As we switch our social lives back on, bright spring evenings call for al fresco garden gatherings. This month, why not use the outdoor only guideline to your advantage? Make your garden centre stage for reconnecting with friends and family, headlined by some inventive hosting skills.
Forget sad sandwiches or unsightly salads. Instead turn to the experts to spice up your spring with smoked food infusions, pickles packing a punch and springtime recipes to celebrate the return of the honeybee.
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Bring on the Barbecue with Hot Smoked
Have you ever considered smoking your food for a truly brilliant barbecue? Let the experts at Hot Smoked take your barbecue to the next level with the help of their at-home kits and selection of online recipes.
With a wide range of flavours to choose from, infuse your food with smoky tones that will intensify the flavour of your food without overwhelming your chosen ingredients.
Established by Alyson Murray in 2008 from a love of cooking outdoors, today the award-winning starter kits are infusing barbecued food up and down the country with sublime flavours that add a whole new dimension to outdoor cooking.
After so many years spent experimenting with food on the barbecue, it’s not surprising that the team at Hot Smoked are the go-to experts. When it comes to the barbecue, they suggest that you don’t need a fancy kit to achieve stunning results, but a gas or charcoal barbecue with a lid and ventilation.
Whether that’s a plate of wholesome veggies, a platter of fresh fish, or a 16oz steak, virtually any food can be smoked. It is also a very healthy cooking option that does not require the addition of oils and fats, and yet still creates delicious food. Head over to their website and try out the Smoky Mushroom Shawarma recipe, a veggie dish packed with flavour using one of their smoking kits.
www.hotsmoked.co.uk
IG: @hotsmoked.uk
Get Vibrant with Vadasz
Feast with fancy ferments. Trendy, delicious and great for the gut is Vadasz and their range of pickle and ferment products. Including Super Green Kimchi, Garlic and Dill Saurkraut and Red Onion Pickles, these colourful counterparts are a great addition to barbecues and a more virtuous alternative to many burger and sandwich fillings out there as they’re packed with probiotics and healthy veg.
Creator Nick Vadasz tells us, ‘if you’re planning a picnic, pickles and ferments can be just as tasty. Their bright colours can make eyes pop with a satisfying crunch. The popularity of kimchi has been growing over the last few years in the UK. Its complex pungent chilli flavour is delicious on wholemeal bread – just add avocado for a cooling finish or stir into a salad for a flavour punch that is sure to spice up the leaves.’
Both of Nick’s original and Super Green Kimchis are packed in lightweight plastic pots, making them ideal for transporting in picnic baskets without fear of breakage, plus they can be recycled and used as containers for mini sausage rolls, olives and other picnic favourites in future.
www.vadaszdeli.co.uk
IG:@vadaszdeli
Sweet but Simple with Honey Tradition
Sweeten up your spring with some recipes from Honey Tradition in London. Championing raw and natural bee products, the team have brought on board some professional chefs to create simple but delicious honey inspired recipes, ideal for longer evenings. This includes the refreshing and healthy Beetroot & Orange Salad with a Honey Mustard Dressing by recipe developer and art student, Sophie Smiegel.
A salad that sings of spring and is sure to turn heads, this sweet/spicy combo is quick and refreshing. With zesty orange, sweet beetroot and cranberries and a mildly spiced mustard dressing; this delicious and nourishing salad comes to life with Honey Tradition’s full bodied, raw honeydew honey. Read Sophie’s recipe here.
www.honeytradition.com
IG: @honeytradition
Celebrate Spring with a Sourdough Subscription
Freshly baked bread epitomises at-home entertaining – it’s just easier said than done. Instead, let the experts at Good In Bread do all the hard work and leave you looking like a star with one of their freshly baked artisan sourdough loaves. Delivering their loaves swiftly from oven to your doorstep, choose from sliced, through the letterbox, or whole with their mix and match ‘loaf of the week’ subscription bundles.
Reigniting ancient baking methods that use only natural leavens and slow fermentation to create that wonderful aroma and texture; each beautifully simple sourdough is expertly made of only three ingredients: flour, water and salt. Truly authentic and 100% natural, each loaf lasts longer, is full of minerals and lower in gluten, making it easier to digest than many other breads! Perfect for some serious sandwiches whilst entertaining this spring.
www.wearegoodinbread.com
IG: @goodinbreaduk
Bodega Bay: for healthy hedonists
It seems the simple tinny has come a long way. Evident of this is Bodega Bay: pioneering the next generation of alcoholic drinks. Naturally curated to refresh the senses and designed with our modern (and often more health conscious) lives in mind, these hard seltzer drinks are the guilt-free solution, without compromising taste or quality. Inspired by cool, calm and collected Californian surfers, founder Charlie Markland’s vision is to use his business as a tool to cater to healthy hedonists, whilst fuelling charitable works. What’s not to like?
Best served chilled over ice and can be enjoyed straight from the can, these naughty but nice drinks are ideal for outdoor gatherings with a slim design that makes it easy to transport and share between friends. Alternatively, they can also be used as the base for a cocktail, for a healthier take on a refreshing spritz. Choose from Cherry with Mango & Goji Berry or an Apple with Ginger & Açai – flavours all begging to be sipped in the sunshine.
