It’s time to… tie up the broad bean plants

The heady scent of broad beans fills the polytunnel as grower Bridget and volunteer Vicky ensure the early broad bean crop is tied in securely.

Wild garlic and radishes in Camel CSA’s veg boxes

Spring has finally sprung! Our volunteer picking and packing team have been foraging wild garlic leaves to go in this week’s veg boxes.

In all the boxes:-
*wild garlic (foraged locally)
*radish bunch
*spring onions
*bean sprouts
cauliflower (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
purple sprouting broccoli (Restharrow)
potatoes (St Lawrence Farm, Bodmin)

Standard boxes also have:-
*parsley
*rainbow chard
leeks (Restharrow)

Seasonal local food recipe No.381 – Madhur Jaffrey’s Punjabi-style beetroot

We grow a lot of beetroot, so I’m always on the outlook for new recipes. This is a subtly spicy side dish that goes well with dal, one of my  all-time favourite comfort foods.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 pinch ground asafoetida
(or half a pinch each of onion and garlic powders)
½ tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
2 large beetroot (about 675g), peeled and cut into 2cm dice
2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground turmeric
¼–½ tsp chilli powder
Salt
250ml water
2 medium tomatoes, blanched, peeled and finely chopped

Method
Put the oil in a nonstick frying pan on a medium-high heat. When hot, add the asafoetida, quickly followed by the cumin seeds, and let them sizzle for a few seconds. Add the fenugreek seeds, stir, then add the beetroot, ginger, coriander and cumin. Stir for two to three minutes. Add the turmeric and chilli powder, and stir for a few seconds.

Stir in the water and half a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat and cook gently for 20 minutes, until the beetroot is tender. Add the tomatoes and cook, uncovered, stirring over a high heat, for another two to three minutes, until the tomatoes are tender and well combined, and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Season as needed and serve.

Red Russian kale in Camel CSA’s Cornish veg boxes

Seasonal local food recipe No.380 – Nigel Slater’s bubble and swede

Some of our veg box members are getting restless. At the end of a long, hard winter they’re finding it hard to think of new ways to serve up the humble swede in our veg boxes.

Food writer Nigel Slater says this vegetarian dish is perfect for a warming midweek supper. He adds: “I am also tempted to introduce some crumbled sausage meat, fried until almost crisp in a shallow pan or, better still, a bit of black pudding.”

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: one hour

Ingredients
750g swede
2 medium leeks
60g butter
salt and black pepper

Method
Peel the swede, then cut it into large chunks. Place the swede in a steamer basket over a pan of boiling water, then cook it for about 30 minutes until soft.

Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Meanwhile, trim 2 medium-sized leeks, slice them and rinse thoroughly in cold running water. Melt the butter in a pan, add the leeks and let them cook for 20 minutes or so until they are totally tender.

When the swede is soft, crush it with a fork, vegetable masher or wooden spoon, and season generously with salt and black pepper. Fold the cooked leeks and the melted butter into the mashed swede, then spoon into an ovenproof dish. Bake the mixture for about 35-40 minutes, until the top is lightly crisp.

Coriander and parsley in our weekly veg boxes

In all the boxes:-
*coriander or *parsley (Camel CSA)
cauliflower (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
swede (Restharrow)
savoy cabbage (Restharrow)
onions (Restharrow)
carrots (Total Produce)
potatoes ‘Electra’ (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*oriental salad leaves (Camel CSA)
beetroot (Restharrow)
leeks (Restharrow)

* = grown to organic principles. Please wash all produce.

Try more than 350 ways of preparing vegetables on the recipes page on our website.

Polytunnels protect Camel CSA’s salad leaves in the cold

It’s a good thing some of our veg is grown in the shelter of the polytunnels!

In all the boxes:-
*sprouted mung beans (Camel CSA)
*oriental salad leaves (Camel CSA)
*turnips (Camel CSA)
*bay leaves (Camel CSA)
cauliflower (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
beetroot (Restharrow)
onions (Restharrow)
potatoes ‘Electra’ (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*rainbow chard (Camel CSA)
*baby leeks (Camel CSA)
crab apple and chilli jelly (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles. Please wash all produce.

Try more than 350 ways of preparing vegetables on the recipes page on our website.

Winter salad leaves in Camel CSA’s weekly veg boxes

They survived the cold snap! We all have oriental salad leaves from our polytunnels in this week’s veg boxes from north Cornwall.

In all the boxes:-
*oriental salad leaves (Camel CSA)
cauliflower (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
Celtic cabbage (Restharrow)
leeks (Restharrow)
beetroot (Restharrow)
Jerusalem artichokes (Restharrow)
swede (Restharrow)
potatoes ‘Electra’ (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*kale (Camel CSA)
*swede (Camel CSA)
onions (Restharrow)

* = grown to organic principles. Please wash all vegetables.

Try more than 350 ways of preparing vegetables on the recipes page on our website.

There’s a winter flavour to our weekly veg boxes

The Big Freeze continues to slow growth in the polytunnels so the veg selection in this week’s boxes has a decidedly winter flavour.

In all our veg boxes this week:-
*Jerusalem artichokes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
cauliflower (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
beetroot (Restharrow)
onions (Restharrow)
swede (Restharrow)
purple sprouting broccoli (Total Produce)
potatoes ‘Electra’ (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*parsley (Camel CSA)
Celtic cabbage (Restharrow)
leeks (Restharrow)

* = grown to organic principles. Please wash all vegetables.

Try more than 350 ways of preparing vegetables on the recipes page on our website.

Bean sprouts and oriental leaves for Chinese New Year

We’ve all got a share of bean sprouts and mixed oriental leaves in this week’s veg boxes to mark the start of Chinese New Year.

In all our veg boxes this week:-
*sprouted mung beans (Camel CSA)
*oriental salad leaves (Camel CSA)
*bunched turnips (Camel CSA)
cauliflower (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
Celtic cabbage (Restharrow)
leeks (Restharrow)
potatoes ‘Electra’ (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*spring onions (Camel CSA)
*carrots (Camel CSA)
*rainbow chard (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles. Please wash all vegetables carefully.

Stuck for ideas? Try more than 350 wonderful ways of preparing seasonal vegetables on the recipes page on our website.