Time to RAK
Spring is here and summer is just around the corner. I took to the earth with a spade while the ground was still soft, before the summer sun baked it as dry as a rock. And got some vegetables in. The rewards will be there over the coming weeks and months. My house will arrive, sometime. The other half of the Vegepod will arrive, one day. Those of us who can, will gather together for festive celebrations over the next month or two. 2022 will arrive.
Let’s get there intact, taking care of one another as we do, putting aside grizzling, outright stupidity and meaness, and appreciate what an amazing country we live in. Let people be, have their opinions, and get on with it. Dig a garden and sweat it out. Grow some stuff. Give stuff away. Smile more, because you can see it in your eyes above your mask, and get back to doing RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness). Yep. That’s what we need.
STRAWBERRIES!
Strawberries in this country are at their best midway through Spring. That’s now! Although we love them for the festive table, and growers try and deliver quality berries for Christmas, the quality quickly declines after 25th December, along with peak demand.
There is a lot to consider when buying strawberries. How to pick the best punnet? How to stop them from rotting? How do you ‘zhuzh’ up a bowl of tasteless berries? And much more. Read about them here STRAWBERRIES
One last thing … when should you go off on an expedition to pick your own? Not after lots of rain – the berries bloat up with the water and become tasteless and are more inclined to rot. Wait for a good dry day, then off you go and fill your basket.
CHOCOLATE CREPES WITH STRAWBERRIES
Here’s an idea from our Shared Kitchen cookbook. Strawberries. Yum. Chocolate. Mmmm. The two together? Spectacular, as you probably already know. Make a bunch of chocolate crêpes – you can whiz the batter in a food processor – and fill with thick Greek yoghurt or lightly whipped cream and sliced strawberries. Heavenly.
CHOCOLATE CREPES WITH STRAWBERRIES
QUESADILLA WITH BLACK BEAN & TANGELO SALAD
Whoop! Whoop! Perfect outdoor eating. Messy and finger-licking and sooooo good. Quesadillas also make a perfect home for leftovers, and you can hide goodness inside, too, like loads of spinach (the kids will never know). Make them as hot, or not, as you like but be sure to include plenty of sauce. I like a colourful salad on the side. It makes for a surprisingly satisfying meal.
QUESADILLA WITH BLACK BEAN &Y TANGELO SALAD
Black Bean & Tangelo Salad
Colourful, juicy and refreshing, just the thing to contrast with spicy quesadillas. Although tomatoes will give off some liquid, leftovers (should there be any) are pretty good. Also good with barbecued chicken, lamb and fish.
LAMB CUTLETS WITH BAKED FETA
If you see dollar signs $$$ when you look at this dish, you are not wrong. BUT you can make the meat go further by adding extra cheaper protein such as feta and pine nuts. Yep, it’s a good trick. I’d serve it for a special meal rather than a mid-week quickie. It’s a beautifully balanced dish, though the key is to not overcook the cutlets.
TANGELOS HAVE ARRIVED!
My favourite citrus is back in season. I’m doing a little jig!!! Super juicy, and bracingly sharp – some are so arrestingly acidic your mouth is only salved by their inherent sweetness – I reckon they have all the best points of their mum and dad. What? What am I talking about? From whence did they come? It’s a convoluted journey … read all about it here.
My pick of tangelo varieties is the Minneola, a large fruit with a scented slightly pock-marked deep orange skin with an elongated neck some refer to as a nipple (well, the navel orange has its tummy button!). The fruit is sweet and juicy, sharp and fresh, and the skin easily removed by breaking the bump at the top.
Dig This
I did! It’s been one of those years, we have all had them. No housette yet. No garden. No Vegepod yet. Wait! No garden? Well, I changed that as soon as we (Aucklanders) were allowed to go to a garden centre, and weeded and dug, and humped bags of this and that and some offcuts of railway ‘sleepers’ left over from the steps up to the chosen spot, and put in a temporary garden. The feeling of satisfaction was immense and seeing happy bean plants now reaching for the sky makes me smile; I know it is only a matter of weeks before I will have beans on my table. I hate going to the gym (never do it) but I can happily work hours in the garden, so I’ll be reducing that spare Covid tyre over time. Good result all round. (yes, ROUND, as in my waist!).
There’s more to do …
Weeds out. Veg in. A white eggplant is making friends with black crim tomatoes and beefsteak tomatoes. And beans, skinny green and butter beans have taken off.
The rest of the garden needs finishing as you can see, then in will go chillies and peppers. Or perhaps I will move the tomatoes and eggplants I currently have growing in pots … we’ll see! I love it all – the planning, the work, the nurturing, the harvesting … hope you’ve given it a go! Get into your garden!
