Apple, Fennel, Grape and Poppy Seed Salad

The Easter long weekend was a relatively chilled one.  On Good Friday, we stayed at home. It was wet.  On Saturday we went to Abergavenny . It was drizzly. And yesterday we were in the allotment garden plot.  I did a little bit of digging and weeding, but mostly I helped D replace the numerous smashed glass panes in the greenhouse, so that it can be used for growing seedlings again, though we both know that we are again, a month or so behind many other allotment-holders and vegetable growers.  

Whilst out in the allotment garden plot we saw an amazing sight.  Two herons flying directly above us.   Herons do indeed look like birds from a prehistoric time. For a few moments, they sat on a tree, then they flew off making as much noise as they arrived . We have seen some amazing birds since moving here, but to see herons flying above us, now that was Amazing. 

Today, its Monday - a Bank Holiday in the UK and yes, of course it is raining hard outside. 
Early on in the week, I made some Jamaican Jerk Spiced Scotch eggs, but today I share a Apple, Fennel, Grape and Poppy Seed Salad. 

In my attempt to eat more salads, and this is a way I can also get more fruit into D's diet too.  It was lovely. Crunch from the apple, celery and fennel. Nuttiness from the almonds. Saltiness from the feta cheese offset the sweetness of the apple and a burst of juice from the red grapes. It was different from a green salad often made with a variety of green lettuce leafs.

The only problem I had with this salad, the poppy and mustard seeds getting stuck between my teeth.  So remember to floss. 

I am sharing this  Apple, Fennel and Poppy Seed Dressing Salad with Souper Sundays hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Soft Centred Celery Cookies

These soft centred celery cookies come from a cookbook on my shelf called Vegetable Desserts: Beyond Carrot Cake and Pumpkin Pie by Elizabeth Schafer and Jeanette L Miller (1998).

I was so pleased to rediscover it snuggled between Vegetable Heaven by Catherine Mason and Secrets from Vegetarian Kitchen by Nadine Abensur.  Vegetable Desserts: Beyond Carrot Cake and Pumpkin Pie Thanks to Dom for his Random Recipes Challenge this month.  D got it for me a while back.  I loved it when I unpacked it for my Birthday a long while back.  It appealed to me for loads of reasons, but mostly because I liked to throw vegetables into everything I made. Those of you who have been reading my blog since its inception will vouch for this, and the reason this blog was originally called allotment2kitchen, making the most of my home grown seasonal vegetables. Remember my Sweet Parsnip and Rosemary tart, Beetroot and chocolate waffles with Beetroot cream and Carrot Cake ice-cream and these are just a handful of sweet dishes featured on my much  neglected blog.

Well this book is so much more than I could ever imagine.  So much vegetable inspiration, and I am not talking about savoury dishes here, but sweet bakes and cakes!  Much more than carrot cake for sure - a cake called Web of Intrigue described as a beetroot cheesecake.   Rutabuga which is swede for those of us in the U.K, I can see that working similar to parsnip or sweet potatoes. There is also turnip, jicama  and cabbage in cookies and pies.   Greens such as cucumber and peas, as well spinach, nettle and turnip greens in sweet cakes, and much much more.  Its not often obvious by the names of the recipes to what vegetable they have in them, such as Orange Drop cookies and a Mystery Pie which both have beetroot as an ingredient; or Davids Pleasure, a lemony cake which has spinach and turnip greens as the unique ingredient.  Other unusual ingredients in sweet cakes and bakes are tomatoes, onion, peppers and  honey and garlic ice-cream.  And that is not all, the cookbook also contains recipes made with lentils and beans!

This cookbook has been a wonderful rediscovery  for me, thanks to Dom of Belleau Kitchen .   Dom has set the challenge for the 40th Anniversary of Random Recipes - 40th book on your bookshelf, 40th recipe and (as in my case) if there isn't a page on the 40th page, then go to the next page.  Page 40 was blank and page 41 and 42 has a little background about the celery.  The original recipe appears on page 43. 

Celery is often overlooked as an ingredient in its own right, but her it is giving a starring role, In Vegetable Desserts the writers call these by the name 'Celery Doodles': a delicately browned and less sweet cookie; and instructed that they be the size of a sliver dollar.  First I have no idea what a 'doodle' is , and secondly, I have absolutely no idea of the size of silver dollar.  But still I made these, they were not what we would call cookies or biscuits in the U.K, they reminded me more of drop scones only these were baked.  

These soft centred celery cookies were utterly  gorgeous.  They were soft, light and crumbly .  You could not taste the celery, not like it was disguised as you could see the light green specks dotted here and there,  None of my family members detected this hidden vegetable and scoffed them all down in a day or two.  

