Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Sweet Potato (with Vegan Black Pudding)

I no longer have an allotment plot and presently I don't have much growing in my back garden plot at the moment, so I have decided to trial Riverford Organic Farmers Vegetable Box for a month.

The Riverford Vegetable Box scheme began when Guy Watson began delivering vegetableses locally to 30 friends in Devon. It now delivers around 47,000 boxes a week to homes around the UK.  Riverford delivers to most of England and South Wales.  

I chose the medium vegetable box which has eight organic varieties which was recommended for 2 - 3 people. This week the vegetable box contained: Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Fennel Bulb, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Courgettes, Onions, Oakleaf Lettuce and Tomatoes.  It was hard to know what to cook with first, I finally settled on the Purple Sprouting Broccoli - a seasonal star, I should know I used to grow some and the sweet potatoes.

I decided to make a Warm Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Sweet Potato Salad with Hazelnuts that were given to me by a friend. To make this warm salad more of a substantial dish, I finished it off with some sliced of vegetarian black pudding, but that is optional. This certainly made a welcome change from our boring lettuce, cucumber and tomato salad. 

I am sharing this Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Sweet Potato Salad with Soups, Salads and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Warm Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Sweet Potato Salad with Hazelnuts
Serves 3 - 4 as a starter; or 2 - 3 as a main dish
Ingredients
2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and chopped into bite size cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
250g purple sprouting broccoli
3 tablespoons hazelnuts, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Optional: Sprouted alfalfa for garnishing
Optional: vegetarian black pudding
For the dressing
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon maple syrup (or honey)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/200oc.
Toss the sweet potato cubes with the oil and spread onto a baking tray.  
Roast for 20 minutes, remove from the oven, gently stir and return it to the oven until soft and beginning to brown around the edges.
Steam the Purple Sprouting Broccoli as you would do asparagus, until tender.
Drain of excess liquid. Transfer to a bowl. 
Put all the dressing ingredients into a small bowl and whisk well. 
Pour over the steamed purple sprouting broccoli and gently stir with a spatula to coat well.
To serve
Evenly distribute the Purple Sprouting Broccoli between the plates.
Then pile on the sweet potato cubes and sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Finish off with optional: alfalfa and cooked black pudding. 

If I have tempted you to try a Riverford Organic vegetable box, then please visit the Riverford website. The Riverford website is very extensive and has a FAQ to answer your questions in relation to having a vegetable box delivered to your front door.  For those of you who live overseas there may be something similar happening in your country; or there is always the farmers market. 

Riverford in South Wales is run by Jon and Janet Mier.  You will often find them and their knowledgeable staff at food events across Wales.  If you would like to keep up to date with news from Riverford South Wales, then follow them on Facebook and Twitter.  

Disclaimer: I was kindly given the medium vegetable box worth £14.85 by Riverford South Wales, in return for a plant based recipe using seasonal and organic vegetables from the box.  All views and opinions are my own. 

Mujaddara with Purple Sprouting Broccoli

Its been a long, productive and busy day in the garden.  I will up-date you with progress later in the week with photographs and a little herbal harvest, but today I am sharing a plate of food that a made a couple of months back.

I made this well known Arabic rice dish known as Mujaddara  when I was harvesting purple sprouting broccoli from the garden.  I enjoy eating rice and lentils.  One of my favourite dishes is the South Asian Chawal and Dal - basically rice and lentils, its a humble dish, but it is one that gives me comfort, and for me Mujarddara is similar.  

Although I had shallow fried some fresh  onions for the topping, I forgot to top the Mujaddara rice here (for the photography) with the crispy onions, only because I had replaced it with steamed PSB, adding fried onions does make a difference as it adds another texture as well as layer of flavour.    

I am not going to share the recipe for Mujaddara here, as there are loads of recipes on blogosphere and most vegetarian cookbooks have a recipe for Mujaddara - so go and flick through them and you will find. I am off to bed, its been a long busy day and I have work tomorrow. Bye bye long Bank Holiday weekend, time appreciated.  

Rustic Asparagus and Purple Sprouting Broccoli Quiche

The asparagus season is so short, so for those of you who like them with a passion, you better get some soon.

Well my husband did not hesitate and picked up some at a reduced price at a supermarket and gave me a big hint to make a cheesy Quiche with them.  Who said 'real men don't eat Quiche?!1 Because I would strongly disagree.  It got me thinking when it was the last time I made Quiche at home, and I really couldn't remember.  So a quick blog search revealed that the last one I shared on my blog was  Summertime last year and it was a Caramelised Red Onion Brie Quiche made with home-grown strawberries. 

So his request albeit through a hint was accommodated.

Not only does this Quiche have asparagus, I also added in some blanched Purple Sprouting Broccoli. showcased In My Kitchen blog post.  

