Tag Archives: garden

by | May 9, 2013

Nettle Soup with Ginger and Miso

Well, I haven’t had any success growing vegetables in my garden yet, but I have an abundance of nettles that are happily growing there ;)

Nettles

What many people don’t realise is that nettles are actually a ‘super food’, packed to the brim with nutrients.

“High in potassium, iron, sulphur, vitamin C, vitamin A and B complex vitamins nettles provide a high amount of dense nutrition with very little calories. The sulphur makes them great for the hair, skin, and nails. In addition, the tiny hairs, besides emitting histamine, also release serotonin and acetylcholine, two neurotransmitters that help to suppress appetite and also settle mood. Finally, nettles have gentle diuretic properties, which help relieve water weight gain, flush the body of toxins, and purify the blood”. [Source] 

 

Obviously you can’t eat nettles raw (unless you want to sting your mouth to pieces) but, by simply drenching them in boiling hot water, their sting is instantly removed and then they can be eaten just like other greens.

Nettle Leaf

One of our favourite ways to eat nettles is blended into a soup, flavoured with onion, garlic, ginger and miso.  We also like to include a large sweet potato in the soup, which adds a touch of sweetness as well as giving the soup a beautiful, silky smooth texture.

Just in case you haven’t come across miso before, it’s a Japanese soybean paste that has this wonderful, rich savory flavour that makes it perfect for soups, sauces and gravies.  I’m currently using the Clearspring Japanese Organic Brown Rice Miso, which is available in the UK in Waitrose and Sainsbury supermarkets, as well as in health food stores. While the jar recommends that you store it in a cool, dark place, I keep my jar in the fridge and it’s lasted months!

Clearspring Brown Rice Miso

If you’ve never picked nettles before, here are a few tips:

  • Make sure you’re wearing gloves, a long sleeve top and trousers (long pants).
  • Use a pair of sharp scissors to snip off the top leaves from each stalk (about four leaves per stalk).  Before snipping, check the leaf to make sure there are no creatures or caterpillar eggs on it.
  • Place the leaves in a colander and thoroughly wash them under running water (remember to keep your gloves on).
  • If you’re using the nettles in a soup, there’s no need to soak them in boiling water first.  Simply chop them up (still wearing your gloves) and add them to the pan.

Nettle Leaves

If you’re not fortunate enough to have a patch of free nettles growing in your vicinity, you can replace them with another green, such as kale or chard.  It’ll taste just as nice ;)

Nettle Soup with Ginger & Miso

While it’s not the prettiest soup in the world, it tastes delicious!  Lil’ L can vouch for this.  It’s his current favourite soup, and he loves taking a flask to school for his lunch once a week.  In fact, last week, he asked if he could have it for his lunch two days on the trot.  I really hope other children enjoy it as much as he does!

Here’s the recipe:

Serves: 4

Hands-on time: 10 minutes    Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
1 x 2.5cm / 1 inch piece of fresh or frozen ginger*, finely grated (or add more if you would like a spicier soup)
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
78g / 2¾ oz / 3 packed cups nettle leaves, roughly chopped
825ml / 28 fl oz / 3½ cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp miso

* I always buy root ginger in bulk, peel it (by scraping off the skin with a metal spoon), then freeze it in 1 inch pieces.  It lasts for weeks in the freezer and I find it’s easier to grate when frozen.

Suggested toppings:
handful of lightly toasted sesame seeds
handful of pumpkin seeds, lightly fried in olive oil
red chilli, finely diced

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion until it starts to soften. Stir in the garlic and ginger. Reduce the heat, add the sweet potato and nettles, cover and leave to sweat for 5 minutes. Add the stock, bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer until the potato has softened (about 15 minutes). Allow the soup to cool slightly, then stir in the miso paste.  Blend the soup until completely smooth, using a jug or hand blender.  Add more stock, if needed.  Return the soup to the stove and gently heat through. Season, to taste.
  2. Serve the soup in warm bowls, with a sprinkling of sesame or pumpkin seeds. For small children, the seeds can be ground up in a coffee grinder and mixed into the soup before serving. Add some finely chopped red chilli, if desired, and serve with some warm, crusty bread.

Nettle Soup with Ginger & Miso

In addition to the nettles, we’ve had great success growing dandelions this year.  Dandelion pesto will be on the menu next week ;)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! xx

Are there any ‘weeds’ that you enjoy eating?  If you have any family recipes, please do share below :)

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by | June 25, 2012

Weekend Highlights – Spray Painting, Bike Riding & Roasted Vegetable Risotto (with Recipe!)

