Category Archives: Vegetables – All About

Beetroot leaves

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I love dual purpose things like a milk cow that effectively produces meat, chickens and quails that lay eggs and make delicious eating, and radishes and beetroot because one can eat the leaves, too. For lunch I prepared beetroot leaves as a side but we ate it as a main course because it tasted terrific. I washed and and cut the stems off as close to the root as I could get without damaging the skin of the beetroot. I wrapped the beet and a bit of rosemary in foil and popped it in to the oven while my bread was baking. I fried some garlic and rosemary in a teaspoon full of olive oil,  chopped the leaves and stems, coarsely and added them to the pan. after frying for a minute I added about 2 tablespoons of water and covered the pan. Cook until tender adding a bit of water when necessary. Delicious. I intend eating the beetroot tomorrow dressed with some balsamic vinigar salad dressing and shaved Parmigiana cheese.

I would like to know of other plants where roots/ fruits and leaves can be eaten.

The EU General Court revoking permissions to superpotato Basf – Subject matter: GMO

http://www.slowfood.it/sloweb/2cfe8eba4b0f45352ef6f2ea0dba3d52/il-tribunale-ue-revoca-le-autorizzazioni-alla-superpatata-basf

What are you harvesting from your veggie patch this week?

We moved to Dunedin in winter this year. I was surprised to find the soil in the existing veg patch to consist almost completely of clay. Improving the soil was a major effort but with diligent composting and working in, things have improved greatly. The veg I planted in the clay just did not grow and one can see the progress I have made regarding the soil improvement by comparing the growth rates of the veg rows planted in clay, then the rows planted in the improved soil.

This week I am harvesting more broad beans (see my recipes for sauces both raw and cooked), radishes (cook the leaves with onion and garlic), rhubarb, lettuce and kale. I do not harvest peas or green beans because my grandchildren eat them off the plants. They do not have a chance to grow very big, either!

Because we know so little about what grows well in Dunedin we are watching and waiting with the rest of the garden. We would like advice on which flowering shrubs will grow on our side of the hill because, although we have  a mature garden we would like more spring flowers. We loved the rhododendrons and are planning to put in several colours. The flowering spring trees all over Dunedin were spectacular but we do not have room for more trees unfortunately.

Broad Bean and Bacon Pasta

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Quick, easy and delicious broad bean and bacon (should be proscuitto if you want to pay for it ) pasta sauce. This recipe is enough for 2 greedy people

Use  a large pan, big enough to hold the pasta when the sauce is cooked.

4 handfulls of beans

4 strips of streaky bacon cut in bite size pieces

2 cloves of garlic diced

2 fresh tomatoes diced

1 teaspoon of chopped rosemary or three large sage leaves

2 tablespoons of olive oil

pasta for two any kind will do

While the pasta goes in to the pot, cook the garlic, bacon and herbs until the garlic is soft and the bacon coloured slightly. Add the beans and cook  for about 4 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and heat through. Drain the pasta when cooked and pour in to the pan with the sauce. Mix and serve with a sprinkling of Parmigiana cheese.

Starter platter with quick tasty raw broad bean spread

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Raw Broad bean spread (can also be used as pasta sauce), pickled quail eggs and home made focaccia bread to start the meal. Great to nibble at while the barbecue gets going. I have already posted the recipe for the pickled eggs. The recipe for the spread is based on one of Marcella Hazan’s dishes from the region of Liguria in Italy:

Broadbean Spread (Maro)

about 200 g beans out of the pod and skinned

2 tablespoons of grated Romano cheese. Pecorino will also do

1/2 teaspoon very finely chopped garlic

4 tablespoons best quality extra virgin olive oil. I use a few more because I live olive oil

7 large mint leaves

fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

Put all the ingredients in to the blender and process to a creamy consistency. Taste and add salt if needed. Should you use Romano cheese you may not need salt at all.

To serve spread thickly on strips of toast or fresh bread, use as a nutritious dip for biscuits and chips, or put a few spoon fulls on fresh cooked hot pasta.