This delightful recipe is apparently from Turkey. The original version calls for mulberries. If you have access to a mulberry tree do substitute the lovely, seedy berries for the blackberries.
Smashing the cucumber (instead of slicing it) gives it a rough, shaggy surface that happily absorbs flavours.
Smashed Cucumber, Blackberry and Pistachio Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients
1/2 cup pistachios
3 Canalside cucumbers, peeled or not, as you prefer.
1 teaspoon salt, to salt the cucumber
1/2 cup full-fat Greek yoghurt
about 20 mint leaves
2 tablespoons dill, chopped
additional salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
8-12 Canalside blackberries from the pick-your-own orchard
Preparation
Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Once it’s hot add the pistachios (don’t add any oil) and toast them gently until they are golden. Keep an eye on them so that they do not burn. Once they’re toasted remove them from the pan and leave them to cool a bit.
Put the cucumbers on a board and, using a rolling pin or any other such implement, smash them into large chunks. Alternatively, you can crush them by using the side of a large kitchen knife.
Toss the cucumber chunks with the teaspoon of salt and put them in a colander to allow some of the water to drain out. Leave them for at least 10 minutes, and longer—up to an hour—if you have time. Then rinse the cucumber chunks to remove the excess salt.
Place the rinsed pieces of cucumber in a bowl and toss them with the pistachios, yoghurt, mint and dill. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spoon the mixture onto a serving platter and drizzle with the pomegranate molasses. Top with the blackberries and serve.
(Recipe adapted from Silvana Rowe, Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume: Cuisine of the Eastern Mediterranean.)
Cold Chinese noodles with a spicy sesame sauce make an excellent lunch, plus they’re very easy to prepare.
Cold Noodles with Sesame Sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients
250g soba noodles (you can also use Chinese egg noodles or linguine)
2 Canalside cucumbers
50-100g spring onions, white and some green bits thinly sliced
50-100g peanuts, toasted in a dry pan and chopped
The sesame sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/2 cup tahini (or natural crunchy peanut butter—in which case you’ll be making noodles in a peanut sauce)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons soya sauce
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce, to taste
Preparation
Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet. Soba noodles should take about 5 minutes. When the noodles are al dente drain them and run them under cold water for several minutes to cool them off and prevent their sticking to themselves. Let them drain, and cool, for a few minutes.
Cut the cucumbers into little matchsticks. I do this by slicing the cucumber in half, and then cutting each half into lengthwise slabs (like lasagne noodles). Stack these slabs into a pile and cut them into little matchsticks. The goal is to have little sticks of cucumber roughly the size of the noodles, only shorter. If you find this too fiddly you can simply grate the cucumber coarsely. In either case, put the cucumber into a bowl.
Add the sliced spring onions and peanuts. Toss together and then add the cooked and drained noodles. Toss everything together.
Prepare the sesame sauce: mix all the sauce ingredients together. The tahini (if you’re using it) will resist mixing so you’ll need to stir it all together with determination. Once it’s all mixed add it to the noodle bowl and toss.
Serve and enjoy.
Mark Bittman notes that you can add cooked chicken, pork, beef, or seafood to the finished dish. You can also fry up litle tofu cubes and add those, as well, if you’re so inclined.
(Recipe adapted from Mark Bittman, The Best Recipes in the World (2005).)
This spectacularly easy dish has a delicate flavour combining the sweet scent of cloves and cinnamon with a little bite from the chillies. Very delicious with rice or some grilled fish.
—–
Calabacitas con crema (Courgettes in Cream)
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
700g courgettes, cut into smallish cubes
500ml tomatoes (tinned are fine)
6 peppercorns
4 sprigs of coriander
2cm length of cinnamon stick
4 cloves
2 whole green chillies
100ml creme fraiche or soured cream
salt to taste
Preparation
Put all the ingredients into a sturdy pan with a lid. Cook over low heat, covered, for about half an hour, or until the vegetables are very soft and tender. Stir it from time to time to ensure it’s not sticking at the bottom. Add some water if it looks very dry. Once the vegetables are soft and toothsome it’s ready to eat.
(Recipe adapted from Diana Kennedy, The Essential Cuisines of Mexico.)
Broad beans, bacon and spring onions: a perfect combination of earthy, lively and sharp flavours.
——
Delia Smith’s Classic Broad Bean Salad
Serves 2, according to Delia. I think you could eat this all by yourself.
Ingredients
For the Dressing
1 clove garlic
salt
1 teaspoon mustard powder
2 tablespoons lemon juice (or a combination of lemon juice and white wine vinegar)
4 tablespoons olive oil
For the Rest of the Salad
2 rashers of streaky bacon
700g broad beans in their pods
2 tablespoons chopped herbs (parsely, oregano and/or marjoram are good)
4 spring onions, sliced
pepper to taste
Preparation
Prepare the dressing: crush the garlic with a little salt in a mortar and pestle. Add the mustard powder and lemon juice (or lemon juice and vinegar) and whisk in the oil. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the salad.
