Thursday, July 31, 2008

The True Cost of Food-Tonight

Just a reminder:

A kilogram of beef contains between 15,000 and 100,000 litres of embodied water. For every kilogram of wheat grown in Australia, seven kilograms of topsoil are lost. We give lip service to concerns about peak oil and greenhouse gases, yet our agricultural industry is utterly dependent on unsustainable quantities of polluting petrochemicals.

There’s no reason why this insanity can’t be quickly and effortlessly changed to a geoist system of economics which inherently recognises the true value of natural resources. The major obstacle to change actually lies with the peddlers of our current neoclassical economics. You can side with these peddlers and relax, ignore the food riots, have a beer and flick on the TV, or you can come and be prepared in the knowledge that will help in the transition away from the consequences of our dietary choices.

Speaker: Karl Williams (a.k.a. Mr. Ed)
Time: 7 pm, Friday August 1st
Venue: EarthSharing Australia, 1st Floor, 27 Hardware Lane, Melbourne

All welcome, light supper provided, gold coin donation,RSVP appreciated to Karl Fitzgerald or via 9670-2754

Monday, July 28, 2008

Have you exchanged your shower head yet?

Find out more about it here

K is for Kale


pic from here

We had friends over for lunch on saturday and one bought a big bag of home grown vegetables including some rather wonderful kale. I put some in a veggie thai green curry with tofu but cooked the rest last night with some home grown spring onions, parsley, chilli, brocolini and parmesan and added some pasta-delish!

Here's some recipes I've found:

North African Chickpea and Kale Soup




1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced or diced
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8-1/4 teaspoon chilli powder or cayenne
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
generous pinch saffron, lightly crushed
2 bay leaves
1 3-inch cinnamon stick
3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed)
8 cups vegetable broth (or water plus bouillon)
1 large bunch kale, thick center ribs removed and chopped (at least 8 cups)
about 2 cups water
salt to taste

Spray a large saucepan with olive oil spray and heat it. Add the onion and carrot and cook over medium-high heat until the onion begins to brown (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the spices, including bay leaves and cinnamon stick, and cook, stirring, for another minute. Add the chickpeas and stir to coat them with the spices. Pour in the 8 cups of vegetable stock, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the chopped kale and stir. If necessary add water to cover the kale and cook until it is tender, about 10-25 minutes, depending on how cooked you like your kale. Check frequently to see if it is becoming dry and add water as needed. Add salt to taste and serve.


Winter Vegetable Hash

  • 45 ml olive oil
  • 30 g butter
  • 455 g Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
  • 225 g fresh shiitake mushrooms, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 small acorn squash, diced
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 6 g garlic powder
  • 1 g salt
  • 1 g ground black pepper
  • 65 g chopped kale
  • 4 sprigs fresh sage

DIRECTIONS

  1. Place oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Melt butter and mix in potatoes, mushrooms, pepper, squash, and shallot. Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cook 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender.
  2. Mix kale and sage into skillet. Continue cooking 5 minutes, until kale is wilted. Serve and enjoy!

Kale and Roquefort Parcels

I'm a sucker for pastry so will be trying these for sure!


Ingredients

250g shortcrust pastry
200g kale (or Swiss chard or winter spinach)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
¼ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
100g blue cheese, e.g. Roquefort or Stilton
Handful pine nuts
Salt & pepper to taste

Method

  1. 1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C.

  2. Heat a large frying pan with no oil and toast the pine nuts for 2 minutes, stirring often, until lightly browned. Remove from the heat and set on one side.

  3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and gently sauté the onion with the garlic for 10 minutes until it is soft.

  4. Wash the kale well and dry thoroughly. Shred it finely. Add the kale to the pan and sauté with the lid on for 5 minutes, until the kale is wilted. Then remove the lid and continue to cook until most of the moisture has evaporated.

  5. Roughly chop the pine nuts and mix in with the kale. Add the nutmeg, salt and pepper and stir well.

  6. Roll out the pastry to about ½ cm thick. Use a saucer and a knife to cut 4 circles, to make the pasties.

  7. Put 2-3 tablespoons of filling into the middle of each pasty. Crumble the blue on top of the filling.

  8. Brush the edges of each circle with a little milk or beaten egg, then seal together to make a pasty shape. Brush the top of the pasty with milk or egg.

