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Here’s a selection of multi-cultural dishes and most of the
ingredients can be adjusted to suit personal taste or local availability. I
don’t always stick to recipes, but prefer to improvise and use what I have
in the cupboard. I owe the first two recipes to the excellent book ‘The
Boxing Clever Cookbook’. Soil Association endorsed, it’s a mine of
delicious, imaginative recipes and all sorts of interesting information
associated with organic food.
The third recipe VEGETABLE TAGINE was in the newsletter from the organic
farm that delivers my weekly vegetable box. Wherever you can, try to buy
local produce from local retailers because this helps the producer and, if
more of us buy local food and the demand grows, more producers will be
needed, maybe more farmers will be able to stay in business, and hopefully
Britain will then be growing far more of it’s own food rather than
expensively ( and eco damagingly) importing from abroad.
LEEK, MUSHROOM AND CASHEW NUT CANNELLONI
(Serves 4)
This is definitely one for pasta lovers!
It utilises leeks which are still in season, herbs and spices, onions and
garlic, and the cannelloni tubes are full of necessary carbohydrates. This
recipe is open to ringing as many changes as you like with the vegetables,
but the idea is to keep them as seasonal as possible as you go through the
year.
Filling
2tbsp olive oil
450g (1lb / 2 cups) leeks finely chopped and washed well
225g (8oz /1 cup) mushrooms, finely chopped
50g (2oz / quarter cup toasted cashew nuts
Freshly grated nutmeg
Half teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 x 500g packet Cannelloni tubes
Sauce
50g (2oz / quarter cup butter or margarine
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
3tsp plain flour
175 ml (6fl oz / 3 quarter cup crème fraiche
Seasoning to taste.
Freshly grated nutmeg
Topping
25g (1oz/ half cup) fresh breadcrumbs
25g (1oz / quarter cup Parmesan or Cheddar cheese, grated
Preheat oven to 180c ( 350 F / Gas 4)
1) Heat olive oil in pan and saute’ leeks and mushrooms for about 5
mins until soft.
2) toast cashew nuts by stir-frying them in a hot, dry frying pan for
a minute or so until golden.
Add the toasted nuts to leeks and mushrooms and then add nutmeg, thyme and
season to taste
4) Fill 8-12 cannelloni tubes with the leek mixture and arrange in a
greased, ovenproof dish.
5 ) To make the sauce. Melt the butter or margarine in a pan, add the onion
and garlic and cook until soft – maybe 5 mins.
6) Stir in the flour and then add the crème fraiche to make a sauce
consistency. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
7) Pour sauce over cannelloni, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and
cheese.
Bake in your oven until golden and bubbling.
Note: This recipe is brilliant with warm garlic bread, or olive oil drizzled
hot Ciabatta, and crispy salads.
POTATO CURRY, THAI STYLE
Serves 4
This is a warming dish for cool evenings
and ideal for entertaining, especially if you provide some side dishes of
vegetables such as green beans, baby corn, sugar snaps and pickles, and
maybe some puppodums or prawn crackers.
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
2.5 cm (1”) piece root ginger, peeled, chopped or grated
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1-2 fresh green chillies, seeded and chopped (optional)
900gm potatoes, peeled and diced
1x 440ml (14flozs) can coconut milk
Juice of two limes or lemons, salt and pepper to taste
1x 2.5 piece fresh lemongrass (optional)
1) Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and fry until golden brown.
2 ) Add the ginger, garlic and chilli (if used) and fry for another two
minutes, stirring constantly.
3) Add the diced potatoes, coconut milk, lime or lemon juice, and lemongrass
(if used).
Season to taste
4) Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 35 minutes.
Remove lemongrass before serving with Jasmine rice.
VEGETABLE TAGINE
Serves 4 - (easy to make more or less)
Freezes well.
Here’s a recipe with a distinctly North African flavour. I love this one
because it’s so easy to make and you can make it with different seasonal
vegetables to suit the time of year or what you happen to have in stock, but
always incorporate the tomatoes, chick peas and spices if you want to keep
the Moroccan influence.
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 large onion
2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped
Itsp turmeric
1x440 ml can (14flozs) chopped tomatoes
A medium squash (butternut works well) peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
Small cauliflower washed and cut into florets
1 large red pepper, deseeded and sliced
1x 440ml (14flozs) can of chick peas, drained
1teasp harissa paste
half a pint of vegetable stock
A handful of fresh, chopped coriander
1) Saute onion and garlic in the olive oil.
2 ) Add the turmeric and can of tomatoes.
3) Add the chunks of squash, cauliflower, and red pepper pieces.
