Recipes | Vegetarian Food Directory

The same neighbour that gave us some cherries a little while back, knocked on our door and handed us over a bag of the reddest apples I have ever seen in my life.  He is growing them for home brewing -  cider production.  They are good eaters and I have been taking some into work to munch on, but I will do some baking with them too.     We repayed the compliment, this time not with plums but with a mixed bag of tomatoes.  The tomatoes have certainly been rewarding us this year.  As well as tomatoes, I harvested the last of the runner beans and purple beans.   Sadly I don't think I will be getting any Rainbow Swiss chard from the garden, but I did get a handful of black Tuscan kale.   Some Cherry tomatoes had fallen to the ground in the greenhouse, D brought them in and placed them in the windowsill to ripen.  And finally these are the last of the plums.   Here is a Cinnamon Plum and Almond Galette that I made. ...

I mentioned in my last Harvest Monday blog post that the weather in the UK is glorious.  It truly has been weather of Mediterranean climes, but some of the plants have not appreciated it.   First my lovely red roses are scorched and dry from the blazing heat, and those rose that were still clinging on are now fallen petals. The strawberries started off very well and looked promising, but have stopped fruiting - unless of course the birds have got to them all.  Last year the strawberry plants yielded lots, this year maybe enough to fill four small punnets.   A small bowl of homegrown strawberries that was made into Strawberry Crisp Crumble. A good harvest of wild strawberries.   Some raspberries growing in the garden, but like the strawberries I don't think its going to be as good as previous years harvests.  A handful of raspberries.   I have also harvested some rhubarb (not pictured) which was promptly transformed into a cr...

Since my last Harvest Monday blog post, the red from the roses and the strawberries has faded replaced with shades of orange from nasturtiums and greens, mostly from courgette. But before I share with you my hefty green harvest, let me introduce you to Selwyn and Carys - (traditional Welsh names), my new scarecrows gifted to me by The  Waltons .  Selwyns hovering above the courgettes and marrow plants.   And Carys watched over the higgledly piggeldy brassicas ,   I was pleased to see some patty pans growing, I have never grown them before so am pretty excited.  I had run out of room on the plot and gave some of the extra plants to my neighbours who is growing hers in pots.   I  harvested a whole trug of misshapen courgettes, some in the shape of gourds, some truncheon and some round.    Tucked under the courgettes and marrows are some peas.  Oh and if you look closely, there is my first purple climbing bean. A few...

I have been harvesting mostly courgettes aka Zucchini since my last Harvest Monday blog post ,   b ut I am pleased that they are all different in shapes, size and even colour  - makes for more variety and interesting eats.   Nestling in the trug are  Courgette   Gold Rush F1 ;  Courgette  Tristar   and  Courgette Squash Striato di Napoli   which  think is more marrow than squash; and  Courgette Tondo di Piacenza .  I am also growing some patty pans and hope to share them with you next week.  Recipes made this month with courgettes aka zucchini Roasted Courgette Layered 'Lasagne' Courgette Zucchini, Apricot and Pistachio Bread  Oven Baked Lemon Zucchini and New Potato Salad Zucchini Chocolate Brownies Zucchini Broad Beans and Peas Soup Australian Zucchini Slice Zucchini Frittata is made with   Courgette Tondo di Piacenza I also harvested a good handful of  French Beans  Climbing Purp...

Its nearly the end of August and the garden is producing fruit and vegetables at a pace that I cannot keep up with, still I am pleased with myself that this year compared to the past four years that I have done well. This is the first year that this garden has fed us well.   Here are just a handful of fruit and vegetables picked this week.  It includes  French Bean  Climbing Purple Cascade, Plums,  Courgette Squash Striato di Napoli ,  Sunburst Squash patty pans and some nasturtium flowers which have been adorning many a meal lately.   Early in the week, I had also picked some nasturtium seeds and made Pickled Nasturtium Seed Pods that will be used in place of capers; and nasturtium leaves for nasturtium pesto for a potato salad.   We finally have some sunflowers, they really do cheer up a garden.  I picked up a mixed bag of sunflower seeds, so its a variety  from dwarf sunflowers to Russian Sunflower which has yet to open its ...

The weather forecasters got it right this weekend in the UK. Saturday was blazing hot and Sunday was pouring with rain. On Saturday, we took a day trip to Glastonbury and Sunday, was  a wash-out for the garden.  If I still had an allotment plot, I know I would have gone to it and worked there and harvested, but as its in the back of my garden, my attitude is somewhat different that which is a shame really and needs to change going forward.  But I did not waste the day, doing household chores and cooking grub in readiness for the working week which includes our lunch, so I was not totally lazy.   As it was raining yesterday, these photographs are from earlier in the week, but I am still going to share them for Harvest Monday. Gorgeous raspberries are starting to make a welcome appearance. I don't have as many raspberry canes as last year I cleared a section in the back garden for a bench and rhubarb plants, so will try to pick and enjoy those ripening that is...

The weather in the UK is sweltering and  I have been spending quite a bit of time in the allotment garden plot  in my shorts - mostly weeding, but delighting in what has been a better year for me in relation to vegetable gardening.  I am getting there slowly and enjoying the fruits and vegetables of our labour. Here is a glimpse of some edible colours in my garden  Heavily scented red roses - I am drying some to garnish homemade cakes. A bowlful of red gooseberries. Wild strawberries and traditional strawberries . Not enough to make strawberry jam, but plenty to enjoy with yogurt, cream or in a pie!   Rocket also known as arugula growing well in pots.    More Lettuce from the garden Most of my broad beans got destroyed by black fly, I only managed to harvest a small pot. The potatoes were a bonus gift from last year and made for a lovely meal for two.  Rhubarb was the first vegetable we harvested from the garden and stalks h...