Maltese Macaroni

You may remember a few weeks ago I was talking about making dishes of food for a grieving family? Well today’s dish is along the same chain of thought – comfort food. This dish, commonly refereed to as Macaroni by Maltese people, is a family favourite. It is carb heavy, delicious and just what the doctor ordered when morale is low. There is nothing that brings warmth, comfort and nourishment like Macaroni. Nothing!

There is, however, one important draw back of this dish. It uses tinned corned beef which is a staple meat product in Maltese cuisine. As my regular readers would know, I don’t cook with beef because of the environmental issues associated with beef production. (Read this article for more information). There really is no substitute for it and I have tried to make a vegetarian option of this dish that was a total failure.

So I bring you my ethical dilemma -  Maltese Macaroni.

Maltese Macaroni – to me this is made of winning, and tastes of all things good.

[ SERVES: 6  |  TIME: 90 MINUTES  |  COST: $10  ]
[  JOES RATING:  5  / 5  |  MY RATING:  5  / 5  |  Brittanys RATING:  5  / 5   ]

Ingredients

1 packet macaroni pasta ¹
1 tin hamper corned beef
1 tin tomatoes, chopped
1 small tin tomato paste
1 onion, diced finely
1 cup Pecorino cheese, grated
¼ cup continental parsley, chopped
4 – 6 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon basil, fresh (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 tablespoon oregano, fresh (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon curry powder
4 bay leaves
2 free ranged / organic eggs
salt and pepper to taste
dash of olive oil

Method

1. Bring a large pot to the boil with about 6 – 8 litres of water. Add a good pinch of salt to the water before adding the pasta. Cook the pasta until half-cooked – it should still be quite firm and undercooked ². Drain, rinse and set aside.
2. In a large frying pan at moderate heat, sauté the onion and garlic in a dash of oil until caramelised. Add the corned beef and stir well until the well incorporated and melted to a liquid like consistency. Add the tinned tomatoes, bay leaves, parsley, basil, oregano and a little seasoning. Stir and let simmer for 15 – 30 minutes until slightly thickened and rich in flavour.
   

   This last photo is of the sauce sauteing. It has not yet been thickened but I don’t thicken it very much at all past this point. It needs to still be quite thin. See note ² in observations below.

3. After the sauce has simmered and reduced slightly, taste for seasoning. If the sauce tastes sweet, add the curry powder ³. Thicken with tomato paste ². Remove bay leaves.
4. Preheat oven to 200°C.
5. In a very large baking tray, add the pasta and sauce, mixing well to incorporate evenly throughout the tray.
6. Add the cheese evenly throughout and mix lightly.
7. Lightly beat the egg and drizzle throughout the tray. Move the egg lightly throughout the dish with a fork – do not over mix at this point.
8. Cover the baking tray with aluminium foil and bake in a moderate oven for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and cook until the top layer of pasta is crunchy and well cooked.
   

   This is time-lapse photos of the pasta cooking.

Observations

• Note ¹ The type of pasta we use for this dish can be difficult to obtain out of large cities. It is very long tubes of pasta that are quite thick and hold their form without collapsing when cooked. By using this sort of pasta, the egg, sauce and cheese can run into the pasta tubes and each bite is mouth-watering delicious.
  

  This is the pasta that I use. Note how thick and long the pieces are in this 20 litre boiling pot?

• Note ²  If you hit al dente during the boiling portion of the cooking, you have over cooked the pasta. You want it to be about half-cooked so when you bite it, it still is really very firm and raw towards the middle but not hard and uncooked. The cooking process will be finished off during the baking phase. This is why it is very important not to over thicken the sauce – the liquid is going to be absorbed by the pasta to finish off the cooking process during the baking phase.
• Note ³  Sometimes, I find the fresh herbs bring a unique sweetness to the dish that is not always desirable. Traditionally, curry powder is incorporated to bring a balance to the dish. Let your taste buds guide you on this.
• The flavour of this dish is excellent. Sometimes, though, I add an extra egg if the sauce looks too dry. Be warned, though - don’t make it too eggy!
• I only use good quality grated Romano Pecorino for this dish. If I am making it for the uneducated, I may use tasty cheese just because its cheaper. At the end of the day, though, the Pecorino adds something special to the dish so if possible, opt for quality. If you like things a bit on the cheesy side of life, then go ahead and add more cheese to the dish.
• Diabetic Note: I eat this dish and ask, “Why are the gods so cruel?”. There is NOTHING like this dish. I absolutely adore it. It is all things good and homely to me. Of course, it is also carbohydrate heavy which is the diabetics nightmare. The pasta is about 70% carbohydrates and while there is little to no carbs in the rest of the ingredients, a good diabetic should limit their portion size on this meal. Luckily for me, I’m a bad diabetic…