4) Stir well, then add the vegetable stock, quite slowly until it just
covers the vegetables. A half pint might be too much depending on the size
of veg used.
5) Add the drained chick peas, stir, cover and cook in the oven on medium
heat in a casserole or tagine pot for about 45 minutes.
Stir in the harissa paste, add the chopped coriander and serve with
cous-cous.
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FOOD MATTERS!
Eating Organic and Considering the Planet
With Jules Evans
Here in the UK, after what seemed like an interminable winter followed by a very
unsettled spring, June arrived bringing a searing heat-wave and the long, sunny
days that we have all longed for. At last, millions of householders dusted off
the garden furniture and long-forgotten Barbie with their optimism soaring for
those long-planned outdoor celebrations.
Strawberries and cream, seaside excursions, al fresco meals on the patio,
countryside picnics, and kids cooling off in an inflatable pool in the garden,
are all memorable events to treasure. Suddenly the trees and hedgerows burst
into bright green life and the smell of new mown grass and scented petals
concoct a heady evening cocktail of perfume as the garden celebrates the advent
of Summer. Overhead, acrobatic swallows, having made their incredibly long,
annual trip to our shores, are frantically busy raising a whole new generation!
All this epitomises some of the best things about summer in the British Isles.
Back in early spring while we still needed warming, hearty, food to see us
through the cold days, the CWN kitchen printed organic recipes using, wherever
possible, locally sourced ingredients. Now, with summer entertaining in mind, we
are ready to cool the temperatures and look at vitamin-rich organic recipes that
are no less nutritious, but lack the calorific stodge of the winter food. All
the following recipes can be adapted to cater for larger or less amounts.
We all have our favourite sources when it comes to buying our food. It might be
a supermarket, it might be our tried and tested local shops – we may even have
chosen to go ‘Organic’ and buy only food that displays The Soil Association
logo, thereby assuring ourselves that the product meets stringent production
criteria.
If you are unsure about what the word ‘organic’ means, it is food and meat that
has been raised and grown without chemical fertilisers, insecticides or
pesticides. In the case of animals and poultry kept and reared for meat, the
animals are given more time to develop slowly and fed a healthy natural diet,
untainted by meat by-products or fast-growth hormones.
WHY EAT ORGANIC FOOD?
(and where to find it)
The benefits of eating organic food, which tends to be more expensive than
non-organic–unless you grow your own, are obvious once you try it. Organic
produce may not be so perfectly shaped, or totally unblemished as inorganic, but
the flavour is fuller and there’s peace of mind in knowing that you are
consuming healthy fruit and vegetables devoid of a coating of insecticide on the
skins.
If you eat meat, it’s good to know that generally calves and piglets stay longer
with their mothers and there is the assurance that although ultimately they will
be killed for the table, they have longer in which to live pleasanter and more
natural lives than those animals which are intensively reared.
Many people don’t have the necessary amount of land to be able to cultivate
their own organic vegetables and even if they do, lack of time often prevents
them from growing salads, herbs and vegetables – especially, taking into account
the need for a regular supply of these throughout the changing seasons.
One way around this problem is to locate an organic farm within your own area
and ask to be included in their vegetable box scheme. This means that every week
a selection of seasonal produce will be delivered to your door. The vegetable
box scheme usually extends to fruit as well, and if the farm also has a shop,
you can request organic items from the shop to be included with your weekly
delivery.
I have had personal experience of the organic box scheme for about five years
and for me it works well. Okay, so I do grow some vegetables, and lots of herbs
but if, for instance, I have grown a great crop of potatoes that might last
three or four months, I just ask the farm not to include potatoes in my weekly
box. Last year our red onions were marvellous, there were mountains of runner
beans from just three wig-wam supports, and the elephant garlic was so
elephantine I asked that none of these items be included in my box until further
notice. The farm responded by putting in the box other kinds of salad and
vegetables that I hadn’t been able to grow myself.
Increasing numbers of us are growing at least some of our own food if we have
space in our gardens or access to an allotment. This is easy now due to the huge
selection of magazines, books and television programmes that help us to see how
to do it.
Many people begin with a few potatoes, then find themselves planting up gro-bags
with tomatoes and lettuce, Spurred on by success they dig over another plot for
salads and the more enjoyment they get from harvesting their own food, the more
sense it seems to make to grow even more. If space is a problem, even potatoes
can be grown in deep containers, tomatoes and strawberries in hanging baskets,
and salads in raised beds.