  9. Put on a greased baking tray and bake for about 40 minutes, until the pastry is golden and crispy.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Are you gardening with concrete? Weekly container gardening spotlight

Today's spotlight is from one of my favourite websites, Instructables
It's a brilliant resource for DIY with instructions on how to do all sorts to things posted by everyday people on pretty much everything!

Noodles Box garden:

I like this idea, besides the handles, the box could be planted with seedlings and buried to break down...

This inverted planer is awesome and makes me long for summer and cherry tomatoes:

This is also a great use for CD Packaging


I'm planning on doing some gardening myself this weekend. I'll post some pics next week :-)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Media Green Awards coming up

Could be a good opportunity to promote the cause of Green Renting...

The NEWS.com.au Green Awards recognise and celebrate the determination of Australians to tackle the challenges facing our environment. They recognise innovations and solutions that can be easily adopted to help reduce our impact on the planet.

It's also a good chance to nominate some people or corporations in the 'Can do better' category-gosh so many to choose from....

To find out more go here

Monday, July 21, 2008

C is for Cauliflower

Well winter veggies are certainly overrepresented in the beginning of the alphabet! But from tomorrow we take a significant leap down the list...

But for today:

I like cauliflower (not as much a broccoli though), we are even growing some in the garden. When all the 'low carb' eating was the rage, I used to see a lot of recipes that substituted cauli for mashed potato. But I was never fooled.

Cauiliflower and Potato Pie
  • 1 cauliflower, separated into florets
  • 11/2 cups mashed potato or 3-4 cooked potatoes
  • 3 tablespoons cream or sour cream
  • Freshly grated nutmeg
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan or other hard cheese (our hard tomme cheese is fine)


Preheat oven to 180degrees Celsius. Steam cauliflower. Drain very well. Process for 30 seconds in a food processor or chop by hand. Mix cauliflower with potato (crush the cooked potatoes, if using). Add cream and seasonings. Use half the oil to grease an ovenproof pie plate or gratin dish, then drizzle with remaining oil and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.


Cauliflower Poppers



1 large head of cauliflower
juice of 1 lemon
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried dill
fresh black pepper
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Directions:

These are soooo good - sometimes when I want a light dinner I'll just make a batch and eat it all myself, easily as good as French fries!

Preheat the oven to 400, and separate the cauliflower into bite-sized florets.

Whisk together the remaining ingredients and toss with the cauliflower, then bake for 40 minutes, stirring once about halfway through the cooking time.

They're ready when they get nicely browned and they're tender but not mushy -- I like to leave mine in until they get chewy blackened parts, but that's just me. ^^

Serves: 4-5

Preparation time: 10 minutes plus 40 to bake

Fresh Pappardelle With Cauliflower and Zucchini

Pappardelle With Cauliflower and Zucchini

Serves 3-4

  • 2 heads garlic (if roasting, or 1-2 minced cloves if just sauteeing)
  • 4 T. butter
  • 1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 1-2 medium zucchini, cut into 4 lengthwise strips and then sliced 1/2 thick
  • pinch of tarragon
  • 1 lb fresh pappardelle noodles
  • black pepper
  • salt
  • pecorino romano, cut thin with a vegetable peeler
  1. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Put your serving bowls somewhere to warm.
  2. If you want to roast the garlic, trim the upper 1/4" off of each head, rub them with some olive oil, wrap in tin foil and place in the toaster oven (or regular oven) at 400 F for about 40 minutes, until easily pierced with a fork. If you don't have that kind of time, skip it and just add a minced clove or two to the saute.
  3. In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, melt 3 T of the butter. Add the cauliflower, and stir. Add a couple tablespoons of water and cover for a couple of minutes, until just starting to become tender. Squeeze in the cloves of roasted garlic, taking care not to add the skins. Add the tarragon and 1 t. of salt. Add the zucchini and stir occasionally. Check the seasoning.
  4. When the vegetables are 3 minutes from done (probably just after you add the zucchini) turn them down to the low heat and drop the noodles in the boiling water.
  5. When the noodles are al dente (about 3 minutes for fresh pasta), drain them and toss with the remaining 1 T. of butter.
  6. Divide the noodles among heated bowls, top with 1/4 of the vegetable saute, several nice shavings of pecorino and freshly ground pepper.

Forum on housing affordability and other isues: TONIGHT

Future Of The City OB With The Architects

Tuesday 22nd July @ Beer Deluxe at Fed Square, Melbourne

Triple R's The Architects present The Future Of The City, a live broadcast discussion forum looking at the opportunities and challenges facing Melbourne.

