zest and parsley to the sauce. Check the seasoning. Spoon into the ramekins and place a filo pastry lid on top. Serve with a fresh green salad.

Tip: Add ½ tsp chopped tarragon and 8 cooked prawns to the sauce and serve at a dinner party.

If you’re looking for a day out and you like your quality food then you could do worse than head to Sheridan’s Cheesemakers fourth Irish food festival on Sunday 26th May. There’ll be plenty there for all tastes, workshops, stalls – the lot - and with a small sample of what’s on offer, Pat was joined by joined by Kevin Sheridan..

Traditional Irish Brown Bread

Recipe provide by Maura Sheridan

Ingredients:

250g plain white flour

200g wholemeal flour

1 level teaspoon bread soda

1 level teaspoon salt

2 large free range eggs

250ml Yoghurt (or Buttermilk)

Method:

I turn on the fan oven at 200 – 250C to preheat while I prepare the mixture.

First, prepare baking tray or ceramic pot- I use an old Le Creuset pot to bake the bread in. I line it with the wrappers from butter, but you can use greaspeproof paper.

Beat the eggs very well, add the yoghurt and beat again –leave aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flours , bread soda, salt). Make a well in the centre of the bowl.

Add most of the liquid and using your hand start mixing the flour in from the centre out with a light touch.

When the mixture comes together, form a round and place on a floured baking tray or in a heavy bottomed ceramic dish such as I use.

Place in the centre of the oven.

Note on temperatures and times: Ovens vary. I have mine at 200 – 250C for 10/15 minutes. Then turn down to 190/180C for the remainder of baking time - total baking time 1 hour.

To ensure that the bread is cooked, turn upside down, tap the bottom, and a hollow sound lets you know that it is done.

When cooked, wrap in a tea towel and leave to cool.

Mackerel Paté with dill on brown bread with a chive sour cream

Recipe provided by Pauric White of the Forge Restaurant

Served with Brown Bread or Brown Bread Crackers

Ingredients:

For pâté

4 fillets of fresh mackerel

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon chopped dill

Salt & pepper

For Chive Sour cream

5 tablespoons cream

Juice of 1/4 lemon

Freshly ground pepper (4 good turns of a mill)

½ tblsp Finely chopped chives

1. Lightly grill the mackerel with a little lemon juice , salt & pepper allow to cool

2. Remove all the bones and the skin .

3. Place in a food blender; add the lemon juice and chopped dill, blend , taste & season

4. Allow to cool in the fridge before serving

5. For the sour cream place all the ingredients in a bowel whisk until they become thick add chives at the end

To serve take a Sheridans brown bread cracker or some brown bread, smooth a nice portion of pâté on the cracker followed by a nice helping of sour cream

Baked Fillet of Irish Hake

with tomato , lemon scented parsley crust

Recipe provided by Pauric White of the Forge Restaurant

Ingredients:

2 portions of hake ( ensure the bones have been taken out )

2 slices seeded whole meal bread crumbed

1 tomato sliced

Zest of 1/2 lemon

Nice bunch of parsley chopped .

Salt & pepper

Method:

1. Seal the hake in a hot pan skin side first with a little butter and oil

2. Place the slices of tomato on the flesh side of the hake

3. Mix the lemon zest , parsley & crumb together

4. Lightly crumble the crumb over the tomato ensuring all is covered

5. Bake in a per heated oven at 180 C for 10 - 12 mins

6. If you have a probe thermometer it should read 74c

Great served with a lemon mayonnaise and a dressed salad ( rocket would be nice or pea shoot )

Alternatively with seasonal oven roasted veg

Donal Skehan’s Banana & Oatmeal Muffins

Recipe from Donal Skehan’s Book: Kitchen Hero

Ingredients:

125g Plain Flour

75g Wholemeal Flour (we used Dunany Flour from Co. Louth)

200g Rolled Oats, plus extra for sprinkling (we used ** Kilbeggan? Macroom)

75g soft light brown sugar

1 tblsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

250ml milk

2 large free-range eggs, separated

3 tblsp rapeseed oil

1 tblsp cold coffee

2 bananas, mashed, plus 1 banana, cut into 12 slices

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), Gas Mark 6. Line a muffin or cupcake tray with 12 paper cases.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, oats, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon.

Measure the milk in a large measuring jug and whisk in the egg yolks, oil, coffee, and mashed bananas.