Ok, so this portion might feed two diabetics. (Or one bad diabetic…)

• Ethical Note: As I said above, this is a family favourite. When we stopped eating beef two years ago, this is one dish I truly missed. Although I have tried to make vegetarian versions of this dish, they fail miserably. This is the first time I’ve cooked it in two years, and it was a real ethical dilemma for me. Joe and I recently discussed minor transgressions with beef to balance diet ect, and we both agreed on one thing. If everyone reduced their beef intake to perhaps one meal a week, our environment would be so much healthier. Being conscious of the impacts of your meal is the first step to a healthier environment.

I found this excellent photo of Maltese Macaroni on Wikipedia. See how the sauce ends up thick cause the pasta absorbs the liquid. Note how it holds its form? All hallmark signs of a good macaroni! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Competition Results

For some reason, my post that was meant for today has not appeared. Luckily for me, I was able to get internet access today for the first time in four days.

As you know, I cooked on Friday for the Gourmet Garden Cook Off. After several problems such as the organisers losing our equipment and having prepared the entire dish with a butter knife, the cooking of my dish pretty much went to plan. I put up a lovely dish and the judges commented on how well it was cooked several times.

On a spit decision, my competitor, Carolyn from Desire Empire was named the victor.

The judges took a lot of time to deliberate on the dishes, and asked me several times what was in my dish. When they announced the winner, they said that unfortunately it came down to how much of the sponsors product was used, and my competitor used more product than me.

I have learned a lot through the experience and will be much better prepared if I ever enter a competition again.

I will be home tomorrow and then blogging can return to its normal pace. Thank you once again for your support and patience over the last week.

 

Roasted nuts and seeds on fresh sourdough bread

20 years ago, one of my favourite snack foods was freshly roasted nuts and seeds on hot crusty bread with melted butter. I had totally forgotten about it in recent times (although I do use nuts and seeds frequently). Just out of the blue, I had a flash back and WHAM! Lunch is served.

[ Serves: 4  |  TIME: 15 MINUTES  |  COST: $2  ]
[  MY RATING: 5 / 5 ]

Ingredients

1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon walnuts – chopped
1 tablespoon almonds – chopped

Method

1. Chop your nuts to around the same size as your largest seed.
2. Place the seeds and nuts into a hot, dry frying pan and toast until fragrant, stirring and moving seeds frequently to stop them from scorching.

Observations

• It’s vital that  you keep the seeds moving every few minutes to avoid scorching them. Once they are burnt (even in the slightest) they become bitter and will need to be discarded.
• You can use ANY seeds and nuts here. I just used what I had in the cupboards.
• Diabetic Note: This meal is actually quite a mixed bag. Seeds and nuts quite high in poly and mono saturated fats and because of this fat content, nut intake needs to be limited. On the other hand, there are carbohydrates in the bread, so again, be aware of your limits. Having said that,  seeds and nuts are a rich sources of protein and all manner of vitamins and minerals and should be included in a balanced diet. Moderation, dear friends.
• Ethical Note: The average diet of the Western society contains heavy meats in over indulgent quantities, high levels of trans fats, high levels of salt, dangerous levels of sugar and genetically modified material. While the jury is still out on some issues such as genetically modified crops, there is heaps of evidence to show our dietary habits are having disastrous consequences on our health. While this meal seems nasty on the surface, it is a smart health choice when compared to any of the forenamed components and is actually quite friendly for the environment. Seeds and nuts are generally easier to grow that other staple crops, have lower land requirements and as most are weed species, have low water needs. Smarter for you, smarter for the environment.

Related articles

• The Health Benefits of Sunflower Seeds (refreshingnews99.blogspot.com)
• Basic Sourdough Bread (mizrhi.wordpress.com)

 

Gourmet Garden Cook Off: Lamb Cutlets

It’s here!

Today is the day I cook off in the semi finals of the Gourmet Garden Cook Off. A full report will follow, but I thought Id share with you what I will be cooking.