Stuart Harrison and Simon Knott will explore how we can act on the pressing issues of urban density, sustainability, housing affordability and public transport in order to shape the future of Melbourne.

Featuring an expert panel including Associate State Government Architect, Shelley Penn, and Director of RMIT's Globalism Institute, Paul James.

The Future Of The City – a Triple R live broadcast with The Architects for the State of Design Festival. Tuesday the 22nd of July @ 7.00pm outside Beer Deluxe in the atrium at Federation Square.

This broadcast is proudly sponsored by Electrolight – www.electrolight.com.au - lighting designers who are passionate about light and lighting

For more information on the State Of Design Festival, visit www.stateofdesign.com.au

The True Cost of Food



A kilogram of beef contains between 15,000 and 100,000 litres of embodied water. For every kilogram of wheat grown in Australia, seven kilograms of topsoil are lost. We give lip service to concerns about peak oil and greenhouse gases, yet our agricultural industry is utterly dependent on unsustainable quantities of polluting petrochemicals.

"There’s no reason why this insanity can’t be quickly and effortlessly changed to a geoist system of economics which inherently recognises the true value of natural resources. The major obstacle to change actually lies with the peddlers of our current neoclassical economics. You can side with these peddlers and relax, ignore the food riots, have a beer and flick on the TV, or you can come and be prepared in the knowledge that will help in the transition away from the consequences of our dietary choices".

Speaker: Karl Williams (a.k.a. Mr. Ed)
Time: 7 pm, Friday August 1st
Venue: EarthSharing Australia, 1st Floor, 27 Hardware Lane, Melbourne

All welcome, light supper provided, gold coin donation,RSVP appreciated to Karl Fitzgerald or via 9670-2754

Friday, July 18, 2008

Got Kids?

Do they need convincing as to the lack of merit in Plastic Bags?

Try this...

www.greengorilla.com

Exchanging Urban Produce

All of you out there who grow your own produce and have an excess, get involved in a local exchange scheme...

www.homegrowers.ning.com
www.ceres.org.au/farm/urbanorchard

Lost of useful resources!

A whole load of useful resources for Green Renters everywhere...

www.environment.gov.au/settlements/local/publications/index.html

Courtesy of the Government, gawd bless them!

Palm Oil

A slightly difficult and mysterious issue to fully expand and explain, but the mass production of Palm Oil causes untold havoc all around the world, form the levelling of rain forests, the suppression of local farmers by multinationals, the killing of wildlife and much more...

Added to that, it's not a legal requirement in Australia to state whether Palm oil is included in food products and is normally listed as 'Vegetable Oil'. Issues like this affect all of us, as it's quite easy to do something about them, boycotting certain foods and letter writing to members of parliament and food companies all help...

So, get going renters everywhere!

There are a lot of resources out there, but here's a good Australian one.

www.palmoilaction.org.au

Eat Green Design

Not much time left to see it, but if you're in Melbourne take a look at the following exhibit / restaurant / space that aims to encourage thoughts and explorations of sustainable living.

www.eatgreendesign.com

Food Gardeners Alliance

I came across a local campaign attempting to lobby the Victorian Parliament to recognise that relaxing the current water restrictions on vegetable gardens will, in the long run, help the environmental problem, not hinder it.

The organisers behind the campaign share a similar ethos to our good selves, so take a look!

www.fga.org.au

Thursday, July 17, 2008

C is for carrots





I've never been much of a fan of raw carrots I must confess. Carrot juice even less so. But baked carrots are definitely the bomb!


Baked Carrots
Ingredients :

4 cups of carrots, sliced.
½ cup of water.
6 tablespoons of butter.
2 tablespoons of sugar.
1 teaspoon of nutmeg.
1 teaspoon of salt.

Instructions:

In a casserole dish, mix the sugar, nutmeg and salt with water.

Add the carrots and dab them with butter.

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes.

Allow to rest for 3-4 minutes.

Serve.


Carrot soup



Ingredients (serves 4)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 leek, halved lengthways, thinly sliced
  • 6 carrots, peeled, chopped
  • 4cm piece ginger, peeled, grated
  • 2 cups salt-reduced vegetable stock
  • 2 cups water
  • light sour cream, dill, and toast, to serve

Method

  1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leek, carrots and ginger. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, or until vegetables start to soften.
  2. Add stock and water to saucepan. Cover. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, or until carrots are very tender.
  3. Remove from heat. Set aside to cool slightly. Process or blend soup until smooth. Return to saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until hot. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with sour cream and dill. Serve with toast.

