Harvest Monday In My Kitchen

We finally have some homegrown tomatoes

Here we have yellow Galina Cherry tomatoes and chocolate cherry tomatoes - no red ones yet though, they are coming though.

I made this Tomato Orzo Pasta Salad - scroll down for the recipe. 

The yellow Burpees golden courgettes have been disappointing - i think the erratic weather may have caused poor growth, so I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt and grow them again next year.

Same with the courgettes, but i take responsibility for them this time.  As they were a trailing variety unlike those i've grown in the past.

Also I kept forgetting to harvest those were growing until they had become a monster marrow.

Some of this marrow was used in a tempura recipe.  Scroll down for the recipe. 

Fluffy Fresh Pea Pancakes made with the last of the peas.  These were delightful to eat - straight hot off the pan. I slathered some of them with cream cheese. Scroll down for the recipe

As I've said before, the runner beans, purple and neckargold French Beans, that have been quite prolific.

I've made lots of recipes with them, mostly side dishes but this was a South Asian style curry adapted from this Courgette and Runner Bean Curry that is quite popular at the moment (see my side bar). 

The plums are ready, so ready they are falling off the tree, rolling down the path and being crushed for the wasps to enjoy. 

I also picked a load off the plum tree - enough to make plum and apple cinnamon jam and cinnamon plum jam. 

I am sharing this blog post with Harvest Monday where vegetable growers from around the world share homegrown fruit and vegetables with Dave from Happy Acres.  

I am sharing this Cherry Tomato Orzo Pasta Salad with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Orzo Cherry Tomato Salad

Serves 4

For the dressing

1 tablespoon white or red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

For the salad

200 orzo pasta, cooked

500g mixed cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

1 red onion, finally sliced

1 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried

1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

Method

Whisk the dressing ingredients in a large bow, then stir in the remaining ingredients until well combined.  

Allow to sit for a few hours before serving. 

The recipe for the Vegetable Tempura (onion, courgettes, green beans, marrow slices) comes from Sarah Beattie's cookbook Meat Free Any Day. Please do check out Sarah Beatties Facebook Page for the recipe. 

Fresh Pea Pancake recipe was adapted from this Three Berries Pancake recipe. I removed the sugar and replaced the berries with uncooked peas. 

I  am also sharing this post with Sherry's Pickings who host the In My Kitchen series as much of what is in my kitchen has been coming from the garden (or kitchen cupboards) since the Pandemic. 

Blue Kale, Cheddar Cheese and Red Onion Savoury Muffins

So it's nearly the weekend and my first week back to work after some annual leave has been exhaustive.  I really thought it would be relatively quiet, but no - this, that and the other has kept me distracted rather than focusing on some priorities and deadlines.

I think this exhaustion is also due to the made weather.  I am not even a sweaty person, and even i have found myself feeling sweat run down my back without much motion. I was so glad of the storm, thunder and the rain last night, but it is still quiet muggy.

I am sharing these savoury Kale and Cheddar Cheese muffins made with Dazzling Blue Kale from the garden.  The kale in the garden has finally been discovered by the white cabbage butterfly, so I am looking for recipes to use it up before the pests demolish my lovely plants.

Honestly, these  Blue Kale and Cheddar Cheese savoury muffins were so good to eat.  

Of course we could not eat them all, so consumed them over a few day, giving them a 30 second burst in the microwave.

Blue Kale, Cheddar Cheese and Red Onion Savoury Muffins 

Makes 12

Ingredients
360g plain flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
240g cheddar cheese, grated
250ml milk (or more depending on flour)
1 egg
100- 120g kale, stalks removed and shredded
1/2 red onion, peeled and sliced thinly
Method
Preheat oven to gas mark 4/180oc
Sift the flour, baking powder and cayenne pepper into a large bowl, then stir in the cheese. 
In measuring jug,  to the milk whisk in the egg. Then pour slowly into the four mixture until well combined.
Then stir in the kale and onion until well distributed.
Spoon the mixture as evenly as you can into paper cases and bake in preheated oven for 30 - 35 minutes or until golden. 
Test with a skewer before removing from the oven to make sure it comes out clean. 
Allow to cool for 15 minutes for serving. 

Runner Bean Pasta Salad and Harvest Monday

In contrast to my harvest last week, this weeks harvest seems abundant. 

Everything is beginning to come along now.