 

[ Serves: 3  |  TIME: 30 MINUTES  |  COST: $10  ]
[  JoeS RATING:  4.5  / 5  |  MY RATING: 4  / 5 ]

Ingredients

6 organic lamb cutlets – cleanly Frenched
1 cup bread crumbs
2 Free Ranged Eggs
1 tablespoon Gourmet Garden Chunky Garlic Paste
1 teaspoon Gourmet Garden Thyme Paste
1 teaspoon Gourmet Garden Rosemary Paste
zest of 1 lemon
20g butter
splash of oil
salt and pepper

Method

1. To prepare the meat, ensure that the bones are perfectly Frenched, leaving a raw exposed bone at the end. Use aluminium foil to wrap the exposed bones to keep them clean until serving.
2. In one bowl, scramble the egg and set aside.
3. In one bowl, add the bread crumbs, garlic, thyme, and rosemary and lemon zest. Using your finger tips, mix the ingredients to ensure even distribution.
4. Using the aluminium covered bones for ease of handling, dip the meat into the egg wash, using a spoon if necessary to ensure the meat is evenly covered in egg wash. Drip off excess.
   
5. Lay the egg covered meat into the bread crumb mixture and use a spoon to ensure that the bread crumbs evenly coat the meat. Use the back of a spoon to press the meat down into the mixture before shaking off excess.
   
6. Repeat the egg wash and bread crumb stages to apply a double coat of crumbs to each cutlet.
   
7. Add the butter and a splash of oil to a warmed frying pan and bring to a moderate heat. Place the cutlets into the pan and cook for 4 minutes. Turn over and cook for another 2 – 3 minutes until golden brown.
   
8. Remove the cutlets from the pan and allow to rest on a plate for 4 – 5 minutes before serving. Cover the meat with aluminium foil to keep it warm.
9. Serve with seasonal vegetables and yoghurt dressing.

Observations

• I will be serving this meal with seasoned vegetables tossed in garlic butter.
• Diabetic Note: This meal isn’t too bad. It’s a little naughty with the bread crumbs but the vegetables have no carbs in it so it is balanced over all. Be gentle with the frying, though. Excess oil isnt always good.
• Ethical Note: I had to decide what to cook for this meal that would take less than 30 minutes to prepare, cook and plate. I have decided to do a family favourite but put my own spin on it with the organic and free ranged choices. Hopefully my message will reach a larger audience.
• Stay tuned, guys – I promise to post the results of the competition in about eight hours after the competition.

 

Goat Stew

Recently I spotted some goat chops at the local health food store. Goat is a hearty flavour rich meat that lends itself beautifully to stewing. It was organic, and at the right price for me to imagine a rich hot dinner full of gorgeous gamey meat. This is my goat stew adventure.

[ Serves: 6  |  TIME: 3+ hours  |  COST: $18  ]
[  Joe'S RATING:  4  / 5  |  MY RATING: 4.5  / 5 ]

Ingredients

500 grams organic goat chops
2 potatoes, diced
2 sticks celery, chopped
1 cup red wine
1 tin chopped roma tomatoes
1 litre vegetable stock
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 tablespoons  parsley, shredded
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 tablespoon basil, shredded
4 – 6 bay leaves
splash oil
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. In a hot sauté pan, add a little oil and saute the onion. Add the garlic, celery, carrot and herbs. Fry until tender and fragrant.
   
2. Add the goat chops and fry until browned. Top stop the vegetables scorching, either remove them from the pan or place them on top of the chops.
   
3. Once the chops are semi cooked, deglaze the pan with some wine. Add a tin of tomatoes, potatoes and bay leaves. Add enough stock to ensure everything is covered and braise on a low heat with the lid on for 3 or more hours. Check the pot ever 15 minutes to ensure there is enough liquid covering the ingredients. Stir frequently and top up with stock when needed.
   
4. When the meat is tender and the sauce is rich and well infused with flavour, remove the lid and allow the sauce to thicken.
5. Remove the bay leaves before serving it hot on a bed of polenta, pasta or with hot crusty bread.