Hi everyone! I hope you had a great weekend :)

We managed to fit in lots of fun activities this weekend, starting off with a trip to the library on Saturday morning where Lil’ L returned his book and came out with another seven! You can guess who ended up carrying those round Bath. Luckily he had lots of books to keep him occupied while we went for coffees in Neros ;)

I’m still getting a real kick out of how much Lil’ L is enjoying reading.  In addition to the library books, he’s also currently reading a chapter of Lemony Snicket to us every night and, on his own, he’s reading Philip Pullman’s ‘The Subtle Knife’ (both books that he picked up from the charity shop for a couple of pounds each).

 

In the afternoon, after a quick visit to a local village fete, Lil’ L and his friend T did some stencilling and spray art with M in our garage.

T did a space-inspired picture, while Lil’ L sprayed an underwater scene with a scary looking fish!

On Sunday, it actually stopped raining for a few hours and the sun came out. We decided to grab the opportunity to go out for a bike ride along the Kennet & Avon Canal.

 To make it more interesting for Lil’ L, we said we’d cycle to the Angel Fish Cafe at Limpley Stoke for lunch.  That sure got him moving!

 Both the boys fancied baked beans on toast but we were surprised to find that the Cafe only served white bread. No wholemeal, no granary, no seeded bread.  That’s no good! Bike riders need big chunky doorsteps of wholemeal granary bread to refuel them, not thin anaemic white slices ;)

Lil’ L asked if he could have an ice cream for dessert. I told him he could have one at the Canal Boat Cafe in Bathampton (back where we started our journey). This was a sneaky move on my part to make sure he peddled fast rather than dawdled all the way back. It sure worked ;)

We’ve had an unbelievable amount of rain lately but, on the plus side, the countryside is looking beautifully lush and green!

The muddy bike bottom really isn’t a good look is it? I’m so glad I’ve finally had mudguards fitted to my bike.

 The face was pretty muddy too (and chocolatey!)

And look at those legs!

 Back home, Lil’ L headed straight to the shower while I made the most of our sunshine and did a little gardening. I was amazed to find that we’ve actually managed to grow some strawberries that haven’t been eaten by a slug … or snail … or blackbird!

And look what else I came across… a beautiful shimmering blue damselfly taking refuge on Buddha :)

 He stayed there for ages!

After a great day out, I cooked us a large pan of roasted squash and red pepper risotto. It was very yummy indeed. Unfortunately, Lil’ L isn’t a huge fan of risotto (he isn’t keen on the texture of Arborio rice) but I pre-empted any negative comments by serving it with some toasted wholegrain tortilla segments. He then proceeded to tuck in with enthusiasm, piling the crispy tortilla high with the risotto, and ate every last grain!

I often find that the addition of a ‘bready’ side dish, like a flat bread, tortilla, or piece of garlic bread can transform a meal for Lil L. I wonder if this is the same for all children?

At the weekend, I made the risotto with an old packet of Arborio rice that needed using up. Next time I make the risotto, I’m going to try the Riso Gallo 3 Grains Risotto Rice which consists of Italian Rice, Spelt and Pearl Barley. As this rice contains wholegrains, it will have a lower GI than regular white risotto rice, as well as other nutrients such as Iron and B Vitamins.

With the butternut squash and red pepper pieces, our risotto did look quite pretty. I also added some peas to add more colour and lovely nutrients :)

 Here’s how I made it:

 

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Risotto

Serves 4
Preparation: 10 minutes 
Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
400g / 14oz / 2 cups of Arborio rice (or wholegrain equivalent)
1 litre (1¾ pints) hot vegetable stock
300g / 10½ oz / 2 cups butternut squash, cut into small slices or cubes
1 red bell pepper, chopped
60g / 2oz / ½ cup peas
27g / 1oz / ¼ cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F / Gas 6.
  2. Place the butternut squash, red pepper, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 cloves of crushed garlic in a roasting tin and mix well. Roast for 25 minutes or so, until the vegetables are cooked.
  3. Gently heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and 2 remaining crushed garlic cloves, and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the rice and mix well to coat it in the oil.
  4. Now you have a choice… you can add the stock the authentic way … one ladleful at a time, waiting for the liquid to be absorbed before adding the next ladleful … or you can do what I do… which is simply to pour all the stock in at once, bring it to the boil then cover it and gently simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes I stir in the peas and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally until the rice is tender. I’m sure the ‘authentic’ way is the best way to cook risotto, but I find that pouring in all the stock at once works fine for us. The risotto turns out creamy with a little ’bite’, just how risotto should be. Anyway, please choose whichever method suits you best ;)
  5. Once the rice is cooked, mix in the roasted butternut squash and pepper pieces. Serve in warm bowls with a garnish of toasted almonds.
  6. This risotto is delicious served on its own, or with segments of toasted tortilla. 

