Prep time:

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Total time:

Serves: 6

150ml Greek Yoghurt

½ Clove of Garlic, diced

1tbsp Lemon Juice

½tsp Honey Mustard

2tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Handful of Fresh Mint

Sea Salt and Black Pepper

200g Plain Flour

350ml Water

1ltr Sunflower Oil

1 Aubergine, sliced 5mm thick

1 Cauliflower, cut into bitesized chunks

6 Large Asparagus Spears, cut in half lengthways

Courgettes, sliced 5mm thick

1 Lemon, cut into wedges

Nina Parker has turned her passion for food into a successful career. Using expertise honed through working with well-known chefs in restaurants both in the UK and France, Nina has started her own London-based food company, NINA, which specialises in decadent ice cream and cakes.

For the dip:

  1. Mix all the ingredients for the dip (saving a few mint leaves to garnish) together in a bowl and taste to check the seasoning. Set aside in the fridge.

For the beignets:

  1. Put the flour in a bowl and slowly stir in the water to make a batter. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat the sunflower oil in a large, deep saucepan over a medium-high heat until a pinch of flour sizzles as soon as it’s dropped in the pan.
  3. Salt the aubergine slices generously, leave them for a few minutes, then pat dry with kitchen paper.
  4. Toss half the vegetables in the batter, allowing any excess to drip off. Place them carefully in the hot oil to deep-fry in batches, using a long metal spoon to move everything around and turn them over to fry all sides evenly. Fry for 2 minutes, until golden, then remove and drain on kitchen paper. Continue with the rest of the vegetables.
  5. Season them generously with salt and serve with the yoghurt dip, topped with the remaining mint leaves and lemon wedges for squeezing on the side.

You may also like

Peach & pistachio cake

This is an end of summer take on a Victoria sandwich, using peaches and mascarpone instead of jam and cream. Rose and lemon drizzle keeps the cake moist and rich, while pistachios add colour and a luxurious crunch.

Beetroot & feta salad

Beetroots are very easy to grow, and the great thing about home grown is that they can be picked when the roots are nice and small, which will make them sweeter when cooked (I roast them unpeeled in a low...

Grilled mackerel with roasted vegetables

It is the height of the mackerel season around our shores and this is such a tasty and very healthy fish, really easy to prepare and served on a simple dish of colourful Mediterranean vegetables.