All posts tagged: organic food

Warm Sicilian Cauliflower Salad

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Sicilian Cauliflower Salad Happy New Year! With a new baby in the household, we didn’t stay up for the bells last night. However we were beautifully rewarded with plenty of energy this morning, as we awoke to perfect blue skies and winter sunshine. I don’t feel like I sinned very much over the festive period, hardly a drop to drink, and only a few Christmas treats passed my lips. I just don’t have the time to pig out with a new baby! I didn’t even manage to do any holiday baking, like I usually do – such as this yummy Christmas Spiced Beer Cake. But I did succeed in hosting Christmas dinner for 9 (crazy crazy with a new baba!)…but my new 8 ring cooker came in very handy! Bring on industrial sized cooking equipment, yeah! But, never the less, I thought I’d share a delicious and healthy vegan recipe for Sicilian Cauliflower Salad, which is easy to make, after you’ve just had enough of cooking… Salads aren’t just for summer, you can get very creative experimenting with …

Roasted Heirloom Tomato Tart with Pesto and Dill

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Last weekend, my fiancé and I got our dates completely mixed up and thought it was Easter. So we exchanged easter eggs, and had a nice dinner. Then yesterday, we realised it is this coming Sunday! Oh well, we’ll just have two Easters this year! I love this time of year, where daffodils are peeking up, the birds are chirping and spring is in the air. And I really love easter as a way of celebrating all that the new season is giving us. This delicious Roasted Tomato Tart isn’t strictly a spring dish, it is in fact a summer dish that I made last year, with my bountiful amount of homegrown tomatoes. I adore growing tomatoes, as the colour varieties are endless, and it makes for some really vibrant dishes. Chocolate Cherry, White Cherry, Yellow Grape and Beef Steak Tomatoes where just some of last years produce – they almost made up the entire colour wheel. For this homemade quiche, I added homemade pesto to the recipe to give it an extra punch of …

Homemade Organic Tomato Ketchup

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This summer has produced a fabulous amount of tomatoes in my greenhouse. We have been eating fresh organic tomatoes in our salads all summer long. But about 3 weeks ago, I just couldn’t keep up with the bumper crop, so I took to slow roasting my tom’s at 50 degrees for 2 hours in the oven with garlic and olive oil, and then freezing them for sauce later on in the year. We ate tomato pasta…tomato tarts..and finally I also made two large batches of tomato ketchup, one yellow and a classic red. And they are amazing! This homemade tomato ketchup recipe is sweet, tangy and very aromatic. Adding star anise, cloves and fennel seeds makes this ketchup sit in a league of its own. Since making this delicious condiment, I’ve been looking for excuses to make all kinds of breakfast eggs, just so we can have more of this wonder sauce! And of course you can add it to veggie burgers, hot dogs and other things too. But it is best served over eggs, with …

Pumpkin Seed Pesto Pizza with Yellow Squash and Goats Cheese

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  Pumpkin Seed Pesto Pizza with Yellow Squash, Goats Cheese and Dill My garden is thriving, as the summer is at last here for definite! I’ve got various salads, including hot and peppery rocket, butter lettuce, chard, spinach..to name a few. And of course dill, which I use as a salad ingredient most days. Freshly picked, nothing beats the aromatic flavour of dill. It adds depth and contrast to this pizza, and is a match made in heaven with goats cheese. This pizza came about as Al Fresco dining was on the cards last week, as it had been a hot afternoon, and the promise of a warm evening was guaranteed! But after the decision had been made that pizza was on the menu, I realized I didn’t have my store cupboard staple – Pesto. But as I mentioned above, my rocket and spinach was doing well, so I quickly threw one together. The lack of pine nuts didn’t put me off, I just substituted them with pumpkin seeds, they do the job nicely! Here’s …

Roasted Cherry Tomato and Aubergine Bruschetta with Rocket

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  Roasted Cherry Tomato and Aubergine Bruschetta with Rocket   Its hard to beat freshly picking your own salad leaves, and rocket is at the top of the list for flavour and bite.  Last spring my good friend and ‘Bridesmaid to be’ sent me a packet of wild rocket seeds, and being a lover of variation, I sowed them beside my already thriving lettuce’s. Well, 12 months later and the rocket is still thriving, having survived the mild winter, it is looking and tasting better than ever. Add rocket to these warm and juicy bruschettas,  and you have a match made in heaven, with the sweet tomatoes,  and lovely fresh pepper punch from the rocket. I like my bruschetta oily and warm with lots of garlic, so if you are like me, dont hold back on the organic extra virgin olive oil. ________________________________________ Serves 4 as a starter or 2 for lunch   250g grape or cherry tomatoes, halved 6 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp sugar 1 tbsp oregano 2 cloves garlic, …