Have a great week everyone! :) xx

This time last year… Glastonbury!

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by | May 9, 2012

WIAW – I’ll bring the Goji Berry & Choc Chip Granola Bars & Recipe!

Hi everyone! I hope you’re having a great week so far! :)

It’s Wednesday again, which can only mean one thing in foodie blogging world…. it’s WIAW party time!!!  Big thank you to Jenn over at Peas and Crayons for being such a great hostess and all round star! :)

For this week’s party, I’m going to share our eats from yesterday (Tuesday).  Here goes…

Breakfast
- Hot lemon and water
- A delicious bowl of warm porridge made with Alpro Soya Milk.  M and I had Mornflake Superfast Oats (which only take 2 minutes to cook!), and Lil’ L had Ready Brek.

We topped our porridge with chopped Brazils, pecans, walnuts, flaked almonds, ground flaxseed and goji berries, and a drizzle of Sweet Freedom Fruit Sweetener.

Lunch
We all had different lunches today. 
- Lil’ L had first choice of the leftovers from the weekend and took the giant veggie pastie. No surprise there!
- M had pittas filled with falafel, humous and romaine lettuce.
- I chose to make romaine lettuce leaf wraps, filled with sun-dried tomato humous, sun-dried tomatoes and black olives.  I also had a couple of Nairn’s sweet red pepper oatcakes.

Yesterday, for what seems like the first time in weeks, it actually stopped raining and the sun came out!  I grabbed the opportunity to eat a quick lunch in the garden. It was so nice! 

With all this rain, the garden’s looking a bit like a jungle, but there’s lots of pretty flowers that are popping up amongst the weeds.

 

We’re back to rain again today, so who knows when I’ll get a chance to sit out in the garden again!

Drinks & Snacks
nettle tea, 1 black coffee, water
no snacks today (wasn’t hungry!)

Dinner
For dinner, I  made another of our favourite family meals… vegetable crumble.  I used oats, nuts, seeds, yeast flakes and mustard powder in the crumble topping, which made it really tasty and crunchy. 

I promise to post the recipe very soon!

Dessert
A strawberry & banana smoothie made with fresh organic strawberries, 1 banana, Kara Coconut Milk, 2 tbsp Alpro Soya Yoghurt, chia seeds (for an omega 3 boost) and a dash of Sweet Freedom sweetener. 

Plus a goji berry & choc chip granola bar

Each week, I make a couple of trays of granola bars for lunch boxes and my Tuesday night study class.  They’re so quick to make and I find them much easier to bake than cakes and muffins!

I use agave syrup as the sweetener to make them low GI, and I use only a small amount of oil, so they’re much lower in calories than your usual flapjack/ granola bars.

 Here’s the recipe:

Goji Berry & Choc Chip Granola Bars

Preparation: 10 minutes.  Cooking time: 20 minutes.  Makes: 12 bars

Ingredients
235g / 8¼ oz / 2½ cups rolled oats
26g / 1 oz / ¼ cup rolled oats, ground in a food processor or mini chopper to make oat flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil
115ml / 4¼ oz / 1/3 cup agave syrup
1/3 cup (approx. 45g / 1½oz) goji berries
3 tbsp dark choc chips (add more if you wish)

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C (160 fan) / 350F / Gas 4. Line a shallow oblong tin (approx 17cm x 26cm / 6 1/2” x 10”) with non stick baking paper.
  2.  Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix in the wet ingredients. Stir in the dried fruits and choc chips.
  3. Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and pressed down (I use the back of a metal spoon, lightly sprayed with oil which prevents it from sticking).
  4. Cook for 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Leave to cool completely before cutting into bars.

Time to head over to Jenn’s and check out all the gorgeous eats :)

Happy Wednesday everyone!  xx

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by | March 5, 2012

Spring is in the air! The Joys of Blossom… and Living in the Moment!

Hi everyone! I hope you had a great weekend! :)

On Saturday we had glorious weather in Bath, so I took the opportunity to get out into the garden and do some tidying up.  It was so warm that we even managed to eat our lunch outside :)

It really does feel like Spring has arrived in Bath.  The crocuses and primroses are popping up everywhere in our little garden…

along with the daffodils and cute little narcissus :)

 

One of my favourite things about Springtime is blossom.  Trees look so severe in Wintertime without their leaves, but come Springtime, their bare branches are covered in the most delicately coloured, beautiful flowers that are an absolute joy to see.

