Today for lunch I whipped up this yummy dish from bits and pieces from the garden. What follows is not a recipe as such, but just the way I did it this particular time. I hope it inspires you to look at what you have on hand, and come up with your own yummy meal. :-) The only thing I don't have in my garden right now is onions, but I had part of one in the fridge to use up. I could have otherwise substituted shallots from the garden.
First, I considered what was to hand - some left over roasted potatoes, part of a red cabbage, one zucchini, a tomato, 1/2 an onion, and some sugar snap peas I'd left a bit long on the plants. I prepared them - slicing the spuds and the onion, dicing the tomato, and slicing the zuccinin. I took some fine slices off the cabbage - I didn't need too much as I didn't want to overwhelm the rest of the dish-to-be. | Next I popped back out in the garden to select a few herbs that would be good - a sprig of parsley, some oregano, and some young nasturium leaves. These I washed then finely chopped the celery, diced the nasturitum, and pulled the oregano leaves from the stalks then lightly chopped. |
Time to get cooking! I heated a spoonful of coconut oil in my frying pan, added the onion, and sauted until it began to caramelise. Next the spud pieces went in, and were stir fried until beginning to brown. Then I added the zucchini slices and some salt, and sauted for a few minutes. While these steps were happening, I shelled the peas, separating the pods into two piles - the ones that were still young and crisp, and the slightly older ones that were tougher (the latter I discarded to the chicken's bucket). After a couple of minutes, I added the cabbage, tomato and herbs, as well as the tender pea pods (reserving the peas for now), and stirred to combine. I added 3 TBSP of homemade beef stock from the fridge, mainly to add some moisture to get the zucchini softening more quickly, and put on a lid for a couple of minutes, turning the temp down. I then took off the lid, and continued to cook with frequent stirring, until the excess moisture had evaporated, and the veges were just tender. |
I spooned them onto plates, sprinkled with the raw, sweet, tender peas, and added some sliced cucumber to the side. A bowl of fresh strawberries picked last night was served afterwards.
Yum, yum, yum! That's real food folks - filling, nourishing, fresh and tasty. And is there anything better than a sweet, fresh, ripe strawberry? The melting sweetness is rich and satisfying! Food for body and soul!
Yum, yum, yum! That's real food folks - filling, nourishing, fresh and tasty. And is there anything better than a sweet, fresh, ripe strawberry? The melting sweetness is rich and satisfying! Food for body and soul!