Super Food Ideas - April 2004 , Page 30

Recipe by Alison Roberts


Vegan Carrot Cake


Ingredients

- 200 g grated carrots
- 200 g whole grain flour
- 100 g brown sugar
- 1 handful of walnuts or hazelnuts
- 2 tablespoons of raisins
- 1 tablespoons of baking soda
- 1 tablespoon of baking powder
- nutmeg
- ground cinnamon
- Juice of 1 orange
- 1/4 cup of mild olive oil
- salt
Instructions:

1. Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon. Add a pinch of every spice listed and a bit of salt.

2. Add the liquid ingredients and mix until homogeneous.

3. Place it on a baking tray covered with margarine or baking paper

4. Bake at 170 ºC for 45 minutes.

5. Decorate with chocolate shavings or powdered sugar. Let it cool down before you slice it.


NB-I've had several bunnies living with me over the years and the whole carrot thing is a bit of a myth. Buns shouldn't be fed carrots except as an occasional treat, they are far too high in sugar. My buns favourite veggies were parsley, celery and asian greens.


Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Do you like chocolate?

The Chocolate Ride - Saturday 9th of August
******************************
************************
11am (for 11:15 start)
All Nations Park, Dennis St Northcote, (Mel 30 G7)

Indulge your love of cycling and your love of Chocolate with a ride that
takes all the Chocolate Cafés between Northcote and the City.
This will be a ride at social pace via quiet back streets and off road
paths that takes in Coco Loco (High St Northcote), San Churro (Brunswick
St Fitzroy), Coco Black (Lygon St Carlton), Frau´s (Victoria St North
Melbourne) and Max Brenner (Melbourne Central CBD).

It will be a decadent day that would make Augustus Gloop proud.
And for the truly gluttonous there´s always the option finish up at the
Chocolate Rush Festival at Abbotsford Convent
http://www.chocolaterush.com.au/ (but that costs money to get in.)

organiser: bikenerd

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Are you gardening with concrete? Weekly container gardening spotlight!

Some of my favourites:

Sick of waiting for hard rubbish to throw out those broken drawers? Here's an idea:





I've always loved these big olive oil tins as pot plants.
You can often find empty ones at the back of restaurants.

And these boots are just cool:

Winter Cooking is fun!



So much colour and vibrancy!

Help the environment and live longer!

Whoo!

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/vegetarians-live-longer.php

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Real Food Film Nights #3

Lost in Palm Oil
Wednesday 9th July, 6.30pm
Loop Bar, 23 Myers Place, Melbourne

The feature documentary ‘Lost in Palm Oil’ (63 min) investigates the negative impacts that oil palm plantations have on forests, climate change, water pollution, biodiversity, with a focus on Indigenous communities in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. How does this relate to food? Palm oil shows us that food issues, forests, people, culture and animals are interconnected. Palm Oil is used in 1 in 10 supermarket products, yet there no requirement for it to be labelled.


Guest speaker Jessica McKelson from the Melbourne Zoo Orangutan Sanctuary will present an uplifting slide show of her recent trip to Nyaru Menteng Gunung Leseur National Park in Indonesia where she saw the impacts of Palm Oil on the Orangutan population first hand. The wild organutan population is heading towards extinction, but the rescues and release work witnessed by Jess gives us hope that there is a future for them.

The film nights so far have been awesome! I strongly recommend this one. To find out more check out FOE

C is for Cabbage!




I live in fear of residing in one of those rental properties that smell like boiled cabbage. I also hate storemade coleslaw. But I love the frilliness of cabbage:

Click here for more arty cabbage picks

When searching for saucy cabbage picks I came across the infamous Cabbage Soup Diet-you all know that's a piece of poo, right?

