Calcium-rich pesto bean salad (gluten-free; dairy-free; vegan)

August 17, 2025August 17, 2025 ~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ Leave a comment

Bean_and_pesto_salad_rich_in_calcium — Bean salad flavoured with almond and poppy seed pesto. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello there. I hope you are enjoying some good weather this season. It’s been very hot here in the UK again, and so salads are very much still on my daily menu. To follow on from my post last month which you can read here , I have another recipe which can help towards increasing your calcium levels if you are on a gluten-free, dairy-free and/or vegan diet.

Scottish_greenhouse_green_beans_Cobra_variety — Gorgeous greenhouse green beans. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Homegrown_Scottish_greenhouse_basil — Summery greenhouse basil. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

It’s been a bumper season for the green (French) beans (Cobra variety) in my greenhouse. The vines have been producing an abundance of beans for several weeks now, and the basil plant loves all the heat and sunshine as well. To my delight, I discovered that both green beans and basil offer useful amounts of calcium, and that’s how my recipe this month began.

Gluten-free_dairy-free_vegan_calcium-rich_salad_ingredients — Calcium-rich salad ingredients. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Combined with some other calcium-rich ingredients, this tasty salad is delicious on its own or as a side dish. The table below gives you a breakdown of which ingredients contain the most calcium so that you can make up your own combinations.

Rocket	216mg calcium/100g
Baby spinach	119mg calcium/100g
Cooked cannellini beans	93mg calcium/100g
Cooked green beans	61mg calcium/100g
Green olives	61mg calcium/100g
Fresh basil	250mg calcium/100g
Whole almonds	269mg calcium/100g
Poppy seeds	1580mg calcium/100g
Garlic	19mg calcium/100g

Source: McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods

For the pesto, put 20g fresh basil in a food processor with a peeled garlic clove and add 50g roughly chopped whole almonds, 20g poppy seeds and some salt. Pour over 60ml extra virgin olive oil and blitz until smooth.

Vegan_Almond_and_poppy_seed_pesto — Making almond and poppy seed pesto. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

For the salad, I combined 240g canned cannellini beans with 100g chopped cooked green beans and half the pesto sauce above. I lined a salad bowl with 40g wild rocket and 20g baby spinach and piled the bean mixture on top. Serve with 100g pitted green olives and extra basil leaves, with the remaining pesto on the side.

Steps_to_making_calcium-rich_bean_salads_for_gluten-free_dairy-free_vegan_diets — Assembling the salad. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

The salad serves 4, and each portion will provide 238mg calcium and 330 calories.

That’s me for another month. Hope to see you again soon. Thanks for stopping by 🙂

October: fruit, frosts and lots of rain

October 29, 2023 ~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ 2 Comments

Scottish_garden_cooking_apple_harvest_October_2023 — This year’s cooking apple harvest. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello there. It’s been a very varied weather picture here in central Scotland this October. It was mild and kind at the beginning of the month, which presented perfect conditions for bringing in this year’s harvest of apples and pears. Compared to last year, the yield from the old apple tree and 2 small pear trees was small, but there was still enough to enjoy, and now the trees are having a well earned rest.

Scottish_garden_Comice_and_Concorde_pears — Homegrown pears. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Apple_tree_after_harvest — After the harvest. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

The morning following the fruit picking, the first frost of the season fell, and a few days later, there was another one. A subtle reminder that winter is not too far away.

Scottish_garden_frosty_morning_October_2023 — First October frost. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Frosty_grass_and_garden_foliage — Frosted Autumn plants. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Having had a late spell of very warm weather last month, the trees held on to their leaves longer than usual. The Autumn colours have been really showing in all their glory since the middle of the month. The Japanese maple in the back garden looks as spectacular as ever this year.

Autumn_foliage_of_a_Japanese_maple — Fiery leaves. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

The second half of the month has seen strong winds, a named storm (Babet) and heavy rain hitting this part of the country. Little damage here thank goodness, but lots of flooding around the area. The rain has washed plenty of leaves to the ground, and there are piles to be swept up all over the garden.

