The blog is neglected, the house is neglected, the garden is neglected, but the kale keeps giving.
This time of year it’s the tomatoes sun dried in the peak of summer that are the treasure. They go in pasta and gnocchi and minestrone and on pizza. A whole handful go into ragu or bean stew. They go on crackers with feta and in tapenade for spreading on toast. And I have to admit, I have been known to eat them straight from the jar.
It’s the southern hemisphere Halloween, and I totally get it why Halloween features pumpkin lamps. Halloween is the final harvest festival, and marks the start of the season of gathering in – firewood, mulch, water, pumpkins, passata, preserves, warm clothes, books, tribe and wisdom.
This is a very fast, healthy, easy, seasonal, meal in a bowl. It will generously serve two on its own, or four as a main side dish. The key ingredient, besides the pumpkin, is a Moroccan spice mix.
My favourite variety of beans at the moment – brown seeded snake beans. So long as I can keep water up to them, they don’t mind how hot it gets, and they bear really prolifically over a month or more. They make a great salad, blanched then dressed with a balsamic olive oil garlic dressing while they are still warm. Or, like this, lightly sauteed with lots of garlic, then…
The zucchini glut is upon us! (And the tromboncino are about to start now too). This was a make-it-up as you go recipe, and the quantities are very negotiable. But it is fast and easy and a good way to make zucchini work for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
It’s too simple for a recipe. Just good bread processed in a food processor to fine crumbs. Mixed with finely grated parmesan cheese – I use about half as much parmesan as crumbs. Beat an egg or two till frothy. Dip the dry mushrooms in egg, then in the parmesan crumb mix to coat.
In the scale of foods that are Popeye worthy, kale is about as dense a source of vitamins and minerals and antioxidants as you can get, including Vitamin K which is important for bone density and for brain health, and Vitamin A which is important for skin and eyes. But more uniquely, it’s also a source of some important anti-cancer phytochemicals.
There’s actually only a small window of the year when rice paper rolls are the perfect thing. Avocados need to be in season, and coriander. You need macadamias and limes for the dipping sauce. Pickled radishes and turnips and ginger are wonderful in them. And it needs to be warm enough for that cool, clean, crispness to be just what you feel like.
This is a real Spring recipe. You need 24 very young and fresh and tender vine leaves.