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

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

Here’s a bicycle 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

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

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