 VEGETARIAN CABBAGE ROLLS
(no picture but they sound yum!)
Ingredients:
2 Cabbage heads

FILING:
  • 3/4 c Barley
  • 3/4 c Bulgur
  • 6 c Water -- salted if desired
  • 1 c Rice
  • 1 lg Onions
  • 1 tb Paprika
  • 1/2 ts Chili powder
  • 4 Garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1/2 c Pine nuts
  • 10 1/2 oz Tofu, firm
  • 1/2 bn Parsley -- chopped
  • 6 tb Sauce, soy
  • 4 tb Molasses
  • 2 tb Oil, sesame

  • -----SAUCE, PER BATCH-----

  • 2 c Prego
  • 1/4 ts Sea salt
  • 1/4 ts Onion powder
  • 1/8 ts Garlic powder
  • 1/8 ts Chili powder
  • 1 tb Sugar, brown
  • 1 1/2 tb Vinegar, wine

  • -----SAUCE, REMAINING BATCHES-----
  • 6 c Prego
  • 3/4 ts Sea salt
  • 3/4 ts Onion powder
  • 3/8 ts Garlic powder
  • 3/8 ts Chili powder
  • 3 tb Sugar, brown
  • 4 1/2 tb Vinegar, wine
 
Filling: Precook grains in water until done. Crush tofu. Saute
remaining ingredients in oil until cooked and add cooked grains.

Sauce: Season tomato sauce with remaining ingredients.

Cabbage: Core cabbage and cook in boiling water for several minutes.
Pull leaves away as they soften. Cut out hard core of leaf. Cut
largest leaves in half.

Preheat oven to 300. Oil 9"x13″ casserole. Place enough tomato
sauce to cover bottom. Fill cabbage leaves with cooked filling and
wrap, tucking sides and ends in to form neat rolls. Place rolls
snugly in casserole against each other. Spoon remaining sauce over.
Cover tightly and bake 2 hours. Leave in oven until serving time.


Colcannon
This stuff is seriously good, I had it at some dodgy Irish pub in London
and loved it!


Ingredients (serves 6)

  • 900g sebago (brushed) potatoes, peeled, coarsely chopped
  • 50g butter
  • 300g savoy cabbage, hard core removed, shredded
  • 60ml (1/4 cup) milk
  • 60ml (1/4 cup) pouring cream
  • White pepper

Method

  1. Place potato in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat, and cook for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and return to the pan. Use a potato masher to mash until smooth. Transfer to a large heatproof bowl.
  2. Melt half the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the cabbage and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes or until the cabbage softens.
  3. Add the mashed potato and remaining butter to the pan and stir to combine. Gradually add the milk and cream, and stir to combine. Season with salt and white pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

B is for Brussel Sprouts!

Like many children, I was bought up to hate Brussel Sprouts. Mum never cooked them and I never had anything to do at them at all, except when I admired their appearance ( a bit like mini-cabbages) at the supermarket.

Until I started today's research, I knew they looked like this:
But I never really had given any though to how they grew which is apparently like this:



(Thanks to this site). Amazing stuff! How cool do they look, talk about ornamental gardening! You can even plant some now! Yes, I'm getting excited about Brussel Sprouts! And to prove it, here's some yummy recipes...

Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts Recipe



This is the only way to eat brussels sprouts: cut in half and cooked until deliciously tender inside and perfectly brown and crusted on the outside.

Use brussels sprouts that are on the small size and tightly closed. You can finish these with many different types of cheese but I tend to go for Parmesan when the weather is good. I trade that in for heavier cheeses like gruyere or Gouda in colder weather. I finished them off with some toasted hazelnuts the other night - delicious!

24 small brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing
fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated cheese of your choice

Wash the brussels sprouts well. Trim the stem ends and remove any raggy outer leaves. Cut in half from stem to top and gently rub each half with olive oil, keeping it intact (or if you are lazy just toss them in a bowl with a glug of olive oil).

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your largest skillet over medium heat. Don’t overheat the skillet, or the outsides of the brussels sprouts will cook too quickly. Place the brussels sprouts in the pan flat side down (single-layer), sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, cover, and cook for roughly 5 minutes; the bottoms of the sprouts should only show a hint of browning. Cut into or taste one of the sprouts to gauge whether they’re tender throughout. If not, cover and cook for a few more minutes.

Once just tender, uncover, turn up the heat, and cook until the flat sides are deep brown and caramelized. Use a metal spatula to toss them once or twice to get some browning on the rounded side. Season with more salt, a few grinds of pepper, and a dusting of grated cheese. While you might be able to get away with keeping a platter of these warm in the oven for a few minutes, they are exponentially tastier if popped in your mouth immediately.

Serves 4.

The recipe is from 101cookbooks.com

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Are you gardening with concrete? Weekly container gardening spotlight!

Here's few ideas to inspire:


The car is protesting about car parking, “More parks less parking” can be found written on the car. You can find out how to make your car garden here

The only good use for a coke bottle....



