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. 306 – Lemon ginger carrot soup

This tasty-looking soup is from the Real Foods website. It’s suitable for those on a vegan diet.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil or 50 g coconut butter
1 onion, roughly chopped
Rind of 1 lemon
2.5 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
400g carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
25 g red split lentils, ground to a fine powder
500 ml vegetable stock
freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch fresh parsley or coriander, roughly chopped

Method
Heat the olive oil or coconut butter in a large pan over a medium heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.  Add the lemon peel, ginger and carrots and stir fry for another 3 minutes.  Add the ground lentils and stock and cook, uncovered for about 10 minutes or until the carrots are soft.

When cooked, blend until smooth, adding a little more hot water if required to reach your desired consistency.  Season with freshly ground black pepper to taste.  Serve hot, garnished with chopped parsley or coriander.

Seasonal local food recipe No. 303 – Red dragon pie

This is a favourite, well-loved recipe from Sarah Brown’s Vegetarian Kitchen which I have been making for the past 30 years, I will be serving it with the curly kale from this week’s veg box.  It gets its name from the Chinese name for aduki beans – red dragon beans.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Cooking time: 35-40 minutes

Ingredients
110 g aduki beans
50 g brown rice
1 Tbsp oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
225 g carrots, scrubbed and diced
1-2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp mixed herbs
275 ml aduki bean stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
450 g potatoes, peeled
25 g butter

Method
Soak the aduki beans overnight or steep them in boiling water for an hour.  Drain and rinse, then bring them to the boil  in fresh water along with the rice and cook for 50 minutes, until the beans are tender and the rice is fairly soft.  Drain, reserving the stock.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the onion for 5 minutes.  Add the carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes before adding the cooked beans and rice.  Mix the soy sauce, tomato puree and herbs with the stock and pour over the bean and vegetable mixture.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes, so that the flavours are well blended.  Season to taste.  Add a little more liquid if necessary so that the final mixture is moist.

Transfer into a greased 1.5 litre casserole.  Whilst the bean and vegetable mixture is cooking , boil the potatoes until soft and mash them with the butter.  Season well and spread the mashed potato over the beans and vegetables.  Place in a preheated oven 180°C/Gas mark 4 and bake for 35-40 minutes until the potato is crisp and brown.

New-season carrots and beetroot in our veg boxes

Everything in the garden is coming up lovely!
In all the boxes:
*new-season carrots
*new-season beetroot
Cornish asparagus (Lower Croan, Sladesbridge)
swede(Growfair)
leeks (Growfair)
cauliflower (Growfair)
potatoes ‘Wilja’ (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:
extra potatoes
*mixed salad bag
*Swiss chard/spinach
*rhubarb (Camel CSA/Mark Norman, Bodmin)

* = grown to organic principles.  All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated.  Please wash all vegetables carefully.

This week’s recommended recipes from our website archive:
Baby carrots with lemon and thyme     Beetroot with fresh mint

It’s time to… sow seeds and prepare growing beds

Mark N is ploughing, weeding, composting and raking the veg beds set aside for root veg – carrots, beetroot, fennel and parsnips.

In the meantime young plants in the seeding tunnel are growing well in the warm conditions and strong spring light.

Seasonal local food recipe No.264 – Leek and butter bean stew

This is taken from a recipe by Rose Elliot. It was originally a recipe for a pie with a puff pastry crust but the filling is just as good on its own.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30-40 minutes

Ingredients
2 cans butter beans, rinsed and drained
25 g butter
225 g carrots, peeled and diced small
450 g leeks, cleaned and cut into 1 cm slices
125 g mushrooms, wiped and sliced
1 Tbs flour
1/2 can tomatoes
150 ml vegetable stock or water
salt and pepper

Method
Melt the butter in a medium-sized pan, add the carrots, cover and cook very gently without browning for about 10 minutes.  Add the leeks and mushrooms and cook for a further 10 minutes.  Sprinkle in the flour then stir so it gets mixed with the fat.  Mix in the tomatoes and stock or water and cook gently, stirring for 2-3 minutes, until thickened.  Add the butter beans and season to taste.  Cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the beans are heated through.  Serve with a green vegetable and potatoes.

Lovely leeks and carrots in our veg boxes

This week all boxes have:-
*kale
*beetroot
*mixed salad leaves
*chillies
carrots (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
leeks (Restharrow)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:
Extra potatoes
*cabbage or purple sprouting broccoli
*coriander
cauliflower (Restharrow)

All veg grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated
* = grown organic principles
Please ensure you wash all salad vegetables carefully.

This week’s recommended recipes from our online archive:-
Stir-fried curly kale with chilli and garlic
Hugh’s pasta with greens, garlic and chilli

Juicy bunched carrots in Camel CSA’s veg boxes

All boxes have:
*carrots

New season carrots in Camel CSA’s veg boxes this week

Another lucky dip – we’re all getting mangetout peas or broad beans from the polytunnel. Not both!

All boxes have:
* bunched carrots (Camel CSA)
* broad beans or mangetout peas(Camel CSA)
* salad bag (Camel CSA / Mark Norman, Bodmin)
* chard (Camel CSA / Mark Norman)
* new potatoes (Mark Norman)
* onions (Mark Norman)
Cornish asparagus (Lower Croan, Sladesbridge)

Seasonal local food recipe No.228 – Hugh’s baby carrot and broad bean risotto

This is from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg Every Day! and is a perfect summer risotto.  I often use chicken stock instead of vegetable stock.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 35-40 minutes

Ingredients
1 tbs olive or rapeseed oil
40 g butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
800ml hot vegetable stock
200g risotto rice
100ml white wine
250-300g baby carrots, scrubbed and halved or quartered lengthways
150g baby broad beans
20g parmesan cheese, finely grated
A handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper
olive or rapeseed oil to serve

Method
Heat the oil and 25 g butter in a large pan over a medium heat.  Add the onion and fry gently for 8-10 minutes, until softened.  Stir the rice into the onion and cook for a minute or two, then stir again.  Add the wine and bring to a simmer.  Cook for a few minutes, stirring from time to time, until the wine is absorbed.

Start adding the hot stock a ladleful at a time, stirring frequently and add more stock as it is absorbed.  It should take about 20-25 minutes for the stock to be absorbed and for the rice to be cooked but still al dente. Add the carrots when the rice has been cooking for about 12 minutes; put the broad beans in about 5 minutes from the end of the cooking time.

When the rice and vegetables are cooked, turn off the heat.  Add the cheese and the remaining butter, cover and leave for a couple of minutes.  Add most of the parsley and season to taste.  Serve in bowls with the remaining parsley scattered over and trickle over a little oil.