Every summer holidays I take my kids to a local ‘Pick Your Own' farm. Not only is it a fun activity, its also good to remind them that fruit and vegetables aren’t actually grown in plastic!

Picking strawberries, blackberries and cherry tomatoes are pretty standard for us. But this year we were extra adventurous and went for courgettes too. As usual with pick your own, the kids got carried away and, after the initial excitement was over, I was the one left carrying a truck-load of courgettes (and not quite sure what to do with them!)

Given my love of baking, I decided to experiment for the first time making a courgette cake. With some inspiration from the web, and a few healthier adaptations, the end result was (if I do say so myself) pretty delicious.

Courgette Cake

Ingredients:

150g butter

175g soft brown sugar

3 eggs

200g wholemeal flour

150g plain white flour

400g courgette, grated

75g ground almonds

50g raisins

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C / gas mark 4.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.

3. Mix in the eggs one by one.

4. Sift in the flours and cinnamon and mix well.

5. Add the grated courgettes and ground almonds and mix well.

6. Finally stir in the raisins and transfer the mixture to a loaf or cake tin.

7. Bake for 40-60 minutes until golden.

   [TIP. Check if the cake is cooked by sticking a skewer into the middle - it should come out clean when the cake is ready].,

After my baking success, and still with a whole load of courgette to eat, I decided to have a go at something else I’d been meaning to try for a while - courgetti. Since I don't own a spiralizer I made do with an ordinary peeler. It was more like tagliatelle than spaghetti, but that was fine.

With my courgette ribbons all ready, I heated a teaspoon of oil in a wok and stir-fried them for just a few minutes until they were warmed through and soft. With some tomato or other pasta sauce on top, plus a sprinkling of parmesan, this was a winning combination.

The kids weren’t too keen to start with, but they did have a taste - and that’s all that matters when its a new food/meal. I’m going to practice what I preach and keep trying….

I always love to hear new meal ideas or recipes so if you have any you’d like to share please do drop me a line.