Celery and Tarragon Soup

Yesterday morning I left Sunny Wales, via an equally sun blazing Bristol only to fly into a very, very wet and damp Scotland. I should say I was shocked at the difference in the weather conditions as well as the temperatures, but I would be fibbing. The truth is, I have got used to the weather here - after all (according to some Scottish friends) I am a honorary Scot; living here for almost 15 years. So what does such weather call for? Soup, of course.

Celery is often used as a mirepoix to many soups. For this reason, I think it often gets overlooked and overpowered by other ingredients, but not here. Today I have given celery a leading role in this soup. But before you think I am always this thoughtful towards the slinky sleek celery. I have to be honest with you and say that this is not always the case, as you will often find it lurking at the bottom of my fridge, getting all soft and limp, but like I said not today.

There is something soothing about this soup; and the mild licorice and anise seed flavour from the tarragon is very refreshing too. In New Kitchen Garden, American cook and food writer Celia Brooks Brown writes 'The flavour of celery grows stronger closer to its heart, so use as much of this as possible'. I have to agree. In addition, it also has more crunchy freshness, the kind you get from a good lettuce.

You can serve this soup with thick yogurt, but I think it also goes pretty well with a little crumbled feta cheese and fresh smattering of black pepper. I am sharing a bowl of this soup with Deb of Kahakai Kitchen for this week’s Souper (Soup, Salad and Sammies) Sundays.

Celery and Tarragon Soup
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 celery heart, cleaned and sliced
2 - 3 cloves garlic
800ml vegetable stock
25g fresh tarragon, leaves stripped, roughly chopped (plus extra for garnish)
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: feta cheese or thick yogurt to serve
Method
Heat the oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and fry gently until softened. Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Pour in the stock, and season with salt and pepper.
Add the tarragon to the soup and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes. Then turn off the heat and allow to cool. When cool, either blend in a food processor or with a hand held blender and puree until smooth. Add water if it is too thick and adjust consistency to your liking. Reheat gently and serve warm in bowls with a little crumbling of feta cheese or a dollop of yogurt. Adapted from Adam Caplin and Celia Brooks Brown New Kitchen Garden.

Celery and Tomato Salsa

I am back from my parents, and to get me back into the flow of blogging about food. I have a simple 'Celery and Tomato Salsa' recipe to share with you today.

I've written before about the muted green, long  crunchy celery rarely playing the starring role of a dish. It is often featured as part of a crudite platter or invisible forming part of a soup, stew or sauce base. Here although sharing the limelight with the bedazzling red tomato, it certainly steals the show with its refreshing crunchy lettuce flavour.

I would really like to encourage you to try this. Of course its a salsa, so you will need tortilla chips, but failing that try it with a fluffy jacket potato - its ace!

Celery and Tomato Salsa
Makes a small bowl
Ingredients
2 red tomatoes
4 celery sticks
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 - 2 tablespoons fresh coriander, minced
Chilli pepper to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Chop the tomatoes, discarding any tough parts. Slice the celery sticks thinly*.
Put the tomatoes and celery into a bowl with the lemon juice, chilli powder, coriander, and season to taste. Serve immediately. Adapted from a Rose Elliot recipe.

*I often use a potato peeler and peel a thin layer of the celery. This will remove the fibrous stringy bits that often get stuck between your teeth; or are a little chewy to digest

Aduki and mung bean brown rice salad

I have made this brown rice salad a number of time for a working lunch. When I first made it, was a little unsure whether I would like it, after all rice and beans sounds a little bit plain and boring, as well as old fashioned, but I was humbled and pleasantly surprised at the depth of flavour and textures.

Aduki beans are henna red in colour, in some parts of the world they are fondly called "red dragon" or "red wonder" beans. I really like that and would have called this 'Red Dragon rice salad, had I not added the mung bean. The mung bean is green, perhaps I could have called it 'green dragon'. Imagine that 'Red and Green Dragon' Rice Salad'! If nothing else, I know this name would have have turned peoples heads, who like me would have been curious to its contents'. Who knows marketed this way, this humble rice and bean salad could be a trendy offering like those you see at hip and upcoming deli's.
In addition to the rice and beans, there is spring onions and celery. I think celery gets overlooked as an ingredient in itself and seen only as a base of a soup or stew, even as a crudites. Over the past few years, I have come to appreciate the celery as a vegetable, in this salad it adds freshness and crunch. Although I've made the dressing here, I have to admit there have been times when I have cheated and used a ready made one, a good one is maple or honey-mustard dressing.
This is my entry for this month's No Croutons Required (NCR). NCR is a monthly vegetarian food blogging event, where readers are challenged to create either a soup or salad incorporating a specified ingredient. NCR is alternately hosted between the Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen, who is this months host. The ingredients for March are whole aduki or mung beans.

