ROAST COURGETTES, ASPARAGUS AND CHERRY TOMATOES WITH FETA CHEESE

ROAST COURGETTES, ASPARAGUS AND CHERRY TOMATOES WITH FETA CHEESE



Some of my favorite memories from my childhood and teens centre around family meals, particularly the barbecues we enjoyed on the terrace during long, hot, endless summers. Mum adored barbecues because she said there was no work involved. Considering she marinated the chicken beforehand and made three types of salad and an accompaniment, I'd beg to differ.

Dad would pop open a bottle of rosé while Mum got to work on the barbecue (in a lot of families, the barbecue is traditionally "Dad" territory - not ours). Dad would grab his guitar, we would watch the sunset, and we would spend the evening eating, drinking, singing and exchanging stories and opinions on everything from football to politics. Then we would stargaze late into the evening before heading to bed on satisfyingly fat, full bellies.

Yesterday marked the first anniversary of Mum's passing. A whole year has gone by. It feels like it happened yesterday and we are still knocked sideways by grief, but from today, we will no longer dread a date knowing she was still with us this time last year. We feel we can start looking forwards, tentatively but filled with hope. We knew this anniversary was going to be difficult and we were determined it wouldn't be a maudlin affair, so we decided to take advantage of the wonderful weather we've been having and break out the barbie in Mum's honour.

As well as steak, sausages and potatoes, I prepared bell peppers in olive oil and garlic - always a feature on Mum's table - and, in my ongoing mission to make sure Dad eats more vegetables, this dish of roast courgettes, asparagus and cherry tomatoes with Feta cheese, to which Dad gave a firm thumbs-up despite initial complaints about the presence of tomatoes and courgettes.

We raised our glasses to Mum's memory, and although we didn't sing (I'm sure the neighbours are grateful we spared them our particular brand of caterwauling), we had a wonderful family evening discussing the past and what the future holds - with a bit of politics thrown in for good measure.

Roast courgettes, asparagus and cherry tomatoes with Feta cheese

Ingredients

3 small courgettes, halved and sliced lengthways
12 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
15 asparagus tips
100g Feta cheese, in small cubes
Olive oil, salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 190°C. Place the vegetables into a roasting dish, season with salt and pepper and drizzle olive oil over the top. Stir the vegetables to ensure they are evenly seasoned and covered with olive oil.  Add the Feta cheese on top of the vegetables and roast for around 15-20 minutes, or until the asparagus is tender.

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