Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: Lebanese Tabouli
When I was growing up, tabouli formed part of my father’s very limited cooking repertoire, alongside steak tartare and chicken marsala. The recipe he used called it ‘non-lettuce salad’, and that’s a good description of this blend of parsley, mint, tomatoes, cucumbers and a little bulgar wheat. I dedicate this recipe to him!
The secret to this tabouli is the Lebanese 7-spice blend. For an absolute feast, serve it with Lebanese 7-spice chicken. It’s pretty good on its own, too.
Lebanese Tabouli
Serves 4
Ingredients
7 Spice Blend Ingredients
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
Tabouli ingredients
250ml dry medium grain bulgar wheat
4 spring onions
1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley
1 cup mint leaves
1 small bunch dill
3 medium tomatoes
1 cucumber
1 tablespoon lemon zest
70ml lemon juice, or to taste
125ml cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon 7-Spice mix
Preparation
First prepare the 7-spice blend. This will make more than you need for the tabouli, but that shouldn’t be a problem since it’s so delicious. You can add it to lots of other things, including this splendid Lebanese 7-spice chicken. To make the blend combine all the ingredients together. If you want really to go to town with it, you can roast whole coriander and cumin seeds and then grind them, before combining with the other ingredients. This gives an added warm depth to the spice blend.
To make the salad, first prepare the bulgar wheat. Put it in a small bowl and pour 250ml boiling water over it. Cover with a plate, and set aside for at least 30 minutes while you prepare the rest of the salad. This allows the grains to soften.
Slice the spring onion and place in a large serving bowl.
Chop the parsley as fine as you can. It’s ok to include the thinner stems. Add to the bowl. Chop the mint and dill and add them as well.
Dice the tomatoes and cucumbers into small cubes and add them to the bowl, along with all their juices.
Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and 1 teaspoon of the 7-spice mix. Give it all a good stir.
By now 30 minutes have probably passed, so the bulgar wheat should be al dente. Once it is, add it to the salad as well and mix again.
If you have time, let the salad sit for a few hours to allow the flavours to meld. The parsley will soften and the bulgar will soak up the flavourful juices. It will in any event be very good the next day if there is any left over.
Before serving, give a stir and taste for salt, lemon and 7-spice. Adjust to your liking. Slyvie Fountaine, whose recipe this is, says ‘You want just the faintest whiff of the spices, like a whisper’.
Recipe adapted from Sylvia Fountaine, ‘Feasting at Home’. https://www.feastingathome.com/lemony-tabouli-aka-tabbouleh/
Rob’s Recipe of the Week: A Provencale Tian
Text and photo from: https://www.cuisinefiend.com/242/courgette-and-spinach-tian
What’s a tian? In spite of sounding rather middle-Eastern or even oriental, it’s a Provençal pan made of clay, enamelled in bright colours, which they use to cook vegetable gratins in. Or, indeed, tian, as it’s also the name of the dish.
They sell tian pottery at the markets all over Provence and you can hardly pass by the stalls without stopping to admire the vivid colours, the glaze and the various shapes. If pottery wasn’t fragile and rather heavy, I’d have a collection brought over from my French voyages… As it is I need to use boring mass-produced vessels to cook my tians et al in.
They come in all sorts, being basically roasted vegetables with cheese. Rice is a common ingredient, sometimes potatoes, and spinach is a veritable tian king. Eggs are frequently added but I skipped them here, aiming for a less quiche-y flavour. And make a note of the courgette treatment – that’s how this boring vegetable needs to be handled. Squeeze the living daylights out of it and it might just be vaguely tasty.
Courgette and Spinach Tian
INGREDIENTS
1 large courgette
200g fresh or frozen spinach (thawed)
2 tsp sea salt
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
a handful of pine nuts
60ml double cream
1 egg yolk
30g grated hard cheese, Gruyere or Cheddar
20g grated Parmesan
a little olive oil
METHOD
- Wash, top and tail the courgette and cut it into ribbons or noodles on a mandolin or in a spiralizer. Sprinkle with salt, stir it around and place in a colander for at least 10 minutes. After that time rinse it with cold water, squeeze out as much moisture as you can without squashing the courgette, and pat dry with paper towels.
- Rinse the spinach, if using fresh, and wilt it in a microwave or blanch briefly in boiling water. When cool, squeeze out the liquid and chop finely.
- Mix the cream with the egg yolk and add the hard cheese. In a bowl mix the courgette with spinach, pine nuts, garlic and spring onions and most of the Parmesan. Pour over the cream mixture and stir through.
- Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas 7.
- Drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom of a tian or gratin dish, transfer the vegetables into it and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Bake for 20 minutes until brown and bubbling. Best serve very warm, instead of piping hot.
