I have made this Jack Monroe salad twice recently, once with curly kale and today with cavelo nero and both times it was delicious. It is even easier if you use a tin of black-eyed beans and lentils that do not need pre-soaking such as puy lentils.

Serves 4 for lunch

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

Ingredients
100 g dried brown or green lentils
100 g dried black-eyed or haricot beans
8 sundried tomatoes, chopped
A handful of black olives, chopped
A fistful of parsley, torn
80 g kale, rinsed and chopped
For the dressing:
1 fat clove garlic, minced
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
130 ml olive oil
1 lemon, zested and juiced

Method
Soak the lentils and beans for at least 8 hours and preferably overnight. Meanwhile, make your dressing – a good steeping in oil and acid will calm the chilli and garlic and meld the flavours. Put the garlic, chilli, oil, lemon zest and some of the lemon juice into a lidded jar, screw on the lid tightly and shake vigorously to emulsify.  Unscrew, taste and add more lemon juice if needed.

When you are ready to make the salad, thoroughly rinse the lentils and beans, then put them in a pan of unsalted, cold water. Bring to the boil, scrape off any scum and boil vigorously for 10 minutes.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for a further 30 minutes or until tender. Drain and rinse with hot water.  Meanwhile, warm the dressing in a small saucepan over a low heat.

Toss all the other salad ingredients together with the warm pulses – there is no need to cook the kale as the warmth of the beans, lentils and dressing will soften it sufficiently.  Add the dressing to taste and serve.

We have more red onions in our boxes this week. These need to be used soon, as they don’t store as well as everyday white ones. We’ve had such a prolific onion harvest this year we can expect many more for weeks to come.

All boxes have:-
*red onions
*cavolo nero (Tuscan kale)
*carrots
*mixed salad leaves
*radishes

calabrese (Restharrow farm, Trebetherick)
potatoes (Burlerrow farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*garlic
*spinach OR Swiss chard
baby leeks (Mark Norman, Bodmin)

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

Try these delicious kale soups on Camel CSA’s recipe page: –
Cavolo nero soup
Caldo verde (Portuguese greens soup)

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.

We also have another Jack o’ Lantern pumpkin in each box all ready to carve for Hallowe’en.

In all our boxes this week: –
*red onions
*turnips
*cabbage OR sprouting broccoli
*parsley
*pumpkin (Camel CSA / Mark Norman, Bodmin)
*celery (Mark Norman)
*potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have: –
extra potatoes
*mixed salad bag
*green peppers OR aubergine
*borlotti beans OR French beans*

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

Try these celery dishes on Camel CSA’s recipe page: –
Braised celery

I am going to make this cake for pudding tonight.  It’s from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Fruit Every Day!  The recipe calls for eating apples but I’m trying it with the veg box apples which are cookers.  If you have a nut allergy leave out the ground almonds and substitute with an extra 5 g flour.

Serves 10-12

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients
3 tbsp whisky
100 g sultanas
100 g ground almonds
175 g light brown flour
2 tsp baking powder
a pinch salt
500 g apples, peeled, cored and cut into thick slices
200 g butter, softened
200 g dark muscovado sugar
3 large free-range eggs
150 g thick-cut orange marmalade
25 g demerara sugar

Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C/Gas mark 3.  Grease a 20 cm springform cake tin, line the base with baking parchment and lightly butter the paper.  Warm the whisky in a small pan, then remove from the heat, add the sultanas and leave to soak while you prepare the cake.

Put the ground almonds, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl, combine thoroughly and set aside.  Beat the butter and muscovado sugar together thoroughly until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a spoonful of the flour mix with each, and amalgamating each thoroughly before adding the next.  Add the remaining flour mix and fold in.  Beat the marmalade to loosen it, then fold into the cake mixture.  Fold in the sultanas and whisky and finally the slices of apple.

Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared cake tin and scatter the Demerara sugar over the surface.  Bake for about 1 1/4 hours, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Let the cake cool slightly in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

We all have pumpkins this week. Standard boxes have the very last of the ripe tomatoes. Yes really!

In all the boxes: –
*pumpkin
*carrots
*sweetcorn
*onions
*sprouting broccoli OR kale
*cooking apples (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*mixed salad bag
*tomatoes*
*beetroot (Mark Norman)

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

The under-ripe tomatoes are going into chutney to have at Christmas.

In all our boxes this week: –
*tomatoes
*parsley
*sweetcorn
*onions
*sprouting broccoli OR Tuscan kale
*celery (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*mixed salad bag
*peppers OR aubergines
*French beans OR Swiss chard

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

This taken from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s book River Cottage Light and Easy.  Hugh says “Crisp, crunchy and pretty, this colourful little side is delicious with chicken or fish.”

Serves 4-6

Preparation time; 10-15 minutes

Ingredients
150 g radishes
5-6 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
2 Tbsp chopped mint
2 Tbsp extra virgin rapeseed or olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Trim the radishes, roughly chop them and put in a bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients, leave for 10-15 minutes if possible, then toss well and serve.

We each have a bag of eating apples kindly donated by Sam and Rachel at Butterwell Farm, Nanstallon.

In all our boxes this week:
*dessert apples (Butterwell Farm, Nanstallon)
*radishes
*tomatoes
*sprouting broccoli or curly kale
*cucumbers or aubergines or peppers
*basil or parsley
potatoes ‘Caesar’ (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*mixed salad bag
*French beans or sweetcorn
*courgettes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)

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

Try this savoury apple and radish dish on Camel CSA’s recipe page –
Warm halloumi with radish, apple and pecan salad

« Previous Page — Next Page »