Seasonal local food recipe No.320 – Hugh’s Asian-inspired coleslaw

This recipe looks interesting – I’ve had similar salads in Thai restaurants so now is the time to try it at home, using the spring onions in this week’s veg boxes.  It’s from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s book River Cottage Veg Every Day!

Serves 6-8

Preparation time: 20-30 minutes
‘Relaxing time’: 10-20 minutes

Ingredients
1 bunch spring onions, trimmed and sliced
4 medium carrots, peeled
1 small white cabbage
For the dressing:
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp clear honey
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp finely chopped ginger
2 Tbsp white wine or rice vinegar
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 Tbsp olive oil
To finish:
A handful of coriander, roughly torn
Lime juice

Method
Put the sliced spring onions into a large bowl.  Cut the carrots into fine julienne with a mandolin or grate them coarsely and add to the bowl.  Remove any blemished outer leaves from the cabbage, then quarter, cut away the core and shred the leaves as finely as you can.  Combine with the spring onions and carrots.

For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together, making sure the honey is dissolved.  Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss thoroughly.  Leave for 10-20 minutes to soften and ‘relax’.  Serve the coleslaw scattered with coriander and sprinkled with a few squeezes of lime juice.

Seasonal local food recipe No.298 – Colcannon

I like to serve Colcannon with grilled sausages for a quick and easy tea.

Serves 4-6

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
1 Kg floury potatoes such as Maris Piper or Cara, peeled and cut into chunks
100 ml milk
100 g butter
1/2 cabbage, finely shredded
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender.  While the potatoes are cooking melt half the butter in a pan and cook the cabbage for about 10 minutes until tender.  Drain the potatoes well then return to the pan with the milk and the rest of the butter and leave on a low heat until the milk comes to the boil and the butter has melted.  Remove from the heat, mash the potatoes then add the cabbage and mix well.  Season to taste and serve.

Seasonal local food recipe No.217 – Baked cabbage with nuts and cheese

Known in our house as cabbage and peanut bake, this recipe is from an old Sainsbury’s cookbook, Vegetarian Meals by Rosamond Richardson.  It is a main course in its own right or could be served alongside another dish.   I first tried this recipe to see how the rather odd combination of ingredients worked and it has become a winter favourite.

Serves 2

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients
1 small white cabbage chopped fairly coarsely
300ml white sauce made with 40g butter, 2tbs plain flour and 300ml milk
50g salted peanuts, chopped
100g cheddar cheese, grated
nutmeg, finely grated
salt and pepper

Method
Boil the cabbage until it is cooked but still crunchy.  Thin out the white sauce with a little of the cooking water and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Make layers in a greased baking dish of cabbage, sauce, grated nutmeg, peanuts and grated cheese (I usually have two layers of each ingredient), finishing with grated cheese. Bake at Gas mark 6/200°C for 15-20 minutes or until the top is a golden brown.  I serve it with baked potatoes.

Green leafy veg ‘may reduce diabetes risk’

The mounds of Swiss chard picked for our veg boxes this week could help prevent us developing type 2 diabetes, according to the British Medical Journal.

Researchers from Leicester University found that one and a half portions of green leafy vegetables every day could result in a significant 14 per cent risk reduction in getting the disease. You can see the BBC report on their findings here.

Green leafy veg include chard, spinach, cabbage, kale and lettuce – and are all found in abundance in Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s weekly veg boxes at different times of the year.