November 30, 2012
Ching-He Huang’s recipe (picture too) from the BBC Good Food website. Good with stir-fried pak choi or five-spice chicken.
Serves 4 as a side dish
Preparation 15 minutes
Cooking 10 minutes
Ingredients
200g medium dried egg noodles
a couple of dashes toasted sesame oil (optional)
1 tbsp groundnut oil
piece of fresh ginger, grated
150g fresh shiitake mushrooms
4 spring onions, cut into thirds, then thinly sliced into lengthways strips
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
Method
Cook the noodles according to pack instructions, then toss with a little sesame oil (or other oil) to stop them sticking.
Heat a wok or large wide pan over a high heat, then add the groundnut oil. Once it’s smoking, add the ginger, stir-fry for a couple of secs, then add the mushrooms with a splash of water to create steam, and cook for 1 minute. Toss through the cooked noodles for 2 minutes until hot, then add the spring onions, oyster and soy sauces and (optional) a dash more sesame oil.
November 29, 2012
This week everyone will have:
* shiitake mushrooms (Mark Malcolmson)
* salad/rocket leaves (Camel CSA)
* spring onions (Camel CSA)
* parsnips (Camel CSA)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)
cauliflower (Growfair, Cornwall)
leeks (Growfair)
Standard boxes will have extra potatoes and mushrooms plus:
* swiss chard (Camel CSA)
* swede (Camel CSA)
sprout stalks (Growfair)
* = grown to organic principles
November 22, 2012
This week everyone will have:
* onions (Camel CSA)
* garlic (Camel CSA)
* chillies (Camel CSA)
* kale (Camel CSA)
* sprouts (Camel CSA)
* jerusalem artichokes (Camel CSA)
* parsnips (Camel CSA)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)
Standard boxes will have extra potatoes plus:
* salad (Camel CSA)
* sprouting broccoli (Camel CSA)
* swiss chard (Camel CSA)
* = grown to organic principles
November 15, 2012
This week, everyone will have:
* onions (Camel CSA)
* calabrese/purple sprouting broccoli (Camel CSA)
* peppers (Camel CSA)
* cabbage (Camel CSA)
* radicchio (Camel CSA)
* beetroot (Camel CSA)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)
Standard boxes will have extra potatoes plus:
* salad (Camel CSA)
* parsley (Camel CSA)
* swede (Camel CSA)
Bramley apples (Growfair, Devon)
* = grown to organic principles
November 12, 2012
Roasted cauliflower makes a delicious crunchy winter salad in this recipe from BBC Good Food. You can use the mixed salad leaves in Camel CSA’s weekly veg boxes instead of the baby spinach.
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
1 cauliflower, broken into florets
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion , thinly sliced
3 tbsp sherry vinegar
1½ tbsp honey
3 tbsp raisins
small bunch dill , snipped
3 tbsp toasted, flaked almonds
50g baby spinach
Method
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Toss the cauliflower with the olive oil, season and roast for 15 mins. Stir in the red onion and carry on roasting for 15-20 mins more until tender.
While the cauliflower is roasting, mix the vinegar, honey and raisins with some seasoning. When the cauliflower is done, stir in the dressing, dill, almonds and spinach, and serve.
- More roasted cauliflower recipes
Roasted curried cauliflower
Roasted cauliflower gigli with pine nuts and currants
November 8, 2012
Everyone will have:
* onions (Camel CSA)
* salad leaves (Camel CSA)
* sprouts (Camel CSA)
* carrots (Growfair, Cornwall)
* cauliflower (Growfair)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)
Standard boxes will have extra potatoes plus:
* beetroot (Camel CSA)
* cabbage (Camel CSA)
* parsnips (Camel CSA)
* = grown to organic principles
November 5, 2012
Camel CSA’s growing team are busy cultivating our over-wintering crops. We’ve got “cut and come again” salad leaves in the polytunnels – mixed lettuce, curly endive, rocket, mibuna and mizuna. Also beetroot, kohlrabi, chard, spinach, parsley and spring onions. Outdoors we’re starting to plant garlic and onion sets for harvesting next summer.

