These baby beets (and a couple of baby purple carrots) were boiled and then peeled (the skin comes off easily) and dressed with olive oil and salt, plus a sprinkle of fennel leaves. I added onion weed, borage and calendula petals to complete the salad. Very yummy, and pretty! 

 

 

Not everyone likes Brussels, my husband doesn't... generally, but when I cook them he does, in fact after making this he went out and bought some more himself!!!

I love them, they are a great vegetable to use to make a main, and they are so pretty!

A timballo is a baked dish of rice and other ingredients, it can be made with anything, and I usually do it when I have left over long grain rice. It is also a good way to pair rice and potatoes, which may seems strange to some, but it works.

I cleaned the Brussels and slice a couple of big peeled potatoes, and then pass them quickly in a pan with olive oil and a little garlic. Just long enough to heat them, two minutes, stirring (don't burn them or colour them!). Then I covered them with vegetable stock, added a lid and simmer them on low until soft.

Add more stock when needed to make sure that there is always a bit of liquid. The potatoes will make the 'sauce' thick, and soften the bitterness of the Brussels.

Turn the element off, keep some Brussels and some of the best potato slices aside, and mix the rest with the cooked, or leftover, rice. Put in a baking dish and press down very well. Top with the potato slices and bake for 20 minutes, then cover with cheese and bake for other 20. Heat the leftover Brussels and pour over just before serving.

Golly, this was supposed to serve 6 but 4 of us gulped it down in no time!

Lovely colourful vegetables from the garden (except the red onions), all ready for a minestrone. From the bottom: red onions, rainbow chard, carrots, yellow beans, silverbeet stalks, celery, green beans, flat beans, kale. Just add water and salt.

Caprese is probably one of the world best known salads (and antipasto), and there are many variations, so here a couple more:

Caprese with edible flowers

I used red and yellow cherry tomatoes, and mozzarelline (the cherry size), plus added some edible flowers (borage and dianthus from my garden, organic of course). Add small basil leaves too before serving, if you like. Suitable also for a cocktail party, and ever so pretty!

Caprese with tree tomatoes and two basils

I used a mixture of vine tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and semi-dried tomatoes, mozzarelline (but you can use regular mozzarella cut into slices or pieces) and green basil and purple basil leaves. Dress with olive oil and salt. A filling salad or light lunch.

Ok, this is nothing to do with veggies, but it is so cool to make grissini, I just use some basic bread dough (500g high grade flour, 2 tbsp gluten flour, 300ml water, pinch of salt, brewer yeast and pinch of sugar), add a bit of olive oil and stretch out long grissini which I roll in polenta flour before baking.

Yes they do! I have a few recipes with Brussels, and I talked about my 'relationship' with the 'challenging' vegetable here, where I also published my favourite Brussels sprout cheese quiche.
But the easiest way to cook them is in a soup, a bit like a minestrone, so that all the flavors from the other vegetables, plus the starch of pasta, 'improve' the distinctive taste of Brussels sprouts.

Chop one onion, half a carrot and one celery stalk with leaves, sauté with a tbsp of olive oil and then add 1.5 l of vegetable stock. Simmer until the carrots are soft and then add the Brussel sprouts, a cube of frozen spinach and a handful of small pasta (like stelline). Simmer until the pasta and Brussels sprouts are cooked, add a little more extra virgin olive oil and black pepper to taste. Easy and yum!