Cook the bacon until it’s crisp and crumble it into small pieces. Set it aside.
Shell the beans. Bring a small amount of water to a boil and add the beans. Cook them until just tender—perhaps 3 minutes is all they’ll need. Drain them and toss them while still warm with the dressing.
When they’re cool toss them with the bacon, herbs and spring onions. Season to taste with pepper and more salt.
(Adapted from Delia Smith, Complete Cookery Course.)
There isn’t kohlrabi in the share next week, but you may still have yours from this week’s share (especially as this is coming to you early this week).
What is a kohlrabi? What should you do with it? The answer is: put it in a cabbage and kohlrabi salad. Delicious and crunchy. Actually, the salad is pretty good without the kohlrabi too.
The recipe is from Yotam Ottolenghi, who has this to say about the kohlrabi: ‘People always ask me what to do with kohlrabi, an often unwanted child in the organic vegetable box. It seems too healthy, too weird, too German! In actual fact, this is a wonderful vegetable. When mixed with floury root vegetables you can use it in gratins; you can shallow-fry it in olive oil and serve with garlic and chives; and you can add it to an Oriental stir-fry. But in this salad I think I have found the absolute best use for a kohlrabi. It is wonderfully fresh-tasting, with a good lemony kick and some sharp sweetness.’
Cabbage and Kohlrabi Salad
Serves 4.
Ingredients
1 medium kohlrabi (about 240g)
½ white cabbage (about 240g)
1 large bunch of dill, roughly chopped (about 6 heaped tablespoons)
120g currants or dried whole sour cherries
grated zest of 1 lemon
90ml lemon juice
60ml olive oil
salt and pepper
Preparation
Peel the kohlrabi and cut into thin matchsticks.
Shred the cabbage into fine strips.
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Massage everything together for a few minutes to allow the flavours to meld. Use your hands to scrunch up the kohlrabi and cabbage a bit if you don’t like super-crunchy raw vegetables. This will make them a bit softer. Let the salad sit for at least 10 minutes.
Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.
(Recipe adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi, Plenty.)
Courgettes sautéed with sweet spices and coriander against a satisfying backdrop of warm bulgur wheat. This simple recipe is much greater than the sum of its parts. I think it’s the cinnamon.
The proportions are pretty flexible.
serves 3-4.
Ingredients
2 cloves of garlic, or more to taste
1 bunch (or a big handful) of coriander, stalks removed
about 2 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 courgettes, chopped into fairly small pieces
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated)
about 600ml water or stock
200g fine bulgur wheat (aka crushed wheat or cracked wheat)
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Grind the garlic and coriander together, or chop them fine. Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the garlic-coriander paste for a minute or two.
Add the courgettes, and after a minute add the cinnamon and freshly-grated nutmeg. Continue to fry for a few more minutes.
Add 500ml of the water or stock, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 4 minutes.
Add the bulgur wheat, bring back to a simmer, and simmer for 5-10 more minutes, until the wheat is tender and liquid is absorbed. Taste it occasionally: if the bulgur isn’t tender enough add some more of the water or stock and let it cook a little longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the lovely, pale green mixture in a blue bowl.
(Recipe courtesy of Mona Whitbread.)
Two modest servings.
Ingredients
750 ml of good stock
2 courgettes
salt and pepper to taste
optional garnishes: yoghurt, cubes of fresh tomato, chopped coriander
Preparation
Heat the stock in a pan. Meanwhile shred the courgettes (coarse or fine, depending on which variant you prefer) and add them to the soup. I usually just shred them into the pan as the stock heats.
Bring to a gentle boil and simmer for a few minutes, or until the courgettes are tender. This will not take long at all.
Once the courgettes are pleasantly tender, salt and pepper to taste, and serve topped with some or all of the optional garnishes. I think this version is best with finely shredded courgette.
A Creamier Variation
You can create a creamier texture (without adding cream) by using a hand blender to purée some or all of the courgette before serving with the optional toppings. Coarsely shredded courgettes are fine for this version.
A Coconut Variation
You can replace some of the stock with coconut milk.
Here are two very easy recipes for summer salads. The first one combines raw, shredded beetroot with a simple vinaigrette. For the second one the beetroot is cooked with allspice, before being combined with red onions and parsley. I love them both.
Shredded Beetroot Salad
Ingredients
beetroots
olive oil
sherry vinegar
salt and pepper
Preparation
Peel the raw beetroot and shred it. I use the fine blade on my ancient Moulinex but you can of course shred it using any device you favour.
Prepare a vinaigrette by combining two parts of olive oil to one part sherry vinegar (and salt and pepper to taste) in a small screw-capped jar. Shake vigorously. For 400g of beetroot I would use about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1.5 tablespoons sherry vinegar. Taste the dressing to see if you like it. If it’s too sharp add a little more oil.
Combine the shredded beetroot with the vinaigrette. You can add some chopped parsley, or feta, or toasted walnuts, or all three, if you like. Serve.