From https://www.cuisinefiend.com/242/courgette-and-spinach-tian
2020 – July news: Fine Young Cabbages
I’ve seen cabbages, and I’ve seen cabbages, but I’ve never seen cabbages like this before – not in July, at any rate. Planted just 6 weeks ago these plants have exploded in size and are glowing with health. The work morning teams have been going through clearing out any remaining weeds but the great thing about massive brassicas like these is that the canopies close up to shade out any weeds underneath – meaning we won’t need to go near them again until harvest. Right now you’re experiencing the benefits of this brassica boom with the kale that’s been in the share lately; I wouldn’t normally expect the first pick so early but somehow this year the soil, weather conditions and help in the fields from our marvellous volunteers have combined to give a bountiful early crop.
Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: Crushed Carrots
This is a spectacular recipe: the combination of carrots, harissa, and lemony yoghurt is inexplicably delicious. It looks particularly lovely served on a blue plate, and makes an ideal accompaniment to another Ottolenghi showstopper: his warm lentils with tahini.
Crushed Carrots with Harissa and Nuts
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra to finish
1 tablespoon butter
1kg carrots, peeled and sliced 2cm chunks
200ml water
grated zest of 1 orange
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons harissa paste, or to taste
grated zest of 1 lemon divided into two portions
1 tablespoon lemon juice
150g Greek yogurt
25g shelled unsalted pistachios or cashews, coarsely chopped
Salt and black pepper
Instructions
Place the olive oil and butter in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and sauté for 6 minutes, stirring often, until they’re soft and take on colour. Add the water, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan, and cook for another 25 minutes, until carrots are completely soft and perhaps a little caramelised, and there is hardly any liquid left.
Transfer the carrots to a food processor, add 3⁄4 teaspoon salt, and blitz to form a coarse paste. Leave to cool, then add orange zest, garlic, harissa, one portion of the lemon zest and the black pepper to taste. Stir to combine.
Mix the yogurt, lemon juice, remaining lemon zest, and 1⁄4 teaspoon salt.
Spread the yogurt mixture on a blue serving platter and spoon the carrots on top. Sprinkle with nuts, drizzle with a little olive oil, and serve.
Recipe adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi, Plenty More (2014).
Rob’s Recipe of the Week: Swedish Summer Sandwich
This week’s recipe is a little niche if you stick to the vegan recipe, especially now that IKEA has closed in Coventry, but it can be adapted with other seafood flavours (the most obvious being actual seafood e.g. prawns). At worst, at least I’m giving you a quick and easy vegan mayo recipe… It’s another that I picked up in Sweden and is an adaptation of the dish “Skagen” which is a sort of seafood toast topper/sandwich filler (£6 for a baguette in the Volvo canteen ouch!). For a while it was my absolute favourite breakfast when combined with cucumber, salad and tomatoes all of which will be abundant in the shares over summer.
Vegan Skagen
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 jar Seaweed pearls (AKA veggie caviar, available at IKEA)
- Bunch of dill
- 1 pack of tofu, drained and squeezed as much as possible whilst maintaining solid chunks
Mayo:
- 100ml Soya milk (must be soya – I’ve tried with others but they refused to emulsify with the oil)
- 1 tbsn lemon juice
- 1 tsp mustard
- 200 ml oil (preferably rapeseed, other veggie oils work but again can have trouble emulsifying)
To serve:
- Toast
- Lettuce
- Tomato
- Cucumber
- Wedge of lemon (optional)
Method:
For the mayo, combine milk, lemon juice and mustard in a blender (handheld will do) before SLOWLY adding oil as a thin stream whilst blending on a fairly high speed. As you get to the end of the oil the mixture should thicken up to a mayonnaise texture.
Then combine all ingredients in some Tupperware and serve with toast, sliced cucumber/tomato and lettuce. A lemon wedge is a nice addition if you have it.
Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: Smashed Cucumber Salad
This is an ideal recipe when you have 4 or 5 cucumbers looking at you from the bottom of your veg drawer. Smashing the cucumbers, which is apparently a classic Chinese recipe technique, changes the texture by making them more absorbent so they really soak up the dressing. It’s refreshing, easy, and makes an excellent accompaniment to an Asian-style noodle dish, such as this one for sesame noodles with smashed courgettes by Meera Sodha. (By the way, I served the noodle dish warm, which worked just fine.)
Chinese Smashed Cucumbers with Sesame Oil and Garlic
Serves 4 as a side dish
Ingredients
4 cucumbers
Salt
Sugar
1½ tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons soya sauce
2 garlic cloves, grated
½ -1 Canalside chile, minced (to taste)
Small handful fresh coriander, chopped, for garnish
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
Preparation
Top and tail the cucumbers, and cut lengthwise into 4 long strips. Cut each strip into bite-sized pieces.
Using a rolling pin or (this is the less messy option) the side of a large knife, crush the cucumber pieces so that the skin begins to crack and the insides break down, releasing some of the seeds.