Pear, Leek and Veggie Sausage Stuffing

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So we have started the new year, and the festive season is over. We can all breathe easy again! I made it through the holidays in good health, and just as new year passed, I got a big old nasty cold! I think the whole country has a cold this week. So, I thought I’d share with you a recipe that I did for Kitchen Garden Magazine this month, on juicy pears. And this stuffing is perfect for enjoying under the covers on the couch, watching daytime TV, and generally feeling sorry for yourself….! When its cold outside, and you’re stuck indoors, comforting food is the way forward, especially when you have a cold! With sweet pear, and tangy leeks, it’s a delicious winter warming dish to try out. I use veggie sausages, but if you eat meat, try using free-range pork sausages. Serve as a side dish, or as a main. _____________________________________________ Pear, Leek and Veggie Sausage Stuffing Serves 4   4 free range pork sausages, or 4 vegetarian sausages, chopped 2 slices of …

Baked Courgette with Mushroom, Sage and Pumpkin Seed Stuffing

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Looking out of the window in my studio, I am a little saddened by the fact that it is already dark at 8.30. The days are getting shorter and a little colder..already? However, looking at my veg plot you wouldn’t know to look at it. My courgettes are thriving,  and with each plant producing a lovely shiny courgette a day, I am harvesting more than 10 a week. This means that courgettes are on the menu most nights, and as I’m not one for making the same dish more than once a month, I’m having to work hard to keep this productive veg interesting. A few weeks ago, I created a couple of courgette recipes for my local farm shop, as they too have a bounty of emerald green fruits, just waiting to be put into a delicious veggie recipe! Here is one of the recipes; ________________________________________________ Baked Courgette with Mushroom, Sage and Pumpkin Seed Stuffing Serves 2 as lunch or 4 as a starter. Ingredients 4 small courgettes 1 red onion 2 cloves of …

Anna Banana Breakfast Smoothy

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It has been unusually hot here in Scotland, and I’m loving every minute of it! Im soaking it all up, as I know what a rare thing it is to have consecutive hot days up here. With warmer weather comes different food cravings, and one of them the past few days has been smoothies. I’m the kind of person who likes to feel full after a meal, so the idea of having a smoothy for breakfast hasn’t always appealed. However if you add oats to the recipe, its a whole different ball game, and a filling one at that. This recipe is full of filling and tasty ingredients such as lemon curd, cashew nuts and ginger. These smoothies are best served in the garden, or on a sunny balcony, but if you are high up in a flat, throw open the windows and sit on the sill and make the most of the gift this summer has been. _______________________________________________________ Banana and Peach Smoothy serves 4 Ingredients  200ml rachels organic vanilla yoghurt 100ml lemon curd 400ml organic soya …

Weddings and Courgette Recipes…

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I have been busy editing my summer weddings. Its a very busy time of year for me, as the editing is time consuming, taking 4 times longer than the actual wedding itself. But non the less a very satisfying process of making the finished result look its very best. However thing do have to give when you are pressed for time, and I find my cooking becomes limited to quick fix hunger solutions and -snack as you go- type meals, if at all! But I thought Id share two summer vegetarian recipes I made last month for Kitchen Garden Magazine on courgettes, as my courgettes in the garden are starting to look fantastic and are ready to eat right now. Enjoy! _____________________________________________________________________________________ Summer Courgette Cake with Pistachio and Lime Courgettes grow at a rapid pace during the growing months, so be sure to harvest them whilst still young. This delicious zesty cake is a good way to use up your harvested crop. With its super tangy lime icing, its a great treat to enjoy on …

Wild Elderflower Cordial

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Elderflowers equals summer for me. I love them. They are both pretty flowers to look at, as they cluster together on branches, as well as having one of the most delicious aromas and flavours around.  They combine hardy and veracious stems with the most delicate of flowers, enabling them to thrive almost anywhere. But the lovely ivory flowers are quick to come and go, so for that reason, you have to quick to make a batch of this summer drink once you spot a ripe tree. And do remember to leave some of the flowers on the shrub, as they will ripen to glorious elderberries that are splendid to harvest later on in the year.   ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Makes about 1.5 litres 20-30 elderflower heads 2 organic lemons 2 tbsp citric acid 650 organic caster sugar 1 litre of water ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Shake the elderflowers to free any unwanted bugs, and put them in a large pot or similar container with a lid. Wash the lemons and cut them into slices, then add to the pot. Mix …