A mix of black-eyed peas, black seeded snake beans and brown seeded snake beans, all home grown and harvested today, about to go in the slow cooker. Protein, fibre, complex carbs, versatility, deliciousness. And a step into a blue zone.
Elder trees are flowering right now and this is so, so very easy to make. It’s a lovely lightly fizzy, not too sweet, mildly alcoholic drink perfect for relaxing with friends over a long lunch.
Colcannon is Irish mashed potato with cabbage, and it is one of those surprisingly wonderful recipes that have you going “aha! I understand how this became a national dish”. It has just four ingredients and like any of those classics that every kid remembers grandma making, there are more versions than you would think possible with so few ingredients. This is mine.
There’s something about sourdough – the simplest of ingredients, the living culture, the soft resilience of the dough as you handle it, the mindfulness in being a day ahead of need – no matter how busy I get it’s worth it. But therein lies the danger. I really do need to cut down the amount of bread I eat! A jar of sourdough crispbread on the shelf stretches the time…
This is so simple, yet it is one of my most used recipes this time of year, when both parsley and lemons are in glut and dinner is often a long slow-cooked soup or stew that could do with some brightening up.
I’ve been bandicooting the yacon for months now, but this morning I harvested the rest – over 10 kg from about 2.5m2 of garden bed. The tubers are sweet and crisp and very good for you. My grandkids love eating fresh yacon just as is, peeled and eaten like an apple straight from the hand. We adults eat it mostly finely sliced in salads, or as batons in stir fries,…
I’ve been down a rabbithole. I started with some research about the probiotic bacteria in Dosa batter, and how good it is for you. I like Dosa and we eat it a bit, so the research was fascinating. But it led me on to research about lactic acid bacteria and the surge in recent research about the relationship between gut microbiomes and all sorts of physical and mental health effects.