In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the contents of the jug. Using a spatula, mix together until just combined.

Fold through the egg whites, then divide the mixture amongst the paper cases.

Push a slice of banana into the centre of each muffin and sprinkle with oats. Place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes until golden on top.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tip:

Donal also suggested before I came on the show that adding in a handul of blueberries or raspberries is a great idea with these muffins!

Cheeses

Durrus -Semi soft, mildly pungent cheese(Made by Jeffa Gill in Sheep’s Head Peninsula, West Cork)

Cooleeney – sof bloomy rind, camembert style cheese (Made by Breda Maher in Moyne, Thurles, Co. Tipperary)

Served with Sheridans Irish Crackers and Chutney for Cheese with Apples & Plums

Anyone with rhubarb out in their garden will have noticed it has probably taken off in the past week or two, after its long winter hibernation. So what do you do with it?

Well, with a few ideas, Pat was joined by Domini Kemp – chef/author, co–founder of itsa and Irish Times food writer.

Rhubarb bars

These rhubarb bars are particularly easy and very tasty. The first time I made them, I was worried that the rhubarb would be a bit pappy, as you just roughly chop them and don’t peel them or anything. But they disintegrated to become this lovely layer of jammy, plummy fruitiness, between blankets of buttery oats.

Rhubarb bars

Swiss roll tin measuring: 30 x 21 cm

550 g plums roughly chopped

3Ž4 tsp mixed spice

250 g light muscovado sugar

Black pepper

450 g butter

4 tbsp golden syrup

500 g oats

100 g plain flour

50 g chopped walnuts

Roughly chop the plums and mix with the mixed spice and 75 g of the soft brown sugar and a few grinds of black pepper. Leave to macerate while you prepare the topping. Melt the butter with the rest of the brown sugar (175 g) and the golden syrup. Mix the oats, flour and walnuts together in a big bowl. When the butter mixture is smooth, pour on top of the oats and flour and mix well. Line your tin with parchment paper and spread half of the oat mixture on the base of the tin, using a spatula that you dip into water to help smooth it down. Spread the plums over and pat down lightly. Then spread the rest of the oat mixture on top, trying to “seal” in the plums. Bake at 180 C for about an hour until the topping is golden brown. Allow to cool in the tin for a while and then remove and slice. They keep in an airtight container for a few days.

Lentil, asparagus, rhubarb & feta salad

200 g Puy lentils

2 rhubarb sticks, thinly sliced

Fresh corn – from one cob

8 asparagus spears, blanched & sliced

Basil

Olive oil

Squeeze honey, or maple or agave syrup

100 g soft goats cheese

Salt & pepper

Cook the Puy lentils in boiling water until tender. Drain, rinse and mix with some olive oil and a splash of sherry vinegar. Add the rhubarb and corn, and the asparagus. Season and taste. Add in the other ingredients to taste.

Most of us in an hour or will be gearing up for lunch. And chances are that, whether you’re on your own...whether you are with kids...whether you’re in work with colleagues ....or whether you have a packed lunch in your desk drawer, you’ll be having a sandwich.

Now the poor old sandwich can be a hackneyed creation, cobbled together and wrapped in tin foil the night before, bought from a fridge in a supermarket or made on a production line in a sandwich shop. For many it is a means to an end, there to keep us going until dinner.

But the sandwich can be regenerated, rebuilt into something tasty and worthy of a meal in itself and Catherine Fulvio was here to tell us more.

Roasted Aubergine, Rocket and Feta on Ciabatta

Makes 1

Make this will a large ciabatta loaf and slice the sandwich in portions.

½ aubergine, sliced lengthways into 1cm in thickness

2 tbsp basil pesto

Rocket and other salad leaves

25g feta, crumbled

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

1 tbsp chopped hazelnuts, toasted

2 tbsp lemon mayonnaise

Ciabatta roll, sliced

Flat leaf parsley, to garnish

Sprig of rosemary

Olive oil

To prepare the aubergine, heat a large frying pan with a little olive oil over medium heat. Dust the slices of aubergine in a little flour, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Dust the excess flour off. Place in the frying pan and sauté until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the pan and place on kitchen paper. Place the ciabatta roll on a plate or board, spread over the basil pesto, add a slice of aubergine, add the rocket leaves and feta. Mix together the celery, hazelnuts and lemon mayonnaise. Add another slice of aubergine, and the celery hazelnut mayonnaise. Add flat leaf parsley. End by placing the top on the roll. Insert a skewer or rosemary sprig.