One of my favourite types of blossom is found on the japonica tree. 

This tree is situated outside Lil’ L’s bedroom, and it’s such a nice sight to be greeted with as  I open his curtains first thing in the morning.

To reach school, we have to walk up a very steep hill.  Even though I consider myself to be pretty fit, I’m totally out of breath as I reach the top!  But what I focus on as I’m climbing (and huffing and puffing!) is the cherry tree that marks the end of the hill.  This tree is absolutely glorious at the moment… 

with the most beautiful blossom :)

And check out how blue the sky was on the school run today!

 In last week’s Wednesday Workshop (a little primary school Buddhist class that I teach each Wednesday) we read the story of the Four Princesses and the Kingshuk Tree (a beautiful story!) and I used the example of blossom to teach the children about impermanence and the importance of living in the moment.  Most of us are so busy in our lives, with our heads filled with a million and one thoughts and plans, that we risk losing sight of all the beauty that surrounds us in our natural environment.  When we do live in the moment, everything becomes brighter, clearer, more beautiful.

Time to enjoy the blossom… it’ll be gone before we know it!

Has Spring arrived where you live?  What’s your favourite thing about this season?

 

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by | November 3, 2011

Big Budget Challenge – Weeks III & IV

As it was the half term school holidays last week, which began with a mini break to Sherwood Forest followed by Lil’ L’s 8th birthday, I didn’t get round to posting an update for Laura’s Big Budget Challenge.  Many apologies Laura!  To make up for this, I’ll give a rundown of my ‘money saves’ over the past two weeks vis-a-vis my 5 budget rules. 

1. Avoid waste. I’m pleased to say that I’ve managed to avoid throwing away any food over the past two weeks :)   There was a close call with a bag of spinach that was starting to look sorry for itself, but Laura’s post on Monday inspired me to make a spinach, butternut squash and chickpea curry.  I even roasted the squash seeds (for the first time ever) and we had them with the hemp burger and roasted squash dinner on Monday.  No seeds will ever get thrown away again… they’re so nice lightly roasted! :)

2. Shop around for cheapest deals. I’m planning to do another big online grocery shop tomorrow and I’ll definitely be using www.mysupermarket.co.uk again.  It saved me quite a few pounds on my last big grocery shop and I’m intrigued to see what I can save this time round :)

3. Make use of home grown foods.  We’ve been eating lots of home-grown apples (still not sick of them ;) ).  We’ve also had some very generous donations of home-grown produce from friends and family, including these amazing courgettes/zucchinis.

As well as using the zucchini in lots of savoury dishes (roasted veg & pasta; lasagna; fajitas), I made some wicked date and zucchini brownies last week, which I pictured in yesterday’s post.  (I’ll be writing up the recipe and posting it very soon).

All the donated produce has been used up now, so I’ve turned my attention to some rather unusual home-grown produce… dandelion leaves and nettles.  I didn’t intentionally grow these, but as they’re growing so beautifully in my garden, it’ll be fun to see whether I can turn them into something tasty ;)

4. Go foraging! Whilst cycling round Sherwood Forest last week, I couldn’t resist a quick pause to collect sweet chestnuts.

The cases are so prickly!  I used my feet to squeeze the nuts out of the shells, while M adopted a more hands-on approach.

I didn’t have a bag with me, so I crammed as many as I could into the back pocket of my cycling jacket.

You won’t believe how many I actually managed to cram into that pocket!

I absolutely adore roasted chestnuts!  They really remind me of childhood Christmas Eves when my Dad would roast chestnuts, sprinkle them with salt and tip them on a newspaper.  We’d then sit on the living room floor and tuck in!

Today, I decided to use some of the nuts to make a sweet chestnut casserole with herby dumplings.

The dumplings were flavoured with fresh rosemary from the garden.  This is one of the few edible plants that the slugs and snails actually leave alone!  It’s a really easy herb to grow and seems to look after itself.  Our plant has been here the whole time we’ve lived in Bath (11 years now) and it hasn’t need any attention at all. (That’s SO my sort of plant ;) )

5. Make use of vouchers and deals. We used our Tesco vouchers again on Lil’ L’s birthday, saving us £21 on the entry fee into a sea aquarium.  I’m glad we didn’t pay real money for this trip as the aquarium was awful (in my opinion).  The image of the snake-headed turtle pounding up and down its tiny tank is still haunting me :(

So that’s my big budget challenge update for weeks III and IV!  Have you had any great money saves in the last month?  If so, I’d love to hear them! 

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