We have raspberries that have been enjoyed both with homemade waffles and Greek yogurt and honey.

I have put the red gooseberries into a tub and in the freezer for later. The strawberries and wild strawberries were used last in a Wild Strawberry Cake. 

I was fortunate to spot this courgettes, a day of two later and it would have been more of a marrow. 

The small end was used to top a pizza along with nasturtium flowers and young leaves. The rest was used in a omelette that D made.  Omelettes are D's speciality, not mine. 

Purple dwarf Hestia climbing beans, Champion and Telephone garden peas and some Runner Beans.

The runner beans were used in this Lemon and Mint Bean Pasta Salad

Other harvest from the garden - Purple stemmed kale, the name escapes me at the moment and some Purple Top Milan Turnips.

I  am sharing my harvest with Dave over at Happy Acres who hosts Harvest Monday every week.

I am also sharing this Lemon Mint Runner Bean Pasta Salad with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Like most of my pasta salads, not much to it.  Its olive oil and lemon juice, minced mint from the garden, sliced runner beans that were parboiled in salted water and spring onions.  Stirred into some cooked pasta, then seasoned with salt and pepper to taste and lunch was ready.  

Pea Shoots and Asparagus Pasta Salad

Yes, I know what some of you may be thinking - another Pasta Salad! but you will be pleased to note that this one does actually have some homegrown ingredients - Pea shoots.

The pea shoots and pea stems and leaves are all from the garden, not the asparagus - that came from the supermarket. 

Again, its not an overly complicated recipe.  Sauteed a couple of cloves of garlic in some good olive oil, and then stirred in all the ingredients, most of which were raw (except the pasta and asparagus).  Seasoned it with salt and pepper and there you go - all ready.

The pea shoots pasta salad is not heavy in pea flavour, its delicate in flavour.  And to punctuate the green, I stirred in some raw diced red pepper for colour and crunch.  

Another lunch prepared for busy working week days at home. 

I am sharing this Pea Shoots and Asparagus Pasta Salad with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen.

Final Eat Your Greens Archive

Last month was quiet for the #EatYourGreens challenge. Regardless, I still have three wonderfully green vegetarian recipes to share.

The first Eat Your Greens  recipe comes from Green Gourmet Giraffe with a Halloween Salad made up of green vegetables such as celery, sugar snap peas, green peppers and cucumber served with tzatziki.  

Next we have Ephee Lafee from with a Stuffed Squash full of goodness which includes Brussels sprouts - its such a colourful dish.

My co-host The Veg Hog with Upside Down Brussels Sprouts Pizza.  As well as Brussels sprouts, the base is topped with potatoes, slow cooked and for colour cranberries and sea buckthorn. 

Finally, my own contribution Swiss Chard Paneer -  the chard had softened so much that it coated the paneer like silk.  

So its time to say good-bye to Eat Your Greens challenge,  it is a little sad, nonetheless we  and no doubt we will all still be eating and cooking with greens in our kitchen. So its not really the end. 

I do want to say a heartfelt Thank you to my faithful co-host The VegHog who shared the labour  of hosting Eat Your Greens for as long as we did and for that I am grateful.  I know I could not have continued as long as we did without her.  Anyway, if you ever want inspiration, please do visit the Eat Your Greens Archive page that lists all the months and contributions from past contributors whom we would also like to say Thank you too.  

Swiss Chard Paneer

Next weekend will be the weekend when we will turn our thoughts to the festive season.  Its the weekend we will also bring down the Christmas tree and decorations from the attic.. but this weekend is a lazy weekend.  So lazy that I have nothing of interest to share, I feel zapped and lacking both energy and enthusiasm.  I hope the festive season injects some pizazz into me! 

I made this Swiss Chard Paneer early this month.  Its an adaptation of Saag or Palak (Spinach) Paneer that you often find at South Asian take-aways and restaurants.

The rainbow chard came from my garden.  There is still plenty to harvest.  

The pan roasted paneer made for a change.  I normally just throw it in the dish and let it warm through, but fancied being a little bit naughty.  You can see the brand of paneer cheese I used if you visit my In My Kitchen blog post.  This was a gorgeous dish to eat with rice, the chard had softened so much that it coated the paneer like silk.  

So this recipe is my contribution to the last edition of  Eat Your Greens challenge that I co-hosted with The VegHog.  There is still time to join in if you want.  Follow this link on how to participate. 

Recipe below