Me Dine Come With

Prep:20 mins

Cook:10 mins

Plus 1 hr marinating

Serves: 6

These barbecued kebabs are big on flavour, but the spice is toned down, so they’re great for kids. Offer some chilli sauce on the side for those who like heat, and serve with flatbread.

Ingredients

• 6 chicken breasts, chopped into large chunks

• 2 each red, orange and green peppers, deseeded and chopped into large chunks

• warmed flatbreads, chopped

• tomato and lemon wedges, to serve

For the marinade and sauce

• 2 garlic cloves, finely grated

• 300g natural or Greek yogurt

• 1 tbsp paprika

• 3 tbsp ketchup

Method STEP 1

Make the marinade by mixing all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Spoon a third of the mixture into a smaller bowl, then cover and chill until needed. Stir the chicken into the marinade and set aside for 20 mins. Can be chilled for up to two days, covered.

STEP 2

If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 1 hr before using. Alternately thread the peppers and chicken onto the skewers until you have 6-8 kebabs. You can do this in advance if you like, and chill the kebabs until needed.

STEP 3

Heat a barbecue to medium, or until a thin layer of coals has turned grey. Cook the

Poinsettia

Say cheers with a poinsettia cocktail, a classy mix of triple sec, Prosecco and cranberry juice, garnished with a fresh bay leaf. Serves 1

Ingredients

•25ml triple sec

•50ml cranberry juice

•75ml champagne or prosecco

•1 fresh bay leaf, to garnish

Method

STEP 1

Chill the triple sec, cranberry juice, champagne and a martini glass in the fridge until cold.

STEP 2

Pour the triple sec and cranberry juice into the chilled glass, then slowly top up with the champagne and garnish with the bay leaf.

Prep: 15 mins

Serves: 8 is beetrootone-platter-serves-all hummus will be a big hit, and doesn’t require any cooking.

Ingredients

• 2 x 400g can chickpeas, drained

• 2 x 300g pack cooked beetroot, drained

• 2 small garlic cloves

• 2 tbsp tahini

• 100ml extra virgin olive oil, plus a drizzle to serve

• good squeeze of lemon juice

• 2 tbsp toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped

• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped

• 2 tsp nigella seeds

• 1 tsp sumac (optional)

• pinch of chilli akes (optional)

To serve (optional)

• crunchy summer veg, cut into batons (we used fennel, sugar snap peas, baby heritage carrots & radishes)

• bread, toasted and cut into ngers for dipping

• mini mozzarella balls

• olives kebabs for 10 mins, turning occasionally, until the chicken is charred and cooked through. Serve the kebabs with the reserved yogurt sauce, warmed flatbreads, chopped tomatoes and lemon wedges on the side.

• prosciutto-wrapped breadsticks

Method

STEP 1

Set about 2 tbsp chickpeas aside. Tip the rest of the chickpeas, the beetroot, garlic, tahini, oil and lemon juice into a food processor with a good pinch of salt. Blend until smooth, then check the seasoning, adding a little more salt or lemon if it needs it. Chill the hummus until you’re ready to serve (it will keep for up to two days).

STEP 2

Transfer the hummus to a wide, shallow bowl or spread over a platter. Drizzle with some oil, scatter with the reserved chickpeas, hazelnuts, seeds, sumac and chilli (if using). Arrange the crunchy veg and other accompaniments around the platter and let everyone dig in.

Pimm’s

A true taste of summer, serve this fruity punch with fresh mint leaves, cucumber, orange and strawberries. Serves 4.

Ingredients

•200ml Pimm’s No. 1

•600ml lemonade

•mint sprigs, sliced cucumber, sliced orange and strawberries, to serve

Method

STEP 1

Fill a jug with ice and pour over the Pimm’s and lemonade. Give it a good stir then add the mint, cucumber and fruit.

As the saying goes, you don’t mess around with Jim — Jim Cameron, that is. Cameron’s 1997 Titanic is, no hyperbole, a masterpiece. It was a massive deal in ‘97, breaking the box o ce and taking home a score of Oscars. e lm holds up even to this day –if only because it’s one of the last times James Cameron made a movie that didn’t involve the planet of Pandora.

It’s a classic star-crossed romance about a lowerclass passenger, played by Leonardo DiCaprio at the height of his heartthrob years, who falls in love with upper-class passenger Kate Winslet. eir romance is forbidden, but that won’t stop them from running all over the Titanic, making eyes at each other, and dancing their asses o below decks. Of course, this romance is doomed, because as everyone knows, an iceberg is lurking in the waters, ready to send the Titanic to the bottom of the sea. Now re up that Celine Dion song!

As a purely fun summer blockbuster, Star Trek rocks. It helps that the lm has a killer ensemble cast — Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Karl Urban as Bones, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu, and Anton Yelchin as Chekov. ese players all work well together and make for likeable leads. e plot involves time travel and antimatter, and it’s admittedly not that strong. But Star Trek is so unapologetically entertaining and fun that you go along for the ride. e sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, will also be streaming on Net ix in July, but you might want to avoid that one.

Missing Matthew Macfa-