Delaney Mes: Make dad's day (+recipes)

Herald on Sunday·

6 Sep, 2014 07:00 PM3 mins to read

Freekah Salad with Sumac Lamb is a cross between a risotto and a pilaf. Photo / Doug Sherring

Gather the family together and celebrate dad’s day with a special menu.

Happy Father's Day! Without a doubt there's always a shared meal of some sort in my family on Father's or Mother's Day. We're more about the meal than the gifts, and rightly so I think. Brunch and lunch are two of my favourite meals to go out for but it's also nice to have people over at home too.

I had to rack my brain a bit when thinking about what to cook for Father's Day. It's always on a Sunday, which lends itself to longer, lazy meals.

When I was a teenager working in a cafe, Father's and Mother's Days were always completely frantic. Sometimes it's best to leave the cafes and make a leisurely lunch yourself.

You can choose your own music, make pots of coffee at your leisure and read the paper in peace. No hustling for a table or long wait times.

So I started thinking about having my family over for lunch. I pictured the sun out and the table set and then thought about what I might cook.

Now that it's spring (finally, thankfully) I thought vegetables would be a good start. Green fritters are a nice alternative to corn fritters, which my Mum makes better than anyone I know.

Silverbeet is super cheap and very easy to grow, and I'm always hunting out new ways to cook it. Slicing it into salads is good, but blitzing it into green fritters is even better. The walnuts give them a subtle nutty flavour and a bit of texture too, and fresh herbs make everything more delicious.

Salads are great for easy entertaining. This one made with the ancient grain freekah, is cooked partly like a risotto (inspiration from my big sister) and partly like a pilaf (inspiration from London chef Yotam Ottolenghi). It's packed with flavour, and is great with lamb. I've only recently started cooking Freekah, a grain similar to buckwheat.

I love a big salad at lunchtime, and this is the type you could make for dinner and take leftovers to work the next day. You could replace the lamb with haloumi if you wanted to keep things vegetarian.

I love a sweet treat after lunch and I also love keeping things simple for myself when having people over. This tart uses flaky puff pastry from the freezer and has a very simple topping. You can put it on after your main meal while you're preparing another pot of coffee or cracking into the bottle of bubbly. A crisp chardonnay or your favourite craft beer would match this lunch well, too.

My Dad isn't particularly fussed with gifts on Father's Day but he's always thrilled when he's had a meal cooked for him. I think it's the best gift you can give, especially if you're on a budget. And I'll be sparing a thought for those friends whose Dads are no longer around, while cooking lunch for mine.