A Mediterranean feast is also very easy to prepare with the help of a good providore. Our staples for eating this way are:

• olives—we love smoked kalamatas, Sicilian olives marinated in lemon and garlic, and green olives stuffed with either feta or blue cheese
• ciabatta or Turkish bread—1cm slices lightly toasted
• garlic dip (this is essentially fresh garlic cloves ground with salt and olive oil till it’s light and creamy—delicious)
• dolmades—vine leaves stuffed with rice and herbs
• baby Roma tomatoes
• marinated Persian feta
• marinated artichoke hearts.

Just today we had a variation of this for lunch. If you wanted to have meat as part of this then you could add some finely sliced salami or ham.

When we are entertaining or having a Mediterranean feast for dinner we add:

• Greek salad
• Grilled haloumi (with onion, parsley & lemon)
• Chicken souvlaki (I use Jamie Oliver’s wicked souvlaki recipe, but substitute pork for chicken)
• Marinated lamb skewers.

There are many ways to make a Greek salad but I have a simple and effective recipe that can be put together in no time.

Greek salad

2 cups salad leaves, torn
1 Lebanese cucumber, diced
200g baby Roma tomatoes, cut into halves or quarters
12–16 pitted kalamata olives
250g marinated Persian feta, drained but retaining the liquid to use as salad dressing
½ a Spanish onion, finely sliced (optional)

Combine these ingredients in a large salad bowl. Drizzle some of the marinade from the Persian feta over the salad and toss to coat. Once the salad is dressed, serve immediately.

Grilled haloumi is something I love. Haloumi has a high melting point so, despite being fried or grilled, it holds its shape and chewy texture.

Grilled haloumi

250g packet of haloumi
½ a brown onion, diced
Juice of half a lemon
⅓ cup of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Combine the onion and lemon juice in a bowl and leave to stand (this will soften the onions and take away any astringency). Meanwhile cut the haloumi into 5mm slices. Heat some olive oil in a fry pan. Fry the haloumi over medium heat until golden on both sides. Remove from the heat and drain the slices on paper towel. Add the chopped parsley to the lemon and onion and toss to combine. Arrange the haloumi on a serving plate and sprinkle the onion, parsley and lemon over the top.

My preference is to cook these on the barbecue. They are absolutely fantastic—the haloumi gets all brown and crunchy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside; the saltiness of the cheese works perfectly with tender pieces of lamb…oh, so succulent and juicy.

You’ll need:

2 tbs oil
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 tbs fresh oregano, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
300–400g lamb back strap (fillet), trimmed of any sinew and fat
200g haloumi, cut into 3cm pieces

Combine oil, lemon juice, herbs and garlic in a large glass bowl. Cut lamb into 3cm pieces, add to the bowl and allow marinate for 30 minutes.

On kitchen skewers, thread a piece of lamb then a piece of haloumi, leaving a slight gap between them (just a few millimetres), and repeat until your skewers are full (remember to leave a couple of centimetres free on either end of each skewer). Brush the skewers with the marinade and cook over medium heat on the barbecue (grill or frypan), turning frequently, until the lamb is done to your liking.

To accompany it, we lightly toast flatbread and mix together a green salad with a similar dressing to the marinade ingredients.

When entertaining, this is an ideal dish to include as part of a Mediterranean feast.

N.B. For a more herby flavour you could also add parsley and thyme to the marinade.

One of my favourite television cooking series was Jamie Oliver’s “At Home”. I found it quite inspiring to watch because of his enviable vegetable garden.

Yes, I know, he had a gardener who kept the garden in great shape, but I still think it is something to aspire to. Jamie made it look so easy and, for me, it couldn’t get any better than wandering out into the garden and picking the ingredients that I needed fresh from the ground.

While that’s a dream for another day, I can still enjoy Jamie’s ideas for cooking with fresh produce. And now that Spring is here, there’s plenty to choose from.

Brisbane is warming up at the moment and I really had a hankering for a gorgeous salad. The strawberry salad with speck and haloumi from Jamie At Home hit the spot. Sweet, sour and salty goodness!

The nicest thing…it was easy to make and rewarded big time on flavour. The salad was light and refreshing on a warm day.

I have to admit to making a few adjustments to this recipe. I used prosciutto instead of speck, and rather than serving that raw, I grilled it for a few minutes so it was crispy. I also used roughly a third more strawberries and lots of salad leaves.

The combination of basil, haloumi and macerated strawberries with balsamic vinegar in one mouthful was divine. In Jamie’s own words, “a brilliant thing to eat”.