Observations

• I adore meats that have been braised in a stew over a long period of time. There is nothing like the fall off the bone type hearty meat of a stew. Adjust your cooking time to suit your taste. If you require a firmer meat, shorten your cooking time, or length it for tougher cuts.
• You could serve this with hot crusty breads, polenta, rice, pasta or just on its own! It is so versatile.
• Notice how my vegetables haven’t fallen apart to mush even though this was cooked for almost 4 hours? Well, that is because I cooked it at a low heat. The trick here is longer cooking times over a lower temperature and careful stirring during fluid checks. A gentle, loving and patient hand will produce better results here.
• Diabetic Note: What is not to love about this dish? It ticks all my diabetic boxes and my blood glucose levels were fine following this meal (and lunch the next day!!)
• Ethical Note: I am almost certain that this is farmed goat, but some markets source wild goat that was culled as pest management. Where possible, I would choose the latter. It generally has a gamier flavour and is a wonderful choice for the environment. If you use wild bush meats, ensure that you cook it very well to kill off any parasite eggs and routinely worm your family ever six months.

Related articles

• Sweet & Savory Goat Ragù (biscuitsoftoday.com)
• Should we eat more goat meat? (guardian.co.uk)
• Goat Meat (theepochtimes.com)
• Roast Goat Leg (wine-by-benito.blogspot.com)

 

Strawberry and Choc-Chip Sourdough Pikeletes

My daughter Brittany loves to bake. She is often baking muffins and cakes in the kitchen and I would consider her *cough* to be a *cough* better baker than I am. The other day she was looking for something to do and I suggested making some pikeletes out of the left over sourdough starter for the day. She made two kinds of pikeletes – choc-chip and strawberry. Below are her instructions.

[ MAKES: 12  |  TIME: 20 MINUTES  |  COST: $2  ]
[  Brittany's RATING:  4  / 5  |  MY RATING: 4  / 5 ]

Ingredients

1 cup sourdough starter
½ cup choc chips
2 tablespoons soy milk
1 tablespoon agave
1 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda

Method

1. The butter needs to be melted so it can be incorporated into the batter easily.
2. In a bowl, gently mix the starter, milk, agave, and butter.
3. Add the salt and baking soda and mix gently until incorporated.
4. Carefully stir the choc chips and or strawberries into the mixture.
   
5. In a frying pan, bring a little oil to a moderate heat.
6. Using a spoon, put one or two spoonfuls into the middle of the pan and allow to cook until golden brown. This will take 2 – 4 minutes.
7. Turn the pikelete over and cook until golden brown. This will take 1 – 2 minutes.
8. Serve hot or cold, with fruit, cream or chocolate sauce.
   

Observations

• You can substitute sugar for the agave and regular cows milk for the soy milk. I forgive you.
• If you want to try Brittany’s strawberry version, only add ¼ cup choc chips and add ¼ to one-third cup chopped strawberries to the batter.
• As with all muffins, cakes and pancake mixtures, mix gently. The more vigorous the stirring, the tougher the end product.
• Brittany made two batches of these (one of each) and we enjoyed them cold for morning and afternoon tea for several days. They remained soft, fresh and delicious. YAY for sourdough!
• Diabetic Note: One or two of the strawberry version for morning or afternoon tea will not break the carbohydrate budget. This will depend on size and density of the pikeletes.
• Ethical Note: We had strawberries in the fridge getting towards the end of their shelf life. By incorporating them into this recipe, we reduced potential wastage problems. YAY for us!

Related articles

• Sourdough Choc Chip Muffins (mizrhi.wordpress.com)
• Sourdough Pizza Crusts (mizrhi.wordpress.com)
• Sourdough Pancakes (mizrhi.wordpress.com)
• Carrot Sourdough Muffins (mizrhi.wordpress.com)
• Sourdough Blueberry Muffins (mizrhi.wordpress.com)
• Banana Muffins (mizrhi.wordpress.com)
• Sourdough Cinnamon Scrolls (mizrhi.wordpress.com)
• Basic Sourdough Bread (mizrhi.wordpress.com)
• Sourdough Chapatis (Flat Bread) (mizrhi.wordpress.com)
• Flax Seed Sourdough Bread (mizrhi.wordpress.com)
• Skinny bikkies of the choc chip variety (chilloutchicken.wordpress.com)
• Family Favourite Chewy Choc-chip cookies (kiwigirlskiwiblog.wordpress.com)
• Choc-Oat-Let Chip Cookies (missiwenz.wordpress.com)
• Amish cookie recipe (melissagoodsell.typepad.com)

 

Slow Cooked Pea and Ham Soup

I stepped outside of my comfort zone today and bought a ham hock that wasn’t free ranged. Why isn’t it free ranged, I hear you ask? Because free ranged pork or ham hocks are almost impossible to source! While the hunt continues for a reliable source of free ranged pork products, I decided to do Pea and Ham Soup in the slow cooker.

