Your April veg share is likely to include:
- Purple Sprouting Broccoli
- Celeriac
- Red Russian Kale
- Onions
- Leeks
- Chard
- Spring Greens
- Parsnips
- Cauliflower
Recipes
Roasted Parsnip Soup – from searching for spice.com
- 350 g parsnips peeled and cut into quarters
- 260 g potatoes peeled and diced
- 1.5 tablespoon oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 500 ml vegetable stock
Preheat the oven to 180C
Put the parsnips and potatoes in a roasting tray and drizzle with one tablespoon oil. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes.
Heat the rest of the oil in a saucepan. When it is hot, add the cumin seeds. Cook for half a minute then add the onion.
Cook gently for 5 minutes then stir in the crushed garlic and other spices.
Cook for another minute then add the roasted parsnips, potatoes and stock.
Simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Blend using a stick blender.
Tomato & onion salad – from the BBC Good Food website
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced
- 4 tomatoes, sliced
- 1⁄2 cucumber, sliced (optional)
- 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp white malt vinegar
- 1 tsp caster sugar
Pour boiling water over the onion and leave for 10 mins.
Arrange the tomatoes and cucumber (if using) on a plate, then scatter over the drained onions.
Mix the chilli and garlic with the vinegar and sugar, then season with salt. Drizzle over the salad just before serving.
This can be prepared and chilled up to 1 hr ahead, but dress just before serving.
Spring greens spanakopita – From the BBC Good Food website
- 500g spring greens , finely shredded, stalks and all
- 150g butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large leeks , halved, cleaned and finely sliced
- 4 garlic cloves , crushed
- small pack parsley , chopped
- small pack mint , chopped
- ½small pack dill , chopped
- ¼ nutmeg , finely grated
- 250g ricotta
- 100g pecorino , parmesan or vegetarian alternative, finely grated
- 2 eggs , beaten
- 1 lemon , zested
- 270g pack filo pastry
- 3 tbsp sesame seeds (we used a mixture of black and white)
Bring a large pan of water to the boil, tip in the greens and cook for 1 min, then drain and leave in the colander to cool a little.
Melt 1 tbsp butter with the oil in a large pan. Add the leeks and a big pinch of salt, then stir over a medium heat until softened, about 8 mins. Add the garlic and cook for another min, then remove from the heat, tip into a large bowl and leave to cool.
Squeeze as much water out of the greens as you can; if you don’t mind getting a tea towel dirty, the best way to do this is to pile them onto the clean towel, gather the corners and squeeze. Add the greens to the pan with the leeks, then stir in the herbs, nutmeg, cheeses, eggs, zest and seasoning. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
You’ll need a 23cm springform cake tin to assemble the tart in. Melt the remaining butter in a pan or the microwave and use some of it to grease the tin. Now you’re ready to work with the filo.
Have a clean tea towel to hand to keep the sheets covered as you work (it can dry out very quickly). Layer the sheets of filo in the tin, brushing each one really well with butter and leaving plenty of pastry hanging over the edge, to close the top with once filled. Scatter the sesame seeds between each layer of pastry as you go. Save a few sheets for the top.
Once the tin is lined, fill with the greens mixture. Scrunch a few more sheets of buttery pastry on top and fold in the overhanging sheets to close the tart. Scatter any remaining sesame seeds on top and drizzle over the remaining butter.
Bake for 40-45 mins until deep golden brown (cover with foil if it starts to brown too much). Remove from the tin as soon as you can to help keep the pastry crisp. Serve warm or cold.
Polenta and chard chips with a rich tomato sauce – Zita Steyn’s recipe on the Delicious Magazine website
- 200g swiss or rainbow chard, or dark leafy greens
- 40g unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 280g medium or coarse polenta (we used quick-cook)
- 1 tsp salt
- Rapeseed oil for brushing
For the tomato sauce
- 1kg vine tomatoes, halved
- 2 large red onions, finely chopped
- Olive oil for roasting
- 2 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
- 1 whole garlic bulb, skin on, cut in half horizontally
- Pinch cayenne pepper or clear honey to taste (optional)
Cut the stalks off the chard leaves, chop them into small pieces and set aside. Chop the leaves into bite-size pieces and set aside separately.
In a large, deep saucepan, melt the butter, then fry the onion with a pinch of salt over a medium heat. Add the chard stalks and cook for 5-10 minutes until tender, then add the leaves and sauté for 1 minute.
Bring 1.4 litres water to the boil in a large saucepan, then stir in the polenta. Whisk with a balloon whisk until thickened, then stir in the salt and some pepper. Cover and cook over a low heat for 10-20 minutes until the polenta thickens and begins to come away from the side of the pan as you stir. Transfer to an ovenproof dish and smooth with the back of a spoon. Leave to cool, then chill for a few hours to set – it needs to be completely cold before cutting.
To make the tomato sauce, heat the oen to 150°C/130°C fan/gas 2. Toss the tomatoes and onions in the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then season with salt and pepper and arrange in a baking tray, cut-side up. Roast for 2-2½ hours.
Rub some oil on the cut sides of the garlic halves, then wrap in foil and roast for 1 hour or until soft.
Scrape the tomatoes and onions into a blender, squeeze out the soft garlic from the skin and blend until smooth. Taste and season; add cayenne pepper if you want spice, honey if you want sweetness.
Turn the oven up to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Cut the polenta into chips about 1.5cm thick and 8cm long. Put on a baking sheet and brush all over with rapeseed oil. Roast for 1 hour or until golden, carefully turning after 30 minutes. Warm the sauce to serve with the chips.