Weather is looking great for the weekend ahead and the warmer temperatures are bringing us our first Perry Court tomatoes, perfect for gemista!

We recently came across gemista in Greece – tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and other vegetables stuffed with rice and baked in the oven, until soft and nicely browned. Gemista translates as “ones that are filled”. What a true gem it is, and rightly one of the most popular Greek vegetarian dishes in summer.

The typical recipe includes stuffed tomatoes, stuffed peppers and sliced potatoes. Believe it or not, but it is one of the easier and healthier Greek recipes to make at home, although it may seem a little complicated at first. There are countless recipes with almost every household having its own. So feel free to experiment with the stuffing, with different types of herbs and varying amount of spices. Your imagination is your limit with this amazing Greek dish! And if you really can’t ditch the meat then add some mince.

This traditional Greek recipe falls under the category of Greek dishes called lathera, meaning dishes prepared with olive oil.  So don’t be surprised that it calls for a lot of olive oil (by non-Mediterranean standards) but with lathera-Greek vegetarian dishes with moderate starch and a good amount of olive oil you actually end up with a moderate amount of calories because the vegetables hardly add any calories to the meal. But use some good quality extra virgin olive oil, which will really lift the flavor!

As the peppers are not as juicy as the tomatoes the stuffing of the peppers always comes out a little dry. To avoid that, spoon some extra tomato juice over the peppers and they will become just amazing. When cooking, try covering with aluminium foil as the steam allows the rice to cook and the vegetables to soften without them ending up being burnt. Serve these extra juicy, melt-in-the mouth and bursting with fresh and vibrant colours and flavours Greek stuffed tomatoes with a block of salty feta cheese and bread.

• summer vegetable soup with pesto
• easy oven roasted summer vegetables
• crock pot vegetables – if you have a slow cooker you use all the time or maybe it’s now time to get it out to see how easily you can roast vegetables in it!
• roast summer vegetables with chickpeas – great one for making ahead which would allow the flavours  of this summery stew to really develop, or check out the great tip of roasting a chicken first before finishing off with the recipe for one-pot Sunday lunch
• roast pork loin chops and vegetables

With Shuffle over (if you didn’t manage to try out the mealworm dumplings, algae orzotto and edible flowers foraged in the Tower Hamlets cemetery park at the festival treehouse restaurant then feel relieved or oogle over this review) time to head over to the Wapping Village Fete.

For more ideas on how to eat the vegetables in this week’s box, try searching on our webpage for past blogs!

Standard Box
* Charlotte (New), Perry Court
* Tomatoes, Perry Court
* Courgettes, Perry Court
* Peppers, Spain
* Carrots Loose, Lancs
Spinach, Perry Court
Mushrooms, Suffolk
Beetroot, Lancs