Autumn Salad with Roasted Sweet Potato, Apple, Radish and Goat Cheese

Ingredients2 cups rocket or mixed Asian greens 1/2 sliced, cored apple 1 cup cubed, roasted sweet potato, carrot and/or pumpkin 4 sliced radishes 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted 2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon honey salt & pepper 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

Method 1. Put the greens, apple, roasted veggies, radish and sesame seeds in a large mixing bowl. 2. In a small separate bowl make the dressing: mix the olive oil, lemon juice, honey and season with salt & pepper. 3. Toss the salad with the dressing, using the amount you like. 4. Divide salad into two serving bowls. Scatter the goat cheese on top of the salads.

Black Rice, Rocket, Bean and Semi-Dried Tomato Salad

This salad is very versatile.  You can use asparagus and broad beans in early Spring, peas and baby carrots or beans and grilled zucchini. Ingredients 250g black rice 250 grams of mixed coloured beans, steamed and cut into 2 cm pieces 100 grams of sugar snap peas, steamed and cut into bite size pieces 3 spring onions, roughly chopped or the top of an onion 3/4 cup semi-dried tomato coarsely chopped 250 grams baby rocket 1 lemon 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 large clove of garlic, crushed 2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar Sea salt and (lots of) freshly ground black pepper

Method 1.  Cook rice in a medium saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, 35-40 minutes. Drain well, spread out on a plate or a rimmed baking sheet, and let cool. 2. While the rice is cooking, steam beans until tender.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Cut the beans into bite size pieces. Steam sugar snaps until they sweat.  Remove from heat and place into iced water. Cut into bite size pieces 3.  Wash and spin the rocket. lay onto a wide salad tray. 4.  When the rice is cool, sprinkle over rocket.  Add cooled beans and semi-dried tomatoes. 5.  In a container mix the dressing of olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper.  Dress the salad. Then zest the lemon and its juice over the top. Source - Jane Clift - One of our CSA members

Pasta with Fennel, Rocket and Lemon

This is a recipe adapted from Adapted from River Cottage VEG.  It is lovely the way it is written.  Depending on what pasta you choose, you may just want to add a bit more liquid. Ingredients 1 large fennel bulb, fronds reserved 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil 2 large cloves garlic, minced 6 ounces pasta (papparadelle, linguine, spaghetti etc.) 1/4 cup creme fraiche, to taste zest of one large lemon, juice reserved 3-4 good handfuls of rocket 1/4 cup reserved pasta water sea salt and pepper parmesan or hard goats cheese, to finish

Method 1. Bring a large pot of liberally salted water to a boil. 2. Cut the fennel in half lengthwise. Remove the tough core and slice it into 1/4'' wedges. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add the fennel, give it a stir and let it cook, undisturbed (that's how you get the nice brown bits) for 5 minutes. Give it a stir, turn the heat down to medium, add the garlic, a pinch of salt and another splash of oil if the pan looks dry. Start cooking the pasta. 3. To the fennel, add the creme fraiche, lemon zest and stir to coat. Add the arugula and give it another toss. 4. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4-1/2 cup of the pasta water. Add the noodles to the creamy fennel pan and toss to coat, adding a pinch or two of salt, pepper, squeeze of lemon juice and pasta water as needed. 5. Serve each portion with a generous grate of the parmesan and a few fennel fronds.

Preserving the Harvest

For the past two weeks, the CSA boxes have been really full with up to 16 different vegetables, not including herbs and garlic!  We cleaned out the last of the early summer cabbage and the first beetroot and carrot plantings, had a great broccoli crop, a bumper harvest of beans and a rocket planting that never seemed to end.  We love loading these heavy boxes into the cooler and wonder what will be created in kitchens around the peninsula.

We have had a few emails regarding what's left in the vegetable drawer as members get ready for this weeks box.  Here are some of the ways we have found to preserve the harvest - fermentation, condiments, freezing and jarring.

Last year, I wrote a post on Preserving, Fermenting and Freezing which may also lend some inspiration. It has a list of some of my favourite preserving books.

These suggestions range from very simple to requiring a bit more time and effort.  It really helps to keep a supply of jars and new lids on hand throughout the summer.  If you do not have to look and/or clean the jars, you greatly reduce your time. The relish for example takes 1hour and 15 minutes from start to finish.  I also tend to stock our pantry with good quality vinegars and any special herbs now so that when I have the produce, I can get started right away.

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Greens Beans I was passed on a traditional New England recipe for Dilly Beans.  I usually make at least one batch as they are a fun addition to an entree platter or you can make a batch of these Spicy Dilly Beans to stir a Bloody Mary.

I love adding beans to minestrone soup.  So when there is a bumper harvest, I quick freeze them by chopping them into 1 inch pieces, dropping them into boiling water for 2 minutes, quickly transferring them into very cold water and then letting them dry in a colander before bagging them into ziplocks and freezing them.  These beans can be thawed and lightly steamed for a vegetable side or added in the last five minutes to a soup.

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Beetroot Although in these parts, we can harvest beetroot year round, I love having jars of pickled beetroot and beetroot relish to add to summer and winter sandwiches and platters.

Canning for a New Generation by Liana Krissoff has a fantastic spiced, pickled beetroot recipe.  The vinegar is countered with a touch of honey and then cinnamon sticks, whole allspice berries and peppercorns offer that wonderful spiced scent that is a pickling memory I still hold from my childhood.  These beets are a far cry from the sickly sweet ones that used to be served in the diners dotting US1 in my home state of Florida.

