Food & Drink 

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Starters and nibbles

Taramasalata and houmous with crudites and toasted pitta strips
You can make taramasalata and houmous yourself but it's much easier to pick up some ready-made. You can even find reduced-fat houmous in most supermarkets - it's healthier because it uses less oil.

Spoon the dips into two small bowls and place on a large serving dish. Sprinkle the surface of the houmous with some paprika to add spice and colour. The taramasalata should already be a pale-pink colour and will contrast prettily with the rich red of the paprika.

Cut lengths of celery, carrot, cucumber, red and yellow pepper and spread them around the dips. Toast a packet of six pitta breads in the toaster or under the grill. When cool enough to handle, cut into 1cm/ 1/2 inch strips and intermingle them with the crudites.

Roasted red onion and goats cheese croutes with tomato and basil salsa
Makes enough for 6

2 tbsp olive oil
2 large red onions, sliced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
salt and black pepper
150g/5 1/2 oz mild, soft goat's cheese
150g 5 1/2 oz cream cheese (use the half-fat version if you like)
half a loaf of ciabatta bread
250g/9oz cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
4-6 basil leaves, shredded
squeeze of lemon juice

Heat the oil in a frying pan and gently saute the onions until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, salt and pepper, then turn up the heat slightly and fry until any liquid has cooked off and the onions begin to turn golden. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Place the two cheeses in a food processor with the cooled onion mixture and whizz briefly until blended. Cut the ciabatta into 6 slices and toast or grill both sides. Mix the tomatoes, basil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

To serve spread the toasted ciabatta with the cheese-and-onion mixture and top with the tomato salsa.

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