Beetroot and Red Onion Salad
You’ll notice this contains no oil at all.
Serves 4.
Ingredients
500g beetroot
3 whole cloves
3 whole allspice
1 bay leaf
1 large red onion, peeled, halved, and sliced thin.
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
½ teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
Preparation
Place the beetroots, cloves, allspice and bay leaves in a pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the beetroots are tender when you poke them with a fork. This might take from 25 to 45 minutes (or longer), depending on the size of the beetroots. Leave them to cool in the liquid.
Meanwhile combine the onion, vinegar, salt and pepper, and sugar in a bowl. Use your hands to scrunch up the onions a bit and leave them to marinate in the liquid. This will soften the raw onion a bit and make it less sharp.
When the beetroots are cool enough for you to handle remove them from the liquid and peel them. (Discard the liquid at this stage.) Slice them thick or thin, as you prefer. Combine them with the onion mixture and the parsley, toss well, taste to see if it needs more salt or pepper, and serve.
This week the recipe comes from Dom, head grower at Canalside:
We’ve reached that special time known amongst pro growers as the Beetroot Bonanza: the moment in late Spring when the new polytunnel beetroot crop is ready to pick whilst storage beetroot from the previous season is still clogging up the root store. In next week’s share there will be freshly harvested Chioggia beets (that’s right, the stripy one) but we will also be trying to shift the remaining blood-red Jannis beetroots from last year via the Extras table, so why not grab some while you still can to make this amazing novelty ketchup! (We also suspect that quite a few members may well have a backlog of shrivelly beetroots hiding away at the back of your veg cupboard…) It’s great with potato wedges, chips or anything crispy. Many thanks to Kate at www.thevegspace.co.uk for the recipe.
Ingredients
1kg beetroot (about 12 medium-sized beetroot)
2 tbsp sunflower or rapeseed oil
1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 chilli, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
175ml red wine vinegar
70g soft brown sugar
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Place the beetroot (whole and un-peeled) in a large piece of foil, drizzle with a little oil, wrap up to enclose them and place on a baking tray in the oven for an hour. After the hour is up, test each one with a sharp knife – if it passes through easily, the beetroot is cooked so remove it. Return any which aren’t cooked to the oven and keep testing every 10 minutes until they are all tender.
2. When they have cooled, peel the beetroots, trim the ends and chop into small-ish pieces.
3. In a large saucepan, heat the sunflower/rapeseed oil and add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and cumin, and cook gently for 5 minutes until softened. Add the beetroot, chilli, salt and red wine vinegar, and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat, and leave to cool for a few minutes. Spoon the beetroot mixture into a blender or food processor, and blitz on the highest possible speed for 2-3 minutes until completely smooth.
5. Return the ketchup to the pan, then add the sugar, bring to the boil, and lower to a very gentle heat. Cook until the ketchup has reached a good consistency – mine took about 5 minutes, but it depends on the water content of your beetroot (and how thick or pourable you prefer your ketchup!).
6. When it has cooled slightly, pour into warm, sterilised bottles or jars. The ketchup will keep, (ideally in a cool, dark place), for 3 months, and once opened, in the fridge for 2 weeks.
(Rebecca will be back as soon as she escapes from the beetroot store)
I know I offered you a quinoa salad only a few weeks ago, but this one is also so good, and really different. And salads are perfect for warmer weather.
This one combines rocket and roasted carrots with crunchy quinoa tossed with currants and a pomegranate-molasses dressing. The whole thing is topped with crispy ringlets of frizzled leeks. It’s ever so tasty.
Quinoa Salad With Roasted Carrots and Frizzled Leeks
Serves 10
Ingredients
1 leek, trimmed
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for frying leeks and for serving
salt and pepper
2½ tablespoons lemon juice
2½ tablespoons pomegranate molasses, plus more for serving
1kg carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick coins
2 cups quinoa
⅓ cup dried currants
150g rocket
Preparation
Cut leek in half lengthwise and rinse away any grit. Slice into thin strips. In a small skillet over medium heat, warm 1/4 inch of olive oil. Add a handful of leeks and fry until golden brown, 15 to 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Repeat with remaining leeks.
In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, molasses, 1 teaspoon salt and a large pinch of pepper. Whisk in 3/4 cup oil.
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Toss carrots with 2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon salt and some pepper. Spread on one or two large baking sheets so they fit in one layer. Roast carrots, tossing occasionally, until tender and golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.
While carrots roast, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add quinoa and cook until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain.
In a large bowl, toss warm quinoa with currants. Add carrots and half the dressing and toss well. Taste and add dressing or salt (or both) if needed.
In a separate bowl, toss rocket with enough dressing to lightly coat. Spread the rocket on a serving platter and top with the dressed quinoa and the frizzled leeks. Drizzle with more pomegranate molasses and a little olive oil before serving.
(Adapted from New York Times Cooking.)