Aduki and Mung Bean Brown Rice Salad
Serves 6
Ingredients
55g dried aduki beans, soaked overnight in 1 pints of cold water
55g dried mung beans, soaked overnight in 1 pint of cold water
275ml brown Basmati rice
2 celery stalks, finely chopped

4 - 6 spring onions, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
For the dressing
120ml olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon salt
Method
Begin by putting the soaked beans in two separate medium sized pans, together with the soaking water, bring to the boil, cover and cook for 45 minutes or until the beans are tender. Drain any excess water if necessary.
In the meantime, place the rice in another pan with a little salt and add 1 pint of water. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until the rice is tender and all the water is absorbed. Next, put all the ingredients for the dressing in a salad bowl and whisk together. Then while the cooked rice and the drained beans, empty them into the salad bowl and mix all the remaining vegetables together gently. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Adapted from Delia's Vegetarian Collection.

Celery and pecan cakes

The savoury kind of cake.

I was curious to try this combination. After all how often does long, green and crunchy celery play the starring role of a dish. It either serves as a base to a stew or as part of a crudite platter. I wanted to give the celery a little more respect and taste it as an vegetable in its own right.

However, when I began to read the recipe and saw that I had to ground a load of good pecan nuts, I began squirming. I’d rather eat the pecan nuts as is; or in a 'pecan and maple cake', but to crush them to dust, just seemed wrong. I did it anyway as I was curious and I would only have wondered about the combination.
As expected the pecan nuttiness flavour came through, however it was not alone. There was a light hint of celery in the background too. The texture was similar to that of a light nut loaf or an old fashion vegetarian nut-burger.

These celery and pecan cakes alone may not excite you, but stuff them in between a bun, with some rocket and smothered in home-made red tomato and celery chutney, these cakes became astounding. The original recipe suggests serving these with mashed potato and a celery and Stilton sauce. I am sure that will be good, but I already have plans on eating some with home-made potato wedges.
Celery and pecan cakes
Makes 8
Ingredients
200g pecans, ground
8 whole pecans
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 onion, finely processed
½ head of celery, finely processed
200g fresh brown breadcrumbs
200g potatoes, mashed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Heat oil in a pan, add onions and celery and sauté gently until cooked. Take of the heat. Mix together the ground pecans, celery mix, breadcrumbs, potatoes and seasoning. Shape into 8 cakes. Use reserved pecans to decorate. Chill in fridge for 30 minutes to firm up. When ready to eat, bake on a lightly greased tray at gas mark 6 for 20 minutes. Adapted from The Stones Cookbook.

Celery pies with marinated cauliflower bean salad

More veggie pies.

I had picked up a bunch of celery stalks about a week and was reminded of its lovely presence, when I was looked in the fridge and thought hmmm I better use these up before they become too limp. I decided to make a bean salad, but thought why not add celery to some mashed potato. Then I thought, well why not use this celery-potato as a pie filling. So glad I did, it worked a treat.

So may I present to you another portable pie to take into work; and if you want to make more of a meal of this, why not accompany with a cold bean salad.
The cauliflowers in the garden are starting to spurt too, so I have had to harvest some of them. So what was just going to be a celery and bean salad, had a steamed cauliflower added to it. There is cauliflower in the salad honest, see the butter bean with the oregano leaf, follow it down and you will see a floret tucked there.
Celery, potato and Stilton pies
Makes 4
Ingredients
2 tablespoons of olive oil
½ head of celery, about 6 stalks, peel the stringy outer skin of the celery with a potato peeler, wash and then thinly slice
6 shallots or 1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
200g cold mashed potatoes,
Optional: 100g Stilton or blue cheese
Method
For the filling
Heat the oil in a large pan, add the celery and the shallots, over and cook over low heat until soft and translucent. Remove from the heat. Stir in the mashed potatoes with seasoning and combine well.
For hot water crust pastry see this recipe
Fill half of the pastry with the mashed potato filling. Top with optional cheese, then layer again with mashed potato topping. If not using cheese, just fill pastry shell with filling. Top with pastry lids and bake in oven until golden.
Marinated cauliflower, celery and bean salad
Serves 4 – 6 as an accompaniment
Ingredients
1 head of celery, about 6 stalks, peel the stringy outer skin of the celery with a potato peeler. Wash and cut into slices
1x400g butter beans, drained and rinsed
1x400g kidney beans, drained and rinsed.
Florets and stalks from 1 small head of cauliflower, steamed until tender. Set aside
For the dressing
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram
2 tablespoons chopped fresh celery leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
In a large bowl, mix all the dressing ingredients and stir to combine well. Add the celery, beans, cauliflower and seasoning to taste. Stir well. Leave to marinate for at least an hour before serving.