A good way to use the empty delapidated kitchen bins that always seem to be lying around in hard waste

bicycle container garden


Here’s a bicycle container garden.

chair container garden

And here’s your kitchen chair in the garden. Just cut out the seat and add a planter.

B is for Broccoli


I'm definite in saying that broccoli is my favourite vegetable in the world-steamed, with butter, in a soup...all awesome! We're growing some at home and whilst it doesn't look quite like this yet, I have high hopes...

Broccoli and Tahini Soup


Broccoli and Tahini Soup

For the soup:

  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • florets (about 250-300g, 9-10 oz) from 1 head of broccoli, chopped
  • vegetable stock
  • 2 Tbsp tahini
  • black pepper to taste

For the gremolata:

  • leaves from 1 head of broccoli
  • an equal volume of flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • salt to taste

For the croutons:

  • 12 thin slices (1/4 cm, 1/2 inch) from the interestingly-shaped part of the broccoli stem (see photo)
  • olive oil
  • salt and black pepper

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, and saute the onion for about 7 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and chopped broccoli florets and stir briefly to let the garlic release its flavour into the oil. Pour over hot vegetable stock to cover, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes until the broccoli has softened (the amount of time it takes will depend on how much stalk you left on the florets).

2. (Optional) While the soup is simmering, make the gremolata: chop the broccoli leaves together with the parsley until very finely-minced. You should end up with 2-3 Tbsp of the minced mixture. Stir in the lemon juice and olive oil, and season well with salt. Set aside for the flavours to infuse.

3. When the soup has finished simmering, stir in the tahini, season with black pepper, and puree in the blender. Return to pan and keep warm.

4. (Optional) Make the croutons just before you're ready to serve. Heat a generous layer of olive oil in a small frying pan, until very hot. Season the broccoli slices with salt and freshly-ground black pepper and then fry them in the hot oil, turning once (I use chopsticks to do this), until lightly (or darkly!) browned, according to taste. The ones in the photo are done to my taste, which is well-browned. Drain them briefly on kitchen paper after taking them out of the oil.

5. To assemble the soup, pour it into four warmed bowls, balance the croutons on top, and drizzle over a little of the gremolata. Serve at once, with the rest of the gremolata in a small saucer for people to add as required, or dip their bread into.'

From Kake's Vegan Cookery Site


Vegan Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients

  • 1 med Potato -- peeled and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • Couple of bundles of broccoli chopped
  • 4 oz Tofu, firm -- crumbled
  • 1/2 md Carrot -- scraped and
  • 1/2 c Nutritional yeast flakes
  • 1 tb brown Rice, brown, instant
  • 1/2 med Onion -- peeled and
  • 10 oz Mushrooms sliced
  • 1 cup water

Instructions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, bring potato, carrot, onion, 1 cup water and salt to a boil over medium high heat. Lower heat to medium, cover and simmer until potato and carrot are tender, about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, thaw frozen broccoli in a colander under hot running water, then set aside and drain well.

3.When potato mixture has finished simmering, pour into a blender and add tofu, yeast, lemon juice and garlic.

3.Blend until very smooth and creamy. Pour into a shallow, greased 1 1/2- to 2-quart casserole.

4. Add broccoli, rice, mushrooms and 3/4 cup water. Stir well and smooth top of casserole.

5.Bake for 40 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Serves 4

from Big Oven

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

B is for Bok Choy


Bok Choy is perhaps one of the easiest veggies to grow (at least at our place). It's a staple in many Asian dishes (often with ginger and garlic) but there's also other ways of using it that you may not have thought of:

Baby Bok Choy Stuffed with Bread Crumbs and Cheese

Ingredients :

1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
2 tbl Olive oil, divided
6 x Baby bok choy –
1/4 cup Ricotta cheese
2 oz Feta cheese
1 tsp Finely chopped lemon peel

Method :

  1. Place the bread crumbs on a plate and toss with 1 tablespoon of oil.
  2. Microwave on high( 100 percent power) for 2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute, or until toasted.
  3. Rinse the bok choy; set aside the four largest, and finely chop the remaining two. In a small bowl, with a fork mix together the ricotta cheese, lemon peel, remaining 1 tablespoon oil, chopped bok choy and bread crumbs.
  4. Gently spread apart the leaves of each whole bok choy and fill with the cheese mixture. Place in single layer in a dish, cover, and microwave on high for 4 minutes, or until wilted and slightly soft. Serve right away or at room temperature.
recipe from FoodDownunder.com


Click here to find out more!