I love slow cooked / crock pot recipes during winter. It’s so easy to toss ingredients into the cooker and forget about it while you go off to work only to become a champion at dinner time by presenting you with mouth-watering food. This is one such recipe.

[ SERVES: 6  |  TIME: 6 hours  |  COST: $8  ]
[  JOES' RATING:  4  / 5  |  MY RATING:  4  / 5 ]

Ingredients

1.5 litres vegetable stock
1 600 – 800 gram ham hock
2 onions – chopped finely
1 cup dried green split peas
1 cup dried yellow split peas
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped finely
1 tablespoon Gourmet Garden Garlic Paste
4 – 6 bay leaves
1 teaspoon Gourmet Garden Thyme Paste
splash of oil

Method

1. Add the oil to a warmed skillet. Add the onions, garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant and browned. Add to the slow cooker.
   
2. Rinse the split peas until the water runs clear, removing tough husks that float during the process. Add to the slow cooker.
   
3. Cut loose fleshy bits from the ham hock revealing as much of the bone as possible. Add both meat, skin and bone to the slow cooker.
4. Add the bay leaves to the slow cooker and cover the ingredients with 1 litre of stock.
   
5. Cook on high for 4 – 6 hours or until tender.
6. Remove the bay leaves, ham skin and bones before adding the lemon juice and mint leaves.
7. Purée the soup in a blender for a smoother soup consistency (optional step).
8. Garnish with a spring of mint and serve hot.

Observations

• Served with hot crusty rolls, a soup like this is hard to beat on a cold winter night like tonight!
• I like a rustic, chunky soup, so I don’t purée the soup at all. I cook it long enough so the peas dissolve giving it that lovely rich, thick consistency without the need to blitz it.
• Pea and Ham Soup is somewhat of a classic, and I usually like to include some carrots and celery but today the fridge was bare. If you happen to have some on hand, consider including 1 finely chopped carrot and 1 celery sticks to your soup for vitamin contribution and texture.
• Diabetic Note: For some reason, yellow split peas are higher in carbohydrate content than the green version. Having said that, though, there is only about 40 – 50 grams of carbohydrates in this entire pot! If you are a pumper or insulin dependent diabetic, you may need a slice of bread with this meal to increase the carbohydrate content.
• Ethical Note: I wish I didn’t have to resort to using a commercially produced ham hock today but I was limited in options. The use of this commercially produced ham hock gave me some ethical dilemmas and I wanted to walk through them not as justification, but as way of educating. Although ham hocks are considered a waste or by-product of pork farming and are therefore a good ethical choice, animal ethic debates regarding commercially produced pork / intensive farming practices are ever-present. Many animal welfare groups decry such intensive farming practices as cruel and unnecessary. For all of our food options, there are both positive and negative externalities and hidden costs. I urge people as always to become better educated on their meal choices.

Related articles

• Slow Cooker Pea and Ham Soup (amultifariousme.wordpress.com)
• The best split pea soup ever (citymama.typepad.com)
• Split Pea and Ham Soup (open-window.typepad.com)
• Pressure Cooker and Cooking (saadon061.typepad.com)
• Vegetable soup fit for the gods! (mizrhi.wordpress.com)
• Dahl (mizrhi.wordpress.com)
• Vegetarian Split Pea Soup (pbenjay.wordpress.com)
• Split Pea Soup (frugalhausfrau.wordpress.com)
• Crock Pot Split Pea Soup (weightlossmystory.wordpress.com)
• Savory Saturdays: Split Pea Soup (mypajamadays.com)
• Back to Basics… Ham n Bean Soup (averilgomes.wordpress.com)
• Ham Hock (lukehoney.typepad.com)

 

Reminder: Gourmet Garden Cook Off – One week to go!

Just a reminder about next weeks Gourmet Garden Cook Off:

I will be cooking / competing at Sydney Good Food & Wine Show on Friday 22nd June at 12:30 – 1:15pm. I will be on the Chopping Block Stand U20. Any of my readers planning on coming? Id love to meet you!