Autumn_shades_on_a_grey_day — Autumn on a grey, wet day. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

A_pile_of_Autumn_leaves — Just leaves. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

There aren’t so many flowers in the garden at the moment. But these Bidens, usually a summer annual here in Scotland, seeded themselves and only started flowering last month. The Autumn crocus suffered in the frost and then the heavy rain, and the poor pink rhododendron is very confused by the weather. It produced a solitary flower last week which sadly didn’t last more than a couple of days.

Scottish_garden_October_flowers — Bidens, Autumn crocus and solitary rhododendron flower. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

I put the greenhouse to bed this weekend. The tomato plants had just about finished and the last of the aubergines (egg plant) were ready for picking. All that remains are some late season potatoes. I’m not sure how well they are doing but I guess that I will find out in another month or so when I dig them up.

Putting_the_greenhouse_to_bed_end_of_October_2023 — End of season in the greenhouse. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

There was a new visitor in the garden this week. A little hedgehog made its way to the apple tree. I think he/she was in search of dropped bird seed from the feeder above. The prickly visitor rolled into a ball as soon as it heard us approaching. There are plenty of leaves around in the garden so hopefully this little fellow will make a comfy bed in one of the hedges for the coming winter.

Hedgehog_in_a_ball_under_an_apple_tree — Garden hedgehog. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

That’s all for this week. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy the changing season. Until my next post, take care and my best wishes to you 🙂

Slow-cooker tomato confit (naturally gluten-free; dairy-free; vegan)

September 14, 2023September 14, 2023 ~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ Leave a comment

Slow-cooker_baby_tomato_confit — Freshly made tomato confit. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello again. I hope you have had a good few days since my last post. After lousy weather here in the UK in August, September started with a mini heatwave. The high temperatures have come to an end now but the extra heat and sunshine certainly helped ripen off the fruit and vegetables. It’s been a bumper year for tomatoes, and I’ve been exploring new ways to serve and preserve them.

Scottish_greenhouse_tomatoes_September_2023 — Greenhouse cherry tomatoes. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

My recipe this week is a very simple one. It’s an easy and energy-efficient way to cook small tomatoes. All you need is a slow-cooker and an amount of small tomatoes to fit neatly in a single layer over the base of the cooking dish. You can adapt the quantities you cook to fit the size of your cooker.

Slow-cooker_tomato_confit_ingredients — Confit ingredients. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

I have kept the flavours simple, using fresh herbs from the garden, some garlic and a few coriander seeds. Add chilli for some heat, or experiment with your favourite spices. The confit can be served on its own as a sauce for pasta or blitzed and used as a base sauce for other dishes. If you want to keep it for a few days, place in a sealed container, covering the tomatoes with extra oil as necessary, and store it in the fridge. For longer storage, it freezes fine.

Baby_tomato_confit_served_over_pasta — Tomato confit, fresh basil and black pepper. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

This really is a great way to enjoy the flavour of freshly picked sweet baby tomatoes with the minimum of effort. I hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

650g whole, same size, small or cherry tomatoes – or a weight that fits neatly in a single layer inside the base of your slow-cooker dish
A few sprigs of fresh thyme and oregano
1 bay leaf
1tsp coriander seeds, crushed
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1tsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2tsp caster sugar (optional)
100ml good quality olive oil + extra for storing

1. Remove the stalks from the tomatoes and wash well. Pat dry using kitchen paper and place in a single layer in the slow-cooker dish.

2. Add the remaining ingredients, cover with the lid and set the cooker to Low. Cook for 4hrs or until the tomatoes are soft but still holding shape. Leave to cool completely.

Preparing_baby_tomatoes_for_slow-cooking — Preparing the confit. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

3. For storing, discard the herbs and ladle into a clean, sealable storage container – I used a 750ml Kilner jar. Add more oil as necessary to cover the tomatoes, then seal and store for up to 10 days in the fridge. Alternatively, portion into containers and freeze. The oil can be drained off before serving and re-used to cook with or flavour salad dressings.

