More Kitchen Crumbs

Monday 18th July

Today’s vegetable bag of goodies included new potatoes, French beans, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, parsnips and onions.

Whilst collecting my bag I overheard a few people asking about salads and requesting more salad selections being included.

I agree that during the summery weather we all want to spend less time in a hot kitchen, so could it be possible for Dai’s 5 A Day to pop into their selection a cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.?  This would be most welcome.

Meanwhile, here is an idea for what to do with this week’s bag. If you can bear to think about roasting some vegetables here’s what I did.

Turn on the oven and place a roasting pan with some of your favourite oil (I use olive oil for most things) and heat to 200°C (Gas 6)

While that’s heating, peel some parsnips and chop them.  Delia Smith says cutting them at angles gives the roots lots of surface area to get a more crisp and browned surfaces.  When the oil is hot, carefully put in the parsnips and turn to coat in oil.  They should take less than 40 minutes to roast.

In the meanwhile, cut some of the cauliflower and broccoli into small florets and drop them into a saucepan of boiling water.  When just tender (not soft) remove them from the water and drain them well.

When you have removed all the moisture add the florets to the roasting pan of parsnips along with a sliced clove of garlic.  Continue to roast until the florets brown a little.

Finally, in a bowl or serving dish place some dried couscous.  Cover with boiling water and leave covered with a plate or cling film for half an hour or so. (Until all the water is absorbed and the couscous is soft.)  If you like you can add a stock cube and the seasoning of your choice such as turmeric, coriander, paprika etc. to the couscous before adding the water.

Fluff up the couscous with a fork and when the parsnips and other vegetables are cooked add them to the couscous and any oil in the roasting pan.  Toss them all together and allow to cool.

Using the same cooking water that you used for the cauliflower and broccoli, drop in the French beans and cook until tender.  Remove from the water and drain well.  When cool enough to handle, remove the stalks and cut the beans into short lengths (about an inch long) and place in a serving bowl.

Again using the same water you have cooked all the other vegetable in, place a couple of fresh eggs and hard-boil them.  When cooked and peeled, chop the eggs and add them to the French beans.  Dress the dish with a little soy sauce and freshly ground black pepper.

If you wish you could serve these dishes with a few new potatoes or a green salad.