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Some of the wholesome greens on display at the Chelseas Flower Show |
Camden food and drink | Review | Chelsea Flower Show | Vegetable garden
Inspired by the Chelsea Flower Show,
Clare Latimer suggests some simple veggie dishes to get those green fingers digging
I WAS lucky enough to go to the Chelsea Flower Show this year and the one display that stood out for me was the vegetable garden.
It was a very small patch but it had all the vegetables that you could imagine.
As the price of food is rocketing sky high, I suggest if you have a garden that you go to your local garden centre and buy a few vegetable plants such as tomatoes, runner beans, spinach, courgettes and perhaps some herbs – chives, parsley and mint.
Plant them in your borders among the flowers and shrubs, feed them once a week and watch what happens. The only warning is to look out for the dreaded slugs.
It is a great way to teach children where their food comes. You could get them to water the plants and watch their progress. Then they can learn to cook the final produce.
I plant sweetcorn in clusters on the lawn and when they grown I put the garden lights on them at night.
They look stunning with their fluffy tops and when autumn comes you can chop them down and eat the cobs.
If you don’t have a garden you can still grow herbs on your window sill. There is nothing nicer than picking fresh herbs for the pot or even a hot drink with mint leaves after a meal.
Until the plants grow and ripen, get down to your market or green grocer – but when the homegrown veggies appear then the flavour will be totally different. And how good will you feel!
Courgette pie
This is a good, filling pie and fairly cheap and easy to make.
Wasabi can be bought in most supermarkets and is either in paste form in a tube or powdered in a tin. It is Japanese and comes from the root of the horseradish.
If you do not like hot tastes then it can be left out.
Ingredients
Serves 4
600g potatoes, good mashing type, peeled and cut into chunks
25g butter
Little olive oil
Splash milk
½ teasp wasabi paste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Handful fresh parsley
2 spring onions, washed and chopped
4 courgettes, topped, tailed and sliced
2 red onions, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
6 tomatoes
1 desp tomato puree
25g cheddar cheese, grated.
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6.
Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for about 15 minutes or until soft.
Drain and put back in the saucepan.
Add the butter, olive oil and wasabi paste and mash well. Add a little milk and mash again.
Check seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.
Continue this until you have a light, fluffy mash that still holds its shape.
Stir in the chopped parsley and spring onions and set aside.
Meanwhile, put the courgettes, onions and garlic into a frying pan with some olive oil and gently fry for about five minutes.
Then add the tomatoes and tomato puree. Season with salt and pepper and put into an ovenproof dish and top with the mashed potato and then the grated cheese.
Cook in the oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve hot.
Creamed spinach
This has to be one of my favourite vegetables in the world – perhaps I should have been born as Popeye!
It’s just pureed cooked spinach folded into a white sauce but somehow the combination turns this dish into something special.
The nutmeg brings out the flavour of the spinach and then you could top it with a poached egg for a great supper dish.
Ingredients
Serves 4
500g fresh spinach leaves, washed well and stalks removed
50g butter
50g flour
300ml full fat milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Little freshly grated nutmeg.
Method
Put the spinach into a pan of boiling salted water and cook for about three minutes, stirring once so that the leaves cook evenly.
Drain and leave in colander.
Melt the butter in a smallish saucepan and then stir in the flour to make a smooth paste.
Pour in all the milk and stir over a medium heat.
When it starts to thicken, use a metal whisk and beat until you have smooth sauce. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Press out any excess water from the spinach with the back of a serving spoon and then add to the white sauce.
You can either serve it like this or puree the mixture and serve hot as a vegetable.
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