Cooked_slow_cooker_tomato_confit — Filling a storage jar with tomato confit. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

That’s me for another week. I have just picked another haul of tomatoes after coming back home after a few days away. I’ll have to get creating again. Until next time, thanks for stopping by 🙂

Wooden_crate_of_homegrown_tomatoes — My back-from-holiday tomato haul. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

A fruitful month

July 30, 2023July 30, 2023 ~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ Leave a comment

End_of_July_2023_in_a_Scottish_garden — My garden today. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello again. July has been a busy month in the garden and greenhouse. The weather’s been cooler than usual, with a mix of bright days and rain showers, but the plants have really been growing very well and yielding lots of goodies throughout the month.

July here in central Scotland is the month for raspberries and cherries. I have been training some new raspberry canes for a couple of years and the rewards are starting to show. Sadly the older canes suffered storm damage earlier in the month, so this may be their last season. Not bad going really, they were planted some 18 years ago! Berries are still ripening on the new canes, so it looks like I’ll be picking for a couple more weeks yet.

Homegrown_Scottish_raspberries_July_2023 — Broken canes but still a good harvest. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

The small espalier Morello tree didn’t produce quite as many cherries this year, but I did manage to get the fleece on earlier enough to stop the birds having a lovely feast. I have enough for a pie later in the year, and that’s good enough for me 🙂

July_2023_Homegrown_Scottish_Morello_cherries — 2023 Morello harvest. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

In the greenhouse, I’ve been picking mini cucumbers throughout the month. The tomatoes have started to turn colour, and the aubergine (eggplant) plants have a few flowers on them now – I hope they form fruit.

Scottish_greenhouse_produce_July_2023 — A plentiful greenhouse. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

The greenhouse yielded a few surprises earlier in the year when small seedlings started appearing in the soil. I realised after a while that they were sunflower seedlings. I think a mouse must have stashed some of the bird seed in the soil and perhaps had forgotten to retrieve it. Anyway, I ended up with several seedlings which I planted outside back in May, and this month they have started flowering. Not the biggest sunflowers you’ll ever see, but a quirky addition to the garden nonetheless.

Dwarf_Scottish_sunflowers — Mini sunflowers. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

None of my garden produce would be possible without the help of the gardener’s best friend, the bees. They have clearly been busy since the spring blossom was out, and now they have all the garden flowers to feast on.

Summer_bees_July_2023 — Bees at work in July. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

My last image for this post is another view of the garden. It’s been cool and mostly cloudy this past week, and at times it has felt a little bit autumnal. I think this image captures the mood, especially as the globe thistles (Echinops) are beginning to open up and the later summer flowers are coming into bloom. Until next time, thanks for stopping by and I hope to be posting again soon.

End_of_July_2023_Scottish_garden — End of July flowerbed. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Lemon and cucumber cake (gluten-free; dairy-free; vegan)

August 27, 2020August 27, 2020 ~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ 7 Comments

Sliced_lemon_and_cucumber_cake_close-up_on_texture — Lemon and cucumber cake. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello there. I hope you are well. I was having a look at the stats on my site last week and I noticed that the most frequently viewed recipe on my blog over the past 4 weeks has been a recipe I posted 3 years ago for a lemon-soaked cucumber cake. I am assuming that lots of readers have as many cucumbers as I do and are looking for different ways to use them up!

Time for a recipe review. Same combination of flavours, but this time an iced cake and a simple cake batter.

Overhead_image_of_lemon_and_cucumber_cake — Sliced and ready for eating. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

I have had a bumper crop of cucumbers this year, from just 2 plants. I only had a couple of seeds left in a packet from the year before and, once sown, both have thrived. Mini Munch is a great variety to grow. The cucumbers are small, sweet and delicously refreshing and juicy. They ripen in next to no time once the vines get established.

Mini_Munch_cucumbers_growing_in_greenhouse_and_still-life_with_flower_attached — Greenhouse Mini Munch cucumbers. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

On with the recipe. This is a very easy to make cake, no special equipment necessary. I do advise you to add either the xanthan gum or arrowroot as this really does hold the ingredients together to give a firmer texture, but if you decide not to, you’ll still have a delicious cake, it will just be crumbly.