Many people are now switching to organic food and happily, unlike the bad old
days of ten years or so, ago, the choice is endless. Supermarket chains have
been forced to think far more deeply about the food they provide and where it
comes from. Also, very importantly, the methods used in its production whether
in terms of agriculture or the human issues involved such as fair wages for
producers and labourers, abroad. Faced with these concerns they now
devote more and more space to Organic, and Fair Trade produce as popular demand
spirals upwards.
Organic farms provide seasonal selections of home grown vegetables and this is
good news because our bodies are programmed to respond well to the foods that
grow within their own boundaries of the changing seasons. Yes, you can buy
strawberries in January but they are imported and however big and
mouth-wateringly juicy they appear, nothing compares with strawberries grown in
your own plot or even a large pot, with the warmth of the summer sun to ripen
them to perfection. Ever grown them and then picked and savoured one ripe fruit
in late afternoon after the sun has warmed it throughout the day? It’s
incomparable.
That’s because you are eating fruit that has matured and ripened within our
British seasons. It’s matured to give us a proper sweet, luscious strawberry,
not a strawberry that’s been intensively farmed, drenched with pesticides and
slug deterrents, picked and packed hundreds of miles away, lingered for days at
airports or ferry terminals and then finally appears in a British supermarket in
a punnet labelled ‘Fresh Strawberries’!
FOOD MILES!
Can you live without strawberries in winter to help save the planet?
In your winter vegetable box you can expect lots of staple root vegetables like,
swede, potatoes, carrots, parsnips and beets. There will also be red and green
cabbage, celery, Brussels sprouts, onions, cauliflowers, garlic, and leeks. You
may get imported tomatoes until after Christmas, but their juicy fruitiness
tends to diminish along with keeping-quality until they vanish altogether from
your box until the new salad season. Peppers, courgettes, and fruit are usually
sourced from organic growers abroad, and this is where we have to confront
another very important issue.
Currently, around 90% of organic fruit and vegetables are imported. This means
that although we love to include peppers, courgettes, squash, and mangoes in our
favourite recipes, the planet pays a high price for these being flown from the
country of origin to Britain. Air travel is bad news for the globe because of
the CO2 gases produced during the flight. It’s a tricky issue. We may like to
eat organic and we probably have the best interests of the planet in mind, but
if we truly stick to our environmental guns it would mean giving up many
favourite foods that are flown in to our island, and only buying those that our
climate would normally be capable of producing throughout each season.
Are we prepared to do that? If we are, it means boycotting produce that has cost
the planet too much in the way of CO2 just so that we can have lettuce,
cucumber, peppers, courgettes, strawberries and mangoes on our tables in winter.
Interestingly, there’s a theory that humans are healthier when eating only those
foods that the successive, indigenous seasons provide. These foods all contain
elements that we need to see us through the prevailing weather. In summer it’s
warm and we enjoy lighter foods such as fresh, colourful salads enlivened with
dressings of zesty lemon and lime, and cooling fruits to follow. But in winter
and early spring when the days are short and cold we need to build ourselves up
against seasonal illnesses like colds and flu, so we need to eat lots of vitamin
rich foods like calabrese, kale, cabbage, sprouts and potatoes. Our fruit can be
the orchard fruits, carefully stored, or made up into pies, and crumbles for the
freezer, whole fruits packed into freezer bags for use in preserves and pies or
home-made ice-cream – Yes, just the way it used to be – or so my mother tells
me!
We have to accept that the further our food travels, the more its vitamin and
mineral content diminishes over the miles.
KEEPING IT LOCAL.
Farmers’ Markets are another source of fresh British produce which is gaining
popularity. If you visit one in your area, you can be sure of top quality food
that has been picked at ultimate freshness and not been transported hundreds of
miles on a plane before it reaches your kitchen! You can talk to the farmer or
producer about the food you are buying and choose your purchases minus the
hustle and bustle of your average superstore. You will even be offered a tasting
of some items. Once you get to know the face behind the counter and become a
regular customer you’ll find not only that your particular preferences will be
happily catered for, but that you’ll also be able to chat to the grower or
producer about the local scene, the weather forecasts (nobody knows what’s
coming better than a farmer), political stuff, family stuff, and, if you are
lucky, gossip as well! This method of sourcing your food is far removed from the
faceless, remote retailing structure of chain supermarkets.
More information?
ORGANIC VEG AND FRUIT BOXES www.whyorganic.org
FARMERSMARKET www.farmersmarkets.net
CITY FARMS www.farmgarden.org.uk
SOIL ASSOCIATION www.soilassociation.org
THE BOXING CLEVER COOKBOOK by Jacqui Jones and Joan Wilmot:
ISBN 0 – 9543891-0-7
Recipes printed courtesy of
THE BOXING CLEVER COOKBOOK by Jacqui Jones and Joan Wilmot:
ISBN 0 – 9543891-0-7
All Photos by Ed Evans © Jules & Ed
Evans 2006
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MORE
RECIPES ...
