The sun is shining, there is hardly any breeze. It is too hot to slave over the campervan hob. On these evenings I always move outside to cook. We don’t travel with a BBQ but have a portable electric hob that can be used outdoors. In the Yorkshire Dales recently, it was exactly one of those evenings. We were camping at Howgill Lodge campsite which has one of the best views this side of Scotland and I jumped at the chance to sit at one of the many picnic benches the campsite provides and chop my veg.
This fresh summer stew can be made in one pot and uses vegetables that are in season. We had a beer to help us along while we cooked.
To conjure up a summer vegetable stew for four, I chopped up:
- One red onion finely
- 500 gm new potatoes, cubed
- One courgette into cubes
- One pack of green beans (200 – 300 gms) trimmed and cut into approximately 4 cm lengths
- Garlic
- Small bunch of fresh parsley
- Small bunch of fresh dill
- 100 gm of pitted green olives [my favourites are Sainsbury’s pitted queen olives] cut in half
I also had:
- 500 gm of good tomato passata [you can use tinned tomatoes]
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
In a large saucepan, I heated the olive oil gently and added the onion, cooking until soft. I added the garlic, pinch of salt, black pepper and paprika and stirred and then the potatoes and courgettes, coated them in the oil and cooked for one minute before adding the tomatoes and a little water [about 125 ml]. Put the lid on, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes or so, you can sit back and relax for a while until the potatoes are softening.
Checking in with the cooking again, add the cut beans to the pot and simmer for a further 10 minutes until the beans are tender. Stir in the dill and parsley, olives and lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning to suit you.
This is a delicious and hearty meal served with some crusty bread and either a simple green salad or a Greek salad with feta cheese.
Back on the road again 