Food From Your Garden.

I aspire to be a proper gardener.  That means having a beautiful garden but it also obviously means growing an abundance of beautiful things to eat.  My Granda and Grandma's garden when I was growing up was overflowing with amazing flowers and all sorts of goodies to eat.  The peas were always my favourite but I loved everything I ate from that garden.

Several years ago (and I think somewhere around 10-15 years ago), I found a copy of a Reader's Digest book, Food From Your Garden, in a second hand bookshop near Forres and bought it for myself while dreaming of one day having a thriving garden.  I love the book and look at it often.  

My attempts at producing anything edible are pretty modest.  I do grow a few herbs and tend to be self sufficient in salad leaves for a few months of the Summer.  I also have a good supply of rhubarb after getting plants last year from Little Macaroon and I grow the odd other thing from time to time. I tried my beloved peas last year but failed by not putting netting over them from the beginning and finding the seedling got demolished by the birds (I managed about 4 pods in the end - last year's post).  This year I have the netting all ready to go on from the start but none of my fresh seeds have germinated.  Not one. I guess that's what I get for buying cheap seeds from B&Q. Lesson learned.

We have acquired two tomato plants and three courgette plants (thanks Little Macaroon) so far this year and I will be doing my salad leaves again (so good to have a constant supply for the sandwiches).  Seems a bit pathetic but I had intended to concentrate on the peas.

However, this post is about a recipe for cream of spinach soup and I have to admit to having bought the spinach in the sad supermarket plastic bags. Sorry.

Dom from Belleau Kitchen asked us to do a healthy dish for this month's Random Recipes (check out his gorgeous-looking prune and almond brownies). I got together the books I felt I would be guaranteed to pick something healthy from and they amounted to this little selection - 

Food From Your Garden, Reader's Digest

Veg Patch by Mark Diacono

Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook

Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite

I used random.org which chose Food From Your Garden and I used it again to get a page number which led me to the spinach section. Excellent - I think I could do with topping up my iron levels.  

The recipe is very straightforward, quick and easy (yes, I did choose the easiest recipe on the page and I make no apologies for that).

Basically, saute some diced onion and carrot in some butter, add plenty of spinach.  Add some stock and parsley (aha - this DID come from my garden), a bouquet garni, some nutmeg and seasoning and simmer for half an hour then blitz.  Add the cream and heat through.

It recommended serving with croutons which are sprinkled with nutmeg - genius.  

What a wonderful soup.  I think the simplest and least fussy recipes are the best and I love how this is so healthy but tastes indulgent.  Maybe not quite as indulgent as Dom's brownies but I will be trying those very soon.  In fact, I reckon they would go with this recipe for a soup-and-pudding day.

I'm wondering about growing spinach next year.  It would do as one of my salad leaves for sandwiches and any leaves that I didn't get round to eating while young and tender would go to make this excellent soup.  In fact, I may decide to grow some this year instead of my peas.

Cauliflower Cheese Soup.

The cold weather needs hot, comforting soup, doesn't it?

Well, this month I got Jamie's Ministry Of Food out of the library.  I seem to have missed the whole TV series and campaign.  I quite like the book - lots of different variations on easy dishes. As you will see below, the recipes are very clear and suitable for complete beginners so this would be a great book for a student leaving home for the first time or other beginner. 

So, cauliflower cheese soup - yum.

Recipe - 

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients - 

2 carrots

2 sticks of celery

2 medium onions

2 cloves garlic

800g cauliflower

olive oil

200g cheddar cheese

2 veg stock cubes

salt and pepper

1 tsp English mustard

Nutmeg

Method - 

1. Peel and roughly slice the carrots.

2. Slice the celery.

3. Peel and roughly chop the onions.

4. Cut cauliflower into 1.5cm slices.

5. Put a large pan on a medium heat and add 2tbsp olive oil.

6. Add all your chopped and sliced ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon.

7. Cook for around 10 mins with the lid askew, until the carrots have softened but are still holding their shape, and the onion is lightly golden.

8. Grate the cheddar into a bowl and put aside.

9. Put the stock cubes into a jug and pour in 1.8L of boiling water.  Stir until the stock cubes are dissolved, then add to the vegetables.

10. Give the soup a good stir then bring to the boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 mins with the lid on.

11. Remove the pan from the heat.  Season with salt and pepper and add the cheese and mustard.  Using a hand blender or liquidiser, pulse the soup until silky smooth.

12. Divide between your serving bowls and grate over some nutmeg.

13. Lovely topped with crispy bacon.

Roasted Squash, Chickpea and Chorizo Soup.

One more recipe from the pumpkin and squash book before it goes back to the library.  Had to go with this soup as I cannot resist chorizo.  Lovely soup - very filling and tasty.  Kids loved it and I am happy when they eat up all their lunch especially if it is packed full of veg like this soup is and plenty of protein too.

Recipe - 

Serves 4-5.

Ingredients - 

450g squash, peeled, deseeded and diced (I used one butternut squash)

5 tbsp olive oil

1-2 pinches dried chilli flakes

1 large onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

2 celery sticks, sliced

180g chorizo (cooking), peeled and diced

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

small bunch of flat leaf parsley, stalks and leaves separated, both chopped

1 tsp each crushed cumin and coriander seeds

2tbsp chopped oregano or 1.5tsp dried

1 x 200g tin chopped tomatoes

1 x 400g tin chickpeas

1.2L vegetable stock

freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste

salt and pepper

Method - 

1. Preheat the oven to 190C, 375F, gas mark 5.

2. Put the squash on a baking tray and toss with 2tbsp of oil.  Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle over the chilli flakes.

3. Roast in the preheated oven, stirring once or twice, until tender and browned, about 35-40 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan and add the onion with a pinch of salt.  Turn the heat to low, cover and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes until tender.

5. Add the carrots, celery and chorizo and cook, uncovered, for a further 5-7 minutes until beginning to brown.

6. Add the fresh chilli, garlic, chopped parsley stalks and crushed spices.  Stir-fry for another 4-5 minutes.  

7. Add the oregano, tomatoes, chickpeas and stock and bring to the boil.

8. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 10-12 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

9. Stir in the roasted squash.

10. Liquidise about half the soup to give a coarse puree then return it to the saucepan and reheat.

11. Check the seasoning, adding more salt and/or lemon juice to taste.

12.  Finally, stir in the chopped parsley leaves and serve piping hot.