Thursday, August 13, 2009

Veg Heaven!



We're giving away lots of broccoli at the moment as it is in great abundance. The freezer is a bit full otherwise I'd maybe make some soup....need a bigger freezer!




This cauliflower however is the only one looking as fabulous as this; the others are much much smaller. This is the first time I've grown caulies and the baby plants were passed on by a friend so thanks to them I've grown something new to me.


Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook is one of my favourites for veg oriented inspiration and this week I think I've tried a new recipe every day. Its not a veggie book as such but is terrific for new ideas when you're just about to present the family with another plate of steamed/boiled veg.


Top three recipe tips for your summer glut from Sarah's book - courgette and lemon salad, a fresh raw dish, v easy to make and tastes fab; grated beetroot salad with orange which is refreshing in both taste and the fact that usually I hate beetroot but actually really like this recipe with bbq food; and the lovely halloumi, mint, coriander and dill pittas which are great for lunch.


Chard - one of the easiest vegs to grow and more versatile than I first thought - the stems take a few minutes longer to cook than the leaves so its best to seperate them. Beyond steaming it I wasn't sure what else to do with the stuff -


so after consulting Sarah I picked an armful of varying coloured chards and prepared...
Chard Gratin.......which was gorgeous, I was quite surprised it tasted so good, and that is the test of a good recipe for me. Doesn't work for vegetarians as the recipe contains anchovies but the flavour was wonderful and I guess we had way over 10 'govt approved' portions of veg that day










2 comments:

Tamzin said...

Very jealous of your brassica (?) success, ours were a disaster last year, so well done. SR's fabulous book is available for £5 at The Book People (www. etc) at the mo so I shall be stocking up with some spares soon. Had a lovely late afternoon/evening at Holkham today, just glorious. Thought of you T x

Calico Kate said...

My chard last year was brilliant and we ate masses of it gratained (without the anchovies yuk!)this year it's been pants and we have had about three eatable stalks that I added to a rataoulli (sp?!!) type thing I have nicknamed 'Garden Compost' Anything and everythingn ready to eat in a tomato sauce served with everything - potatoes, pork, rice, pasta, chicken etc etc etc! Delish though.
Dead impressed with the Cauliflower I tried cabbages for the first time this year, from seed too & I don't like them but B does as do the slugs Grrrr.
Will look out for that cookbook sounds great.
CKx