Muffuletta Style Roll

Makes 1

You can make a large version in a round loaf to take on a picnic.

1 large round bread roll

1tbsp basil pesto

1 tomato, sliced thinly

2 slices mozzarella

5 olives, sliced

3 sundried tomato halves, sliced

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 slice prosciutto

Slice the bread roll in half.Spread over the basil pesto on the base of the bread roll, layer with tomato slices and mozzarella. Add the sliced olives and sundried tomatoes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.Sprinkle with some parsley and layer over the prosciutto. Place the top of the bread roll on the prosciutto tightly and wrap in plastic wrap over night. When ready to serve, slice into 2.

Well, with the weather the way it is, with the garden at last needing a spot of attention, and with, hopefully a few weeks of getting out and about on the cards, it may be a good idea to concentrate on getting some energising foods on your menu, to give yourself a head start.

Pat was joined with a few ideas, by Catherine Fulvio.

Sweet Potato and Beetroot Salad with Hazelnut Dressing

Serves 4

There is plenty of goodness in sweet potatoes - Vitamin C, B3, B5 and B6, - all the B’s have great energy releasing properties. The hazelnuts are also good as a vitamin E source but they will give you an increase level of energy.

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 tsp chopped thyme

1 medium orange, zest only

60g garden salad leaves – including baby spinach and rocket leaves

100g cooked wild rice

1 medium cooked beetroot, sliced into wedges

2 tbsp pumpkin seeds

1 tbsp olive oil

For the dressing

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp honey

2 tbsp hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Salt and pepper to season

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/Gas 4.Combine all the ingredients for the dressing, check the seasoning and pour into a bottle, shake and set aside. This will keep in your fridge for a week or so.Place the diced sweet potato in a roasting pan, add the sliced garlic, drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle over the thyme. Add the orange zest. Roast for about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden and set aside until slightly cooled.Arrange the salad leaves on a serving platter, spoon over the sweet potato, sprinkle over the wild rice and arrange the beetroot wedges. Sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds.Just before serving, spoon over some dressing and serve immediately.

Tip: Flaked grilled salmon is just delicious added to this energy packed salad.

Red Pepper Hummus with Parsnip and Carrot Crisps

Makes about 350g

There are many variations of hummus, the roasted red peppers and chickpeas blend very well and it has a very inviting colour as well. Take a snack pack to work of thin celery and apple lengths together with your homemade hummus.

300g cooked chickpeas

1 lemon, zest and juice

3 tbsp tahini paste

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

½ tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional or just a pinch)

2 red peppers, roasted, skinned and roughly diced

60 to 70ml extra virgin olive oil

For the parsnip and beetroot crisps

2 parsnips, peeled and very thinly sliced lengthways

2 carrots, peeled and very thinly sliced

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the hummus, place the chickpeas, lemon zest and juice, tahini paste, garlic, cumin and cayenne pepper together with the roasted peppers and some of the extra virgin olive oil into a blender until puree until roughly smooth depending on the texture you like. You may need to add a tablespoon or more of extra virgin olive oil. Check the seasoning. Spoon into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, keep in the fridge until ready to serve.To make the crisps, preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Place parchment on a baking tray. Place the thinly sliced parsnips and carrot slices on the tray and brush over extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle a little salt and freshly ground black pepper over the crisps. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Keep an eye on them from time to time as they do tend to burn easily.Allow the crisps to cool completely before serving with the red pepper hummus.

Tip: How to skin roasted peppers, place the peppers in a roasting pan, add a splash of olive oil and roast for about 25 to 30 minutes at 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4 until almost well roasted. Remove from the oven, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and leave to cool. Once cooled, the skin will peel off easily, if there are a few difficult bits, just scrape them off with a knife.

Serves 4

Head for your local fish monger or fisherman and be guided by them to the best and freshest catch of the day and use this in your recipes – it is all about being able to change to use the freshest.