Anyone wanting a cup of sourdough starter (to get your own sourdough happening) let me know sometime in the next few days so I can get a jar going for you from my stock.

 

Strawberry Coolis

Traditionalists will have to just look away now because this recipe is far from traditional! Yesterday Brittany made those gorgeous strawberry and choc chip pikeletes and today I decided to enjoy the last of the strawberries as a sort of coolis syrup with my morning pancakes.

[ Serves: 2  |  TIME: 30 MINUTES  |  COST: $2  ]
[  JOES' RATING:  4  / 5  |  MY RATING:  4  / 5 ]

Ingredients

1 cup strawberries
½ cup sugar * (see notes below)
½ cup water
1 teaspoon lemon juice * (see notes below)

Method

1. In a pot, combine the strawberries, sugar and water and cook at a moderate heat until the syrup has thickened and the strawberries have melted. This may take about 20 – 30 minutes.
2. Just before serving, add a little lemon juice to freshen it up.
3. Pour over pancakes and serve with ice cream, cream or with a splash of icing sugar.

Observations

• Traditionalists would have cooked this for a little longer, not used the lemon and would have strained it to remove the chunky fruit remains. Personally, I like those chunks for texture. Suit your own tastes on this one.
• Don’t cook this too long or too rapidly. The trick is a rolling simmer. Over cooking will result in a tasteless syrup while cooking it at a higher temperature will reduce it too quickly and not give the strawberries time to melt and to give over their delicious taste.
• Don’t over do the lemon juice or you will lose that strawberry flavour. A squeeze is literally enough – 1 teaspoon at most!
• This was served hot with my delicious sourdough pancakes.
• Diabetic Note: This would be far from diabetic friendly if I used ordinary sugar. Instead, I use a commercially produced sugar substitute. As a result, my blood sugar results are just fine.
• Ethical Note: I love using odd bods that would end up in waste. The sourdough starter and strawberries are classic examples. The strawberries were looking sad with age and it was now or never for them and I chose the now option!

“Rhianna, why do your pancakes look a funny shape?” you ask.
“Because, dear reader, sometimes taste tests become before you remember to take photos!”

Related articles

• strawberry picking and strawberry pudding (plumsintheicebox.typepad.com)
• Strawberries with Cointreau and Cracked Pepper (strawberryginger.com)
• Recipe: Strawberry Bitters Pops (self.com)
• Strawberry Rhubarb Preserves (untracked.typepad.com)
• Ligia’s Kitchen: Strawberries and Cream (raoulpop.com)
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• Strawberry Oven Pancakes (jillswell.com)
• Spring Table: Strawberry Shortcake For All (blisstree.com)
• Fresh Strawberry Sauce Recipe (faithfulprovisions.com)
• Strawberry Rhubarb Soup and/or Sorbet – Soupe ou Sorbet aux Fraises et Rhubarbe (frenchtwistedwoman.com)
• Cheers! Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade (eventsbysocialgraces.com)

 

Guest Blog: Wildlife Foods by Anke Bialas

As promised two weeks ago, we have a guest blog post by book author, Anke Bialas from the Herbology website. This post is a part of the virtual book tour that coincides with the release of her latest book Homemade Health. I hope to bring you reprints of some of her other sensational posts later this month.

A big THANK YOU, to Rhi for giving me this opportunity to address her readers on this, the 3^rd stop of my Virtual Book Tour.  Rhi’s message of ethical and environmental awareness echoes its way into all areas of life for many of us.  To stay true to this message I chose the subject of weeds/wild foods for this post.  I figured it addresses your health and that of the planet, what could be better than that?

Do you have a garden? Do you love weeding it?  Nope, neither do I.  What if I told you that there are quite a few ‘weeds’ that would be better classified as wild foods? There are many plants that taste great, are so full of nutrients and grow so plentiful that it seems a shame to just throw them on the compost. Oh, and if you don’t have a garden do not despair, there are plenty of these little super foods out in the fields and along the paths you walk every day.