3_mini_cucumbers_with_leaf_on_yellow_chopping_board — Home-grown cucumber harvest. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Makes 1 x 18cm cake

Ingredients

90g dairy-free margarine
140g caster sugar
100g plain dairy-free yogurt (I used coconut)
150g gluten-free self-raising flour blend (I use Doves Farm)
50g ground almonds
1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
1/4 tsp xanthan gum or 10g ground arrowroot
125g grated cucumber
Finely grated rind and juice 1 lemon
125g icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, 160°C fan oven, gas 4. Grease and line an 18cm square tin. Put the margarine and sugar in a bowl and whisk until creamy and well blended. Stir in the yogurt.

2. Add the remaining ingredients except the lemon juice and icing sugar, and mix together until well combined.

3. Pile into the tin, smooth the top and stand the tin on a baking tray. Bake for about 45 minutes until lightly golden and firm to the touch. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

6_steps_to_making_lemon_and_cucumber_cake_batter — Lemon and cucumber cake preparation. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

4. To ice, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and mix in 3-4 tsp lemon juice to make a smooth, thick icing. Spread all over the top of the cake and allow it to run down the sides. Leave to set for about 30 minutes before decorating.

3_steps_showing_baked_lemon_and_cucumber_cake_ready_for_lemon_icing — Baked cake ready for icing. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Close-up_on_fresh_lemon_icing_drizzle — Drizzling fresh lemon icing. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

I decorated my cake with cucumber flowers (male ones – no little fruit attached), orange-scented geranium leaves and a few strips of blanched lemon rind.

Whole_lemon_and_cucumber_cake_with_decoration — Decoration of cucumber flowers, orange scented geranium leaves and lemon rind. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

That’s all from me this week. I’m off to sort out my glut of runner beans! Until next time, my best wishes to you 🙂

August in a Scottish garden

August 4, 2017March 12, 2018 ~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ 7 Comments

Ox-eye_daisies_in_an_August_flower_border — August flower border with Ox-eye daisies. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Since the end of last month, it has felt like summer has left us here in central Scotland. There have even been a couple of chilly nights when it’s felt like Autumn is on the way. Whilst there has been some warm sunshine, the blue sky days have been peppered with heavy rain showers, and the poor plants, flowers and shrubs have been taking a battering.

Pink_astilbe_in_flower — Soft pink Astilbe. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

This baby pink-coloured Astilbe reminds me of candy-floss. The tiny, soft flowers bunch together to give a fluffy-looking display which seems to bounce back even after the heaviest of showers. Just as pink and delicate-looking (and able to withstand the rain!) are the Japanese anemones which grow in a cluster at the base of one of the trees in the back garden. I also have a white variety but this year, the pinks are well ahead of the whites.

A_cluster_of_pink_Japanese_anemones — Pale pink Japanese anemones. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

On the opposite flowerbed to the anemones is where the wispy Scabious grow. I tie the wiry floral stems in loose bunches, supported with canes, to keep them from falling over and splaying all over the place. The blooms form small white globes, tinged with pale blue-lilac petals; they are so pretty, and the bees love them!

There are lots of flamboyant red and mauve poppies growing alongside the fruit bushes at the moment, but sadly, each one is only surviving no longer than a single day. These beauties are just too fragile to withstand the heavy rain drops. I managed to enjoy this one for a few hours this week, but sadly the next morning, all the petals had fallen.

Mauve_poppy_after_a_rain_shower — Rain splattered mauve poppy. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

I’m glad of some longer lasting colour in the garden from my ever-faithful Hydrangeas. All the bushes are in flower now and they will continue to bloom for several weeks, subtly changing colour as time goes on. At the moment, the colours are soft and muted, but as Autumn draws nearer, the petals will deepen in colour and become more intense.

Pink_pale_blue_lilac_and_white_hydrangeas — Fresh in bloom, assorted Hydrangeas. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

To finish my garden round-up for this month, the greenhouse is pretty colourful at the moment as well. I’ve been picking cucumbers and tomatoes for a few days now, and it looks like I am going to have plenty of produce for the weeks to come. So, until next month, I bid you: happy gardening!