For the stuffing

1 orange, zest only

1 tbsp capers

50g breadcrumbs

30g butter, melted

1 tsp chopped rosemary

1 tbsp chopped parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 medium mackerel, scaled, gutted and head removed and fins trimmed

½ tsp paprika

For the oil

1 red chilli, finely chopped

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Extra virgin olive oil

1 orange, sliced, chargrilled, for garnishing

5 small rosemary sprigs, for garnishing

Preheat the BBQ.Combine the orange zest, capers, breadcrumbs, melted butter, chopped rosemary and parsley in a medium bowl. If you feel that the stuffing is too dry add a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Mix well and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside.Slice 2 incisions on each mackerel and rub over the paprika. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.Spoon the stuffing into the fish and press together slightly. Brush the fish on both sides with extra virgin olive oil and place on the BBQ over direct medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes turning the fish over once. In the meanwhile, brush the orange slices and chargrill on the BBQ over direct medium heat for 1 minute turn over for about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.To make the chilli oil, place the finely chopped red chilli and the oil into a saucepan and heat gently for 3 minutes, stirring from time to time. Set aside.Check the fish carefully by cutting a small portion of the flesh with a sharp knife to see if it is cooked.Using an egg lift, remove from the BBQ and place on a platter, arrange the orange slices on top and a few sprigs of rosemary. Drizzle over some chilli oil and serve immediately.

Tip: Try stuffing small squid pouches with this easy filling, seal the one end with a sturdy rosemary sprigs, brush with good quality extra virgin olive oil and place over direct medium heat for about 4 to 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat some extra virgin olive oil in a small pan on the BBQ, add sliced garlic, the juice and zest of 1 orange and 1 tsp chopped rosemary, cook for 2 minutes until the orange juice has reduced slightly. To serve, spoon the sauce over the squid.

Chorizo, Monk Fish and Pepper Kebabs with Creamy Dill Dressing

Makes 8

This is summer sunshine with bright colours served with smooth dill dressing on a bed of steamed new potatoes. When choosing fish for kebabs or skewers, a “meaty” textured fish like monk or salmon is better as it stays on the skewers when you cook on the BBQ.

For the marinade

1 lemon, juice and zest

4 tbsp sunflower oil

2 tsp chilli sauce

¼ tsp caster sugar

300g monk fish, diced into 2cm pieces

1 red pepper, roughly 2cm dice

100g chorizo, cut into 2cm dice

For the creamy dill dressing

5 tbsp crème fraiche

1½ tbsp tarragon vinegar

2 tbsp chopped dill

Extra virgin olive oil

Salad leaves, to serve

700g diced steamed new potatoes, to serve

Sprigs of dill, to serve

Soak the wooden skewers for at least 2 hours in water.Combine the lemon juice and zest, oil, chilli sauce and sugar a large bowl. Place the monk fish into the bowl and marinade for 30 minutes.Preheat the BBQ.Thread the skewers with red pepper, diced monk fish and chorizo and repeat. Brush the kebabs with extra virgin olive oil. Chargrill for 3 to 4 minutes over direct medium heat, turning once and spoon a little oil and marinade on each side until the fish and peppers are cooked. In the meanwhile, mix together the crème fraiche, tarragon vinegar and chopped dill. If you feel that it is too thick, add a tbsp of water to the sauce. Leave in the fridge. To serve, place salad leaves on a large plate, spoon over the warm new potatoes, drizzle with a little extra virgin oil and place the kebabs on top. Spoon over the dill dressing and garnish with sprigs of dill.

Tip: Serve with a fresh tomato, garlic and tarragon relish instead of the creamy dill dressing.

Now, even for the seasoned professionals, there’s no use in having a top of the range oven if you’re not going to be putting properly prepared food into it. And where adding and subtracting ingredients is obviously the essence of good cookery, making sure those ingredients are cut, chopped and sliced properly can be just as important.

With that in mind, you’re going to have to choose and maintain your kitchen weapons properly and here to help, with a couple of recipes of course, is Catherine Fulvio…

Tagliatelle with Walnut Pesto and Spinach

Serves 4

This one is for those of you who want to improve their chopping skills! You can also use an old faithful in the kitchen – the blender. The pesto in this recipe is not like your usual one – it has less oil added and so is a little chunky but that adds a good texture. It is a very easy mid week meal.

For the pesto

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

3 tbsp walnuts, roughly chopped

A small bunch of mint leaves, roughly chopped

A small bunch of parsley, toughly chopped

1 lemon, zest and juice

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

350g tagliatelle

100g baby spinach, washed and trimmed

1 roasted red pepper, thinly sliced

1 tbsp chopped parsley, to garnish

To make the pesto, place the sliced garlic, walnuts, mint, parsley and lemon zest and juice and oil into a food processor and blend to a rough paste.Cook the tagliatelle according to the manufacturer’s instructions on the package. When the pasta is cooked, drain, retaining 2 tbsp of cooking liquid, stir in the baby spinach leaves until it has wilted.Spoon in the walnut pesto, as well as the roasted red peppers and toss well. You may need to add a little cooking liquid if you think it is too dry.Sprinkle over the chopped parsley and serve immediately.