In this post I will talk about a few common weeds found in our gardens, not native bush food which of course are also incredibly nutritious and free for foragers in many parts of Australia. Nettles, dandelion, purslane, chickweed, cleavers, red clover, plantain, cobblers pegs,

Everyone knows dandelions! Children know it to grant wishes while they blow the seeds far and wide. As adults we curse its existence and dig furiously at the roots to remove them from our lawns. Dandelion is a diuretic and a hepatic used to strengthen, tone and stimulate bile flow, this tends to keep your liver very happy. Drinking an infusion made from Dandelion leaves or root after each meal, it will help strengthen the liver, clean the body via the kidneys and if you add Meadowsweet it will also aid the stomach.  The young leaves are a great addition to a spring salad, are often added to soups and make a pleasant wilted green with a slightly bitter taste.  The older leaves can get REALLY bitter.  If you do want to cook with them it is a great idea to blanch them first (discard the water) to remove some of the bitterness.  I personally like the idea of adding a few young leaves to a wild foods pesto, yum! You can also use the flower heads to make lemonade, jelly, fritters and more.

Dandelion Greens

1 pound dandelion greens
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 whole small dried hot chile pepper, seeds removed, crushed
1/4 cup cooking oil
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese, shaved

Discard dandelion green roots; wash greens well in salted water. Cut leaves into 2-inch pieces. Cook greens uncovered in small amount of salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Sauté onion, garlic, and chile pepper in oil. Drain greens; add to onion garlic mixture. Taste dandelion greens and season with salt and pepper. Serve dandelion greens with grated Parmesan cheese.
Recipe for dandelion greens serves 4.

For those not familiar with purslane – you too are probably growing it without knowing it. I took this picture not two feet out of my front door. A prolific “weed” which grows in most areas of the globe, this ancient herb has been used for thousands of years. It has been used as a medicinal and culinary herb in ancient Egypt, China, medieval Europe as well as the Americas. Medicinally it is used to clear toxins from the system and to strengthen the immune system. In the kitchen it is seen raw in salads and as a cooked vegetable. In soups it counteracts the acidity of sorrel. Modern science has found purslane to be rich in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins A, B & C as well as calcium. Although fine to consume in culinary quantities, it is advised that pregnant women do not take purslane medicinally (i.e. in large quantities).

Traveller’s Joy

3 cups purslane, chopped
1 cup chickweed
1 ripe avocado
1 hard-boiled egg, sliced
1/2 cup amaranth leaves
1/2 onion (wild, if avail.)
1/4 cup cheddar cheese (or other cheese), diced into small bits
1 teaspoon garlic salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon

 Much of this salad can be gathered on the trail (or in your backyard, for that matter). Chop the purslane, chickweed, amaranth, and onion into bite sized bits. Add the avocado, peeled and diced. Add one hard-boiled egg, sliced. Mix in approximately 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese which has been cut into small bits. Squeeze the lemon over the salad, add the garlic salt, and mix well. If you have them, you can add chia seeds and one tablespoon of mayonnaise to this lip-smacking salad.

Nettles, yes the stinging kind, are an amazing super food.  Nettles are known to be rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals, especially selenium, sulphur, zinc, chromium, and boron. A litre of nettle infusion contains more than 1000 milligrams of calcium, 15000 IU of vitamin A, 760 milligrams of vitamin K, 10% protein, and lavish amounts of most B vitamins. The young leaves won’t sting you and older ones need to be blanched to take the sting out before eating.

There are many recipes for nettles as a culinary herb/vegetable. An oldie but a goodie is to add the young leaves to a green salad – maybe with some young dandelions and nasturtium flowers to perfect the herbal theme.

Or do as the Italians do and make a gorgeous nettle sauce to go with Gnocchi. All you have to do is blend 4 sun-dried tomatoes; 150g fresh nettle leaves (blanched), 50g pistachios and olive oil until creamy.

The most important aspects of utilizing wild foods are to make sure you have identified your plant correctly and to pick from areas that are not heavily sprayed (or a favourite place for the local dog population to mark their territory). Be creative, experiment, check the weeds you are throwing out and see if they are of the edible kind.  There are many other, prolific ‘weeds’ out there such as chickweed, cleavers, plantain, clover and so many more.

Instead of spraying them out of existence, do yourself and the planet a favour: Eat your way to better weed control.

Anke Bialas is known for her practical, everyday approach to herbal health which led to the creation of the Herbology At Home series of guides to herbs and natural health which provide a convenient reference you can take with you where you need them most.

Visit Anke Bialas at:
Herbology.com.au
Facebook.com/Herbology

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