Beetroot Relish is a great addition to a sandwich and a cheese platter.  There are two recipes with the link and they take less then 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete!

Cabbage I love sauerkrauts and kimichis and also believe in their health giving benefits. I highly recommend Sador Ellix Katz'sbooks about fermentation.  Scythes Australia offer great fermentation pots and other useful tools.

I also like a quicker Pickled Red Cabbage recipe which includes a pickling spice mix that I really love.

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Carrots We have carrots from the beginning of December until about the end of September when it is too cold to germinate more and the ones from winter have gone to seed.  I have to admit that I have never frozen or jarred carrots to try and have them for those two months in the middle.  But I do love Home-Made Vegetable Stock!  Each week starting in mid summer, I make a big pot of stock. Vegetable, chicken, beef - I use whatever I have around and let it simmer for several hours.  I freeze it in glass bottling jars. You can also find quart containers from a packaging supply store.  It is wonderful to have fresh stock for a myriad of recipes...from gravy to stir-fries to soups.

We also juice extra carrots and make a delicious Carrot Mash.

Celery Again, as an essential ingredient in stock, I add any extra celery each week into my stock pot or we juice it.

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Chillies If you love hot sauces or Sweet Chilli Sauce,  make your own spicy condiments using pure ingredients!  They are usually simpler then the ones you can buy, do not include the myriad of preservatives or corn derivatives and are much tastier. Liana Krissoff offers several hot sauce recipes including the mango and peach hot sauce pictured above.

You can also make Curry Pastes and then keep them for at least a month in the refrigerator in an air tight jar or freeze for longer!

Kosher Dill Naturally Fermented Pickles

Cucumbers Fermented Dill Pickles or Sweet Bread and Butter Pickles, I love them all.  You can make the bread and butter pickles as refrigerator pickles in small batches and use them within 1 month, thus eliminating the need to seal the jars with a water bath.  Both Sandor Katz and Liana Krissoff have wonderful recipes for pickles that range from quick dills to two week naturally fermented ones.

Eggplant Nikki Fisher at The Wholefood Mama posted a great Eggplant Pickle recipe from Jay Black.

Radishes Again, another vegetable which pickles and ferments into a wonderful accompaniment.  I will be trying a beetroot and radish ferment in the next few weeks using Sandor Katz's recommendations and a bit of imagination.  I did find this recipe for Pickled Radish which sounded good to me.

RocketRocket Pesto freezes well and uses large amounts of rocket!  Great way to get all of its wonderful health giving benefits.

Tomatoes Now that is a post on its own and, as we are not really to that stage yet, I will leave that for now.

Zucchini You can grate zucchini, drain it in a colander and freeze it in bags to add to quiches, slices or zucchini bread all through the winter.  You can also slice it, blanch it and freeze it to use in pasta sauces or as a vegetable side.  Here is a post on Farmgirl Fare which talks about how to freeze zucchini and summer squash and the many uses for it.

Herbs And what about any extra herbs you have each week.  A simple thing to do is hang the whole bunch upside down in a cool and shaded spot of the kitchen.  When the plant has completely dried, separate the herb from the stalk or stem, ensure that it is completely dried (or put onto a baking tray and leave on top of an oven that is cooling...NOT in the oven) and jar the herbs.  These fresh herbs will be far fresher dried then anything you can buy.

You can also freeze Basil Pesto for simple dinners and yummy pizzas throughout the winter. Make it omitting the cheese and freeze in glass jars or ziplock bags.

What other ideas do you have?

Blue Cheese, Proscuitto and Rocket Bruschetta

Here is a recipe by Valli Little published in Delicious - November 2004 Ingredients 4 thick slices woodfired bread 1/3 cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil 1 garlic clove, halved 2 tbs balsamic vinegar 1/2 tsp brown sugar 80g wild rocket leaves 4 slices prosciutto 120g blue cheese, crumbled 10 walnut halves, lightly toasted

Method 1.  Brush bread with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and chargrill or grill for 1 minute until golden. Turn over and cook for another minute, then rub one side with garlic. 2.  Place remaining oil, vinegar and sugar in a small bowl, season and whisk to combine. Toss rocket with half the dressing. Top each slice of bread with a slice of prosciutto and rocket. Sprinkle with cheese and walnuts, drizzle with remaining dressing and serve.

Rocket Pesto

Rocket is a source of Vitamin C, folate and beta carotene.  It is also a source of calcium and potassium.  The slightly bitter flavour of rocket is an indicator of its valuable antioxidant content.  But if a bag of rocket is hard to use up in salads, sandwiches, pastas and pizzas, try making rocket pesto.  This works well as a dip on its own or spread on sourdough bread with sliced tomatoes.  You can also stir it into yogurt and serve with grilled lamb or chicken.  If you leave the cheese out, it freezes well for winter enjoyment! Ingredients 1/3 cup pine nuts (you can also use almonds, unsalted roasted cashews or walnuts) 1 garlic clove, peeled 100g rocket leaves, trimmed 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan squeeze of lemon juice salt and ground pepper to taste

Method 1. Place cashews and garlic in the bowl of a food processor.  process until coarsely chopped. 2.  Add rocket and lemon juice. Process drizzling the oil through the feed tube until the mixture is smooth. 3. Stir in parmesan and season with salt and pepper.