The ridiculous heat this weekend (seriously, 31ºC in Essex? Really?) has sapped my creative energy for cooking. I keep looking at the lovely ingredients in the shops and my brain appears to have short circuited. Where usually it is teeming with recipe ideas, this weekend it has been sluggish to the point of comatose.

All I managed to put together on Sunday was fruit and yoghurt. Admittedly it was very nice fruit, and very nice yoghurt but that seemed to be my limit until the sun went down.

Greek watermelon, with Greek thyme honey, Total Greek yoghurt and Essex strawberries.

I knew that I had chicken in the fridge that needed to be used, so that spurred me on as the evening drew in.

Take 4 large chicken breasts, place them in a roasting tray and slash them with a knife.

Drizzle over olive oil, sprinkle with dried oregano and sea salt and then dot with a little butter.

Tuck lemon wedges and garlic cloves in around them, drizzle those with a little olive oil and then roast in the oven at around 170ºC (Fan) for 30 minutes. I put some bacon pieces that I’d cooked earlier on the top and then popped the grill on to crisp them up. That took another 10 minutes.

Served that with salad, halved hardboiled eggs and griddled halloumi.

Chicken with roasted garlic, lemon wedges and crisped bacon.

Clarence Court eggs. SO good.

Halloumi. Griddled. What more can I say?