Vegetables for Lunch

Most weeks, the youngster and I visit my good friend Lon. She has the most amazing vegetable garden, and we are extremely lucky to be able to enjoy the tasty things she grows, and the fresh eggs from her chickens.

Yesterday there was plenty of green things ready for picking, plus lots of eggs. The kids got eggy toast for lunch, while we investigated things to do with a pile of green vegetables. There was rainbow silverbeet (swiss chard), sprouting broccoli, English spinach and green spring onions. There was also some fresh pineapple that the kids had been snacking on. The finished result was two delicious vegetarian main dishes that certainly got us well toward our 2 & 5 a day!

Japanese Braised Silverbeet with Egg and Sesame

This first dish combines the earthy flavour of silverbeet with the sweet and salty flavour of miso paste. I love the rainbow variety of silverbeet with its brilliant red and yellow stalks. Silverbeet is so easy to grow, you can even grow it in a tub in the tiniest garden and be rewarded with masses of fresh crisp leaves.

Japanese Braised Silverbeet with Egg and Sesame

Serves 2-3

1 bunch silverbeet (swiss chard)
2-3 green spring onions
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp miso paste
2 tsp mirin
2 tsp cooking sake
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tsp sesame oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Remove the stalks from the silver beet and chop into 1cm pieces. Tear the leaves into rough pieces. Slice the green sprin onions into 1cm lengths on a diagonal.

Heat a wok or frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the silverbeet stalks, onions and miso paste. Stir constantly to break up the miso paste and prevent the vegetables from burning. Add a splash of water if necessary. Once the stalks have started to soften, add the silverbeet leaves. Once the leaves have wilted, add sake, mirin, sesame oil and sesame seeds. To finish, pour over the beaten egg and stir through. Remove from the heat when the eggs have just cooked.

Spicy Pineapple and Broccoli Noodles

This second dish bears a similarity to Singapore noodles. Feel free to use a hot curry powder, or add extra chilli.

Spicy Pineapple and Broccoli Noodles

Serves 2-3

100g bean thread noodles (cellophane or glass noodles)
2-3 green spring onions
2 cups chopped fresh pineapple
1 bunch sprouting broccoli (or 1 bunch broccolini), chopped into 5cm lengths
2 handfuls english or baby spinach
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp mild curry powder
1 tbsp fresh chopped mint

Soak the noodles in boiling water until they are softened, and drain.

Heat a frying pan or wok over a medium high heat. Add the vegetable oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the onions, broccoli and pineapple and cook for 3-4 minutes until the broccoli stems have started to soften. Add the curry powder and stir through. Add the remaining ingredients and cook until the spinach has wilted. Serve immediately.

Mini Carrot Cake Loaves with Caramelised Pineapple

I remember reading about a certain Banana bread company that faced collapse when Cyclone Larry wiped out the banana crop a few years back. What do you do when your core business relies entirely on a foodstuff that has just tripled in price? They invented Pear and Raspberry Bread! It's a reminder not to get too set in your ways when cooking - it's easy to keep making the same thing over and over.

I've dragged out the old brown Margaret Fulton cookbook. It has some fantastic cake recipes, but there are three that are family favourites: Carrot and Pineapple Health Cake (so-called because it has oil instead of butter!), Banana Cake and Spiced Pumpkin Cake. Flicking through the book, there are plenty of other lovely recipes, so I'm going to try some new ones over the next few months. Carrot cake, though, is great to make in winter when carrots are so sweet and tasty. I also have a beautiful hybrid sweet pineapple. I decided use this rather than using the tinned pineapple in the recipe. 

Pretty Pineapple!

I thought I'd share my method for trimming a pineapple. I remember watching a japanese chef do this at a restaurant one night - it was a revelation! The problem with trimming a pineapple is how to get the "eyes" out without cutting so deeply into the pineapple that you lose all the flesh. The best bits, after all, are just underneath the skin. Cut the top  and bottom off the pineapple and cut off the skin, but don't cut too deeply - just enough to expose the flesh. Now look at the eyes - they spiral around the pineapple. Get a small sharp knife and make little v-shaped cuts to remove the eyes, moving around and down the pineapple. You're only just cutting enough flesh to remove the eyes, and making a pretty pattern at the same time! Then you can slice the pineapple as you need it. Another technique is to use a small melon baller to remove the eyes - a safer method if you're not great with your knife skills (perhaps a job for the kids!)

Caramelised Pineapple:
so much better than tinned in syrup!

For this recipe I removed the core of the pineapple, finely diced it, then caramelised it with some coconut palm sugar. This is a sustainable alternative to regular palm sugar, and it tastes like a cross between palm sugar and brown sugar. I also caramelised some thin slices for the top of the cake. The cake also contains pecans and sultanas. To finish, I made a light cream cheese frosting which was a bit rushed and dodgy but did the job.

PS - I've finally realised why hybrid pineapples (such as Bethonga) are sold without their leaves. It's so the growers can protect the variety. This makes perfect sense when you think about it, but I'd never thought about it.