November 2, 2012
I was amused to come across the WTF, CSA section in the Huffington Post (thanks to Rupert Dunn).
The idea is that when you shout “WTF?” into your weekly veg box Huffington can tell you what on earth to do with a glut of basil, or aubergine fatigue, or a particularly tricky vegetable like the kohlrabi we’ve got in Camel CSA’s small boxes this week.
Now I don’t see the point of cooking kohlrabi (although there are some perfectly nice-sounding recipes). I prefer to eat it raw as it’s deliciously crunchy and juicy. Just make sure you peel off the tough skin before sticking your teeth in.
This take on the famous Waldorf salad is from Riverford Organic.
If you have just one kohlrabi, this salad works for two people – simply divide the amounts by three.

Serves: 6
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
3 kohlrabi, peeled + cut into small segments
2 crisp, red-skinned apples, cored + diced
2 little gem lettuces, shredded (or mixed salad leaves)
a little lemon juice
a handful of watercress (optional)
75g walnuts, lightly toasted + broken into pieces
For the walnut dressing
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp light olive oil
2 tbsp walnut oil
a pinch each of celery salt, salt + pepper
Method
Combine the kohl rabi, apples and little gem lettuces in a serving bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent browning. Add the watercress, if using, and the toasted walnuts.
Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well.
November 1, 2012
Camel CSA’s growers are continuing to supply our boxes with plenty of mixed salad in spite of the shorter, darker days. Also in our share of the harvest this week are kohlrabi and squash.
Everyone will be having:
* kohlrabi (Camel CSA)
* mixed squash (Mark Norman / Camel CSA)
* onions (Camel CSA)
* salad leaves (Camel CSA)
* calabrese (Camel CSA)
* spinach (Camel CSA)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)
Standard boxes will have extra potatoes plus:
* Jerusalem artichokes (Camel CSA)
* peppers(Camel CSA)
* parsley (Camel CSA)
* chillies (Camel CSA)
UPDATE: Only the small boxes have kohlrabi this week, standard boxes have a swede
October 28, 2012
If, like me, you’re fond of carrot cake, you’ll enjoy this. It’s another way of using up the flesh from the Hallowe’en pumpkin in Camel CSA’s weekly veg boxes.
This is adapted from the recipe in BBC GoodFood (which adds a rich frosting). There are quite a few different versions. Tess, one of our CSA members, includes pine nuts in hers (a delicious addition) and finishes with a swirl of glace icing.
Serves: 15 portions
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 mins
Ingredients
For the cake
300g self-raising flour
300g light muscovado sugar
3 tsp mixed spice
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
175g sultanas
½ tsp salt
4 eggs, beaten
200g butter, melted
zest 1 orange
1 tbsp orange juice
500g (peeled weight) pumpkin or butternut squash flesh, grated
For the drizzle
100g icing sugar , sifted
zest 1 orange and juice of half

Method
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line a 30 x 20cm baking or small roasting tin with baking parchment.
Put the flour, sugar, spice, bicarbonate of soda, sultanas and salt into a large bowl and stir to combine. Beat the eggs into the melted butter, stir in the orange zest and juice, then mix with the dry ingredients till combined. Stir in the pumpkin. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 30 mins, or until golden and springy to the touch.
Mix together the icing sugar, orange zest and juice. When the cake is done, cool for 5 mins then turn it onto a cooling rack. Prick it all over with a skewer and drizzle with the icing mixture while still warm. Leave to cool completely.
BBC GoodFood says: “Pumpkins can vary dramatically in water content, so keep an eye on the cake towards the end of cooking – yours may take less or more time to cook through. If you’re not carving out a pumpkin this year butternut squash works brilliantly, too.”