Place the crushed cucumber pieces in a colander and toss with a big pinch of salt and another of sugar. Fill a plastic bag with ice and place this on top of the cucumbers pieces, to weigh them down and at the same time chill them a bit. Leave for anywhere from 15 minutes to 4 hours.
Meanwhile, make the dressing: mix 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons sugar, and the rice vinegar. Stir until the salt and sugar have dissolved and then add the sesame oil and soya sauce.
When you are ready to serve, shake the cucumbers to drain off any remaining liquid and transfer to a beautiful flat plate. Toss with about half the dressing, and then add the garlic and as much chile as you like. Toss again, and then add more dressing to taste, until you’re pleased with the ensemble. Serve, garnished with fresh coriander and toasted sesame seeds.
Recipe adapted from New York Times Recipes.
Rob’s Recipe of the Week: Fancy Mash
Kohlrabi returns to the share this week and whilst I’m not sure mashed potato is really hot-weather suitable, this recipe looked too good to miss. This recipe makes a lot but can be scaled to suit your share size.
Mashed kohlrabi with brown butter
4 servings
Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
⅓ cup blanched hazelnuts
4 thyme sprigs
450g potatoes, peeled, cut into 2cm pieces
salt
900g kohlrabies, peeled, cut into 1cm pieces
⅓ cup double cream
Method
Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium. Cook hazelnuts until butter foams, then browns, about 5 minutes. Add thyme sprigs and cook until crisp, about 30 seconds. Immediately transfer to a bowl; spoon out nuts and coarsely chop.
Meanwhile, boil kohlrabi for 12-14 minutes, adding potatoes to the same pan after a couple of minutes. Whilst you wait, heat cream in a small saucepan over medium until warm.
Drain potatoes/kohlrabi and mash them. Stir in brown butter and warm cream; season with salt. Top mash with hazelnuts and crumble fried thyme over.
Taken from: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/mashed-kohlrabi-with-brown-butter
2020 – June news: Rain at Last
We’ve tried prayer, raindances and even some of the spells out of Harry Potter and finally it has worked as at last some decent rain arrived for our crops this week. This is particularly timely as we have been very busy getting some important crops in the ground: cabbages, kale and over 5000 leeks have all been planted in the last fortnight. Also, with the maincrop carrots and parsnips just emerging and getting established, the downpours are particularly welcome. The only question is: after 3 months of moaning about how dry it all is, how long before the growers start moaning that it’s too wet?
Kale awaiting planting 
Planting team at work
Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: Why Eat Normal Things When You Can Eat Weird Things?
A while ago I tried a recipe for whole broad beans cooked in a tomato sauce, and it was pretty good. It set me thinking whether you could actually cook the normally-discarded pods (husks?) that are left over when you shell broad beans. It turns out you can. I mentioned this to several friends, who variously told me I’d gone nuts, or that it sounded like the sort of thing people eat in Siberia. What can I say? I thought it was pretty good. We ate this with brown rice and a topping of salted yoghurt, and a shredded carrot salad on the side.
If you would like a normal recipe for broad beans, I strongly recommend this one: spaghetti with broad beans, bread crumbs and marjoram.
Broad Bean Stew
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
Salt and pepper
Leftover husks from about 500g young broad beans (that’s about 300g of broad-bean husks)
Juice of half a lemon
2-3 tablespoons fresh herbs (I used lemon thyme, sage, and dill)
½ cup water
Preparation
Heat the olive oil over low heat and add the sliced onion and a pinch of salt. Cook for 10 minutes, until the onion is soft but not brown.
Meanwhile assess the broad bean husks. You want bright, green, fresh-looking ones. Discard any that look discoloured. Remove any stringy bits along the sides, rather as you’d remove the strings from off the sides of runner beans. Cut the husks into 1-inch pieces.
Add the broad beans to the onions, stir, and cook for a minute.
Add the water, stir, cover, and simmer gently for about 15 minutes, or until the husks are tender. Top up with more water if it seems to be drying out.
Once the husks are tender, add the fresh herbs and lemon juice, and season with freshly-ground black pepper.
If you wish, you can also mix in some cooked broad beans, to make a double-broad-bean stew.
Serve on brown rice with a topping of salted yoghurt mixed with preserved lemon (if you happen to have any to hand).
Rob’s Recipe of the Week: An Unusual Use for Celery
This week I thought I was going to have to go with a Celery soup recipe, but then I came across this gin cocktail which looks worth a try and I guess the celery can still be used as a soup base once it’s served its alcoholic purpose!
Celery tonic
Ingredients:
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 tablespoon sugar
30ml fresh lemon juice
60ml gin
Lemon twist (for serving)
Method:
Muddle celery with sugar and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker, 1 minute. Add gin, fill shaker with ice, and shake until outside of shaker is frosty, about 30 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice and garnish with a lemon twist.
Taken from: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/celery-tonic