MINI SPICED BEAN CAKES
(Serves 4-6. Suitable for a starter, also converts into larger cakes
for the barbecue or grill).
6 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed or finely chopped
Chilli flakes- two pinches
2 x 14oz cans of butter beans, cannelloni beans, or red kidney beans drained
and rinsed
4tbsp fresh chopped coriander
4oz breadcrumbs
2tbsp ground cumin
2 egg yolks
Freshly ground pepper and salt to taste.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and fry the onion, garlic and
chilli flakes for 2/3 mins until softened. Set aside to cool.
Using a large bowl mash the beans and then stir in the onion mixture,
coriander, breadcrumbs, cumin, egg yolks and seasoning. Shape into mini
cakes or larger burgers as required.
Heat remaining oil in the frying pan and fry for 3-4 mins on each side until
crisp and lightly golden.
For the starter dish serve your mini bean cakes with a garnish of crisp
salad and drizzle of dressing.
If you prefer to serve the larger ‘burgers’ for a barbecue or brunch serve
with bread buns, tomato chutney, fried onions and crisp salad.
MINT AND PEA PESTO TAGLIATELLE
13oz/375g dried or fresh tagliatelle
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3oz toasted pine nuts
6oz fresh or frozen cooked peas
Handful of fresh mint leaves
2oz (50g) grated Parmesan + more to serve
Olive oil- 4tbsp.
Cook tagliatelle, then drain reserving 4-6 tbsp of cooking liquid.
Place garlic and a third of the pine nuts, peas mint and parmesan in a food
processor and whizz to a paste. Gradually add the oil until all ingredients
are combined.
Stir this pesto through the hot pasta and season to taste.
Serve into pasta bowls or plates and sprinkle with more parmesan cheese,
black pepper and the remaining pine nuts. A generous stir of single cream
through the mix adds a touch of velvet luxury!
To prevent pasta from sticking, add 1 tbsp of oil to the water while
boiling.
BLUEBERRY SUMMER PUDDING
Serves 4-6
6 large slices of the lightest white bread you can find.
50g/2oz caster sugar or 2tbs organic clear honey
5tbs water
1lb 8oz of blueberries, or use mixed summer fruits such as blueberry,
strawberry, stoned cherries, rhubarb, black or red currants, or raspberries
according to preference.
Cut the bread into fingers
Put sugar and water or honey and water into a pan and heat while stirring
until sugar/honey dissolves.
Add your chosen fruit and simmer gently for 7/10 mins.
Line a 1 litre / 2 pint basin with the bread fingers. Add half the fruit
mixture, cover with more bread fingers.
Add the remaining fruit mix and cover with bread fingers.
Cover with plate or saucer and put a weight on top.
Refrigerate overnight.
Before serving, turn out on to a plate and decorate with whipped cream, or
serve with vanilla ice cream, double cream, raspberry couli, or crème
fraiche.
ELDERFLOWER CHAMPAGNE ( courtesy of The Box Clever Cookbook)
You can’t be in the British Isles in early summer without either seeing or
catching scent of the wonderful creamy coloured blossoms of the Elder tree.
(Sambucus Niger from a Latin word meaning harp, for which the making of the
musical instrument Elder wood was used) In Britain the Elder is entrenched
in our folklore as the ‘Mother Tree’ and numerous legends abound as to the
use of her wood, leaves, blossoms and berries.
Today, many still attach powerful properties to the elder tree whether by
use of the berries in wine or medicine, and also in this recipe for an easy
to make, sparkling, celebration drink called Elderflower Champagne.
7 and a quarter / 4 litres of water
1lb /450g granulated sugar
2 sliced lemons
2tbsp white wine vinegar
7 large elderflower heads
Boil the water
Put sugar in a large container and pour the boiled water over the sugar.
Stir and leave to cool.
Add lemons, white wine vinegar and flower heads.
Leave for 24/36hours
Sterilise 4-5 one-litre glass bottles with screw tops. Sterilise bottles by
washing in hot soapy water and rinsing in hot clean water. Put the bottles
into an oven at 120c for 20 mins.
Strain Elderflower liquid through muslin or fine sieve and then bottle.
Leave for seven to ten days until fizzy. The time varies depending on the
weather and storage conditions.
Cheers!
© Jules Evans
Photos © Ed and Jules Evans
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