I couldn't be bothered to trim off the excess cooked pastry and in some places it had shrunk a bit, so I left it and decided to call it rustic - works, don't you think.  

Not only did this make for a good meal, there is plenty left over for him to take into work tomorrow.

Lemon Spiced Purple Sprouting Broccoli

As I am a little skint these days, I did not think I was going to be enjoying purple sprouting broccoli this year, as its deemed a specialist veg. and a little bit pricey (that is if you don't grow your own), but I was fortunate to have stumbled upon a  greengrocers today who was selling them at an reasonable price, so I decided to treat ourselves to this seasonal delight for a light lunch.

The purple sprouting broccoli is simply steamed and then coated in a garlicky, spiced lemony oil.  

It is wonderful enjoyed just as it is, but if you wish to make more of a meal of it , then stir it either into some cooked couscous or bulgur wheat, failing that even pasta would work.  If purple sprouting broccoli is out of season, this would work just as well with ordinary broccoli too.

I am linking this to April's edition of Simple and in Season, a monthly event hosted by Ren Behan at Fabulicious Food

Purple Sprouting Broccoli infused in Lemony Spices
Serves 4
Ingredients
400g purple sprouting broccoli
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 - 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon red chilli flakes or to taste
Thumb size piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely sliced
1 teaspoon freshly ground coriander seeds
Juice from half lemon
Method
Steam the broccoli until tender. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a wide pan, add the garlic, chilli flakes and coriander and fry over low heat for a few minutes until the garlic is tender and the oil infused with the spices.  Then stir in the ginger and lemon and cook for a couple of minutes, before stirring in the broccoli.  Heat for a few minutes until the broccoli is coated in the spicy oil.  Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.  Serve immediately. Or toss it through some couscous, bulgar wheat or pasta and enjoy.

Enchanted Purple Broccoli Forest

We had a rather lazy weekend.
The most active I got was walking through the park and wading through the golden, crisp autumnal leafy path.

Now and again, I spotted a mushroom carpet that only reminded me of beautifully drawn illustrations found in fairytale books.

I thought it was only fitting that I went home and made something ‘enchanting’. I remembered a dish I made many years ago called 'The Enchanted Broccoli Forest'. This dish comes to mind whenever I actually see trees that do look like broccoli florets, unlike these of course, but its about the spirit and memories they conjure up.

This recipe is described as ‘Broccoli trees planted in an herbed rice pilaf’. It makes a good oven to table dish.

So what else would we find in this edible not-so-purple broccoli forest?

I don’t have the ankle biters, rug-rats aka my nephews and nieces around to amuse and play with me, so now and again have to find silly ways of entertain myself. I hope you don’t mind playing along. And remember please don’t eat the animals!

D didn't want to play and said it looked 'like a nativity scene with blasted trees'. My response like a precocious teenager ‘Whatever!’. I think he's right though, just don't tell him.

Enchanted Purple Broccoli Forest
Serves 4
Cooked brown or white rice enough for 4 people. Set aside.
Ingredients
250g sprouting purple or green broccoli florets with stalks (trim a little if you wish)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 clove of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Cayenne to taste
2 tablespoons fresh mint
Handful of fresh parsley, minced
50g toasted sunflower seeds
Cheddar cheese, grated (optional)
Method
Preheat oven to gas mark x Steam the broccoli until just tender. Drain well and set aside. Heat the oil in a large, deep pan. Add the onion, garlic and sauté over medium heat for a few minutes until the onion begins to soften. Add lemon juice and sauté for a couple of minutes. Stir in the rice, season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne, the herbs. Spread into the pan. Scatter over the sunflower seeds and the cheese if using. Now arrange the broccoli upright in the rice. Cover loosely with foil, and bake until just heated through (about 15 – 20 minutes). Serve right away. Adapted from Moosewoods the Enchanted Broccoli Forest.

Couscous wedges with garlicky PSB

Our visits to the allotment have now reduced from daily to three times and sometimes twice a week. The tomatoes are certainly starting to dwindle. I picked what I think maybe the last of the climbing blue lake and purple queen french beans, but the neckar gold is still doing well. Some pruple top milan turnips peeking out from the soil were calling to me to pick them, so I did. I picked a bundle of sage, some mint and red marner cabbage.
I also picked some of the super early purple sprouting broccoli (PSB). So this was our supper earlier. I had some couscous wedges left over from yesterday, which I served with some garlicky PSB.

All I did was steam the PSB until al dente and then set it aside while I got on with the garlicky bit. In a large pan, I added 2 - 4 tbsp of olive oil, 2 large cloves of garlic, sliced and heat through until the olive oil has infused with the flavours of the garlic. Finally toss in the PSB until it was well coated.
The PSB was really lovely. PSB straight from the plot to the plate.