Tip: Stir strips of chargrilled lemon chicken into the pasta.

Parsnip, Leek and Thyme Tarte Tatin

Serves 4

This is delicious served with roast beef for Sunday lunch. Add a few cherry tomatoes as well into the topping and serve for lunch.

For the pastry

260g plain flour

130g chilled butter, diced

1 tsp chopped thyme

Pinch of salt

1 egg and 1 yolk, beaten

For the topping

2 large parsnips, peeled and sliced into chunks

2 leeks, thinly sliced

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp honey

1 egg, beaten

Thyme sprigs, to garnish

For the pastry, place the flour in a large mixing bowl, rub in the butter to resemble fine breadcrumbs. Add the thyme and a little salt. Stir in some of the egg to form a soft pastry. Wrap in parchment and place in the fridge to rest for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6. Generously brush a round gratin dish with butter.Place the parsnips in a medium saucepan with lightly salted water, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until just tender. Drain.Heat a medium frying pan with a little butter and olive oil over a medium to low heat, add the leeks and sauté for 8 minutes.In the meanwhile, heat another frying pan with a little butter and olive oil over a medium heat and add the cooked parsnips, caramelize until just golden.Arrange the parsnips in the base of the gratin dish, drizzle over some honey and a little thyme. Spoon the leeks in and sprinkle over a little chopped thyme. Dust a work surface with flour and roll out the pastry to fit the gratin dish leaving an extra 2cm edge for tucking in.Lift the pastry onto the vegetables, neatly tuck in the edges. Brush with beaten egg and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes. Leave to stand for 3 to 4 minutes. Slide a flat bladed knife around the edge to loosen the pastry. Place a plate on top of the gratin dish and turn out. Sprinkle with thyme sprigs and serve.

Tip: Parsnips are not only for savoury tarts and pies so add a few plum halves with the parsnips, omit the leeks and drizzle with maple syrup instead of honey and serve with orange mascarpone.

Spring has sprung and it’s time to start sowing your garden vegetables. Catherine Fulvio has been planting and on the programme she joined Pat, in studio, where she explained the vegetables she likes to grow and then prepared a spring carrot salad with maple dressing and beetroot brownies.

Spring Carrot Salad with Maple Dressing

Serves 4

This is making the best of our fabulous tender spring carrots as well as incorporating other vegetables and salad leaves with a sweet maple dressing.

100g of your favourite salad leaves (cos, mizuna, mint leaves and rocket)

3 carrots, trimmed, peeled into ribbons

4 spring onions, trimmed and chopped into thirds

3 beetroots, cooked and sliced into thin wedges

50g green beans, trimmed

100g feta cheese, crumbled

2 tbsp pinenuts, toasted

For the dressing

4 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp wholegrain mustard

3 tbsp sunflower oil

1 lemon, juice and zest

1 tsp thyme, chopped

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a bowl.Arrange the leaves on a serving platter, arrange the carrots, spring onions, beetroot wedges and beans on top, drizzle over some dressing and sprinkle over the feta and then the toasted pinenuts. Serve immediately.

Tip: Add crispy chive croutons made from soda bread to the salad. Chives grow very well in pots as well.

Beetroot Brownies

Makes 9

Vegetables are not only savoury so by adding beetroot to brownies it gives a lovely deep ruby colour and earthy taste.

100g butter

3 eggs

150g caster sugar

150g chocolate, broken

1 medium beetroot, cooked and grated

150g self-raising flour, sieved

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4.Brush the base of a 20cm shallow, square baking tin with melted butter and line with baking parchment.Beat the eggs and sugar together until pale and creamy.Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a saucepan of hot water (bain marie) until smooth. Cool the chocolate mix slightly. Stir the chocolate into the egg mixture, taking care not to “scramble” the eggs. Fold in the grated beetroot and flour.Pour into the baking tin, spreading evenly. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until just set. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire rack. Take back the parchment from the edges and cut into squares.

Tip: add 3 tbsp chopped dried apricots to the mix.