Green Olive & Walnut Salad

 One of the salads I made for our inaugural Culinary Wanderer lunch, see recipe from Anatolia book below :)

Chickpea Salad with Onions and Paprika

Celeriac and Lentils

 We are past celeriac season here in the southern hemisphere but, if you happen to have one that has not gone to seed yet, this looks like a lovely way of eating it.

I might use lovage and kohlrabi because I have all the other ingredients. I love Yottam.

"Celeriac is probably my favourite root. It is delicate, yet very nutty, and has an elegant oily smoothness. Like all good vegetables, it is marvellous simply with a bit of olive oil. Here it works with the lentils and nuts to create a hearty autumn main course. Serve it warm, with a radish, cucumber and dill salad dressed with soured cream and olive oil. Or, allow it to cool down, then take it to work for lunch or on a picnic."

INGREDIENTS

SERVES FOUR

• 60g whole hazelnuts (skin on)
• 200g Puy lentils
• 700ml water
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 1 small celeriac (650g), peeled and cut into 1cm chips
• 4 tbsp olive oil 
• 3 tbsp hazelnut oil
• 3 tbsp good-quality red wine vinegar 
• 4 tbsp chopped mint
• salt and black pepper

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 140°C/Gas Mark 1. Scatter the hazelnuts on a small baking sheet and roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Let them cool down, then chop roughly.
2. Combine the lentils, water, bay leaves and thyme in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15–20 minutes, or until al dente. Drain in a sieve. Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, cook the celeriac in plenty of boiling salted water for 8–12 minutes, or until just tender. Drain.
3. In a large bowl mix the hot lentils (if they have cooled down they won’t soak up all the flavours) with the olive oil, 2 tablespoons of the hazelnut oil, the vinegar, some black pepper and plenty of salt. Add the celeriac and stir well. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
4. To serve straight away, stir in half the mint and half the hazelnuts. Pile onto a serving dish or in a bowl and drizzle the remaining hazelnut oil on top. Garnish with the rest of the mint and hazelnuts.
5. To serve cold, wait for the lentils and celeriac to cool down before finally adjusting the seasoning and possibly adding some more vinegar, if you like. Add hazelnut oil, mint and nuts in the same way as when serving hot.

Wild Weed and Leaves Pesto Dip

Pesto can be made by substituting many other leaves and herbs, in place of basil so you can have it in any season. I often use rocket or chervil or parsley and even some weeds, like chickweed and dandelion. One of my favourites uses garlic scapes – those long, twirly bits that shoot up from your garden garlic in early summer. Other nuts can be substituted too, using walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and even sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, in place of pine nuts.

100g toasted pine nuts or other nuts (you may use up to 20% seeds. Don’t use more or the mixture changes texture and becomes gluggy, especially with sunflower seeds)

1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed

A handful of grated mature cheddar or Parmesan or a combination

A large handful of tasty greens, including chickweed, dandelion, self-sown rocket, baby kale, herbs, mizuna etc as above

A good olive oil (probably about ½ cup)

Juice of ½ lemon

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Blend nuts and seeds, garlic, cheese and greens together, then begin trickling in the oil, while the processor runs. Stop when you have a nice purée. Taste and season as necessary with lemon juice, salt and pepper plus extra garlic. If it is too thick, add water while the machine runs.

 

One of my favourite books is The Fruit and Nut Book by Gail Duff.
My edition was published in 1990.

The book contains wonderful information about nearly one hundred fruits, nuts and seeds.

There are also about 200  recipes, designed to enhance out the flavour of the main fruit or
 nut.

Loquats are in season here in Adelaide and most folks do not know what to do with them.

Here is a recipe I have adapted from Gail's book.


Chickpea, Rice and Loquat Salad

2 cups of cooked chickpeas

2 cups cooked brown rice

2 cups of peeled and sliced loquats

Mix together.


Salad dressing

1/2 cup of olive oil

juice of 2 lemons

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

salt and ground black pepper

2 cloves crushed garlic

1/2 cup of chopped parsley

2 sliced spring onion (optional)

Chopped chilli to taste

Chopped coriander to taste

Mix all dressing ingredients together and stir through peas, rice and loquats.

This salad is also great with tomatoes or diced orange if you do not have loquats.

Middle Eastern Spicy Chickpea Salad

 

Today we had lunch with some friends so I made this delicious salad.

I always use organic dried chick peas, soak them overnight, drain them and then simmer them in fresh water until tender then drain them.

When cooked I sprinkle the chickpeas with salt, cracked black pepper and a little paprika and olive oil.

For this recipe I heated a couple of Tablespoons of Middle Eastern spice mix in a little oil to infuse the flavours.

I added this to the chick peas with some finely sliced red onions, the juice of 2 lemons, some chopped tomatoes, chopped cucumber, a dollop of tahini, a handful each of chopped mint and parsley, more black pepper, paprika and crushed garlic.

I served it on a bed of wild rocket.

It is great to have all these lovely herbs in the garden to flavour your food.

Most folks brought summer produce from their gardens including eggplant dip, zucchini fritters, tomato and basil salad and cold rolls filled with home grown veggies and herbs.

All these dishes make delicious, healthy, summer salads or vegetarian mains.

I was going to say I love summer garden produce, but then I love winter produce just as much. Whatever season it is there is always something to make flavourful meals with when you grow lots of vegetables & herbs in your garden.

Healthy Coleslaw

Ingredients
5 cups shredded cabbage
3 cups grated carrot
1 cup chopped parsley
3 sliced spring onions
a little chopped tarragon, dill or fennel
salt and white pepper
2 or 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil

Method
Combine all ingredients
Serve straight away or the next day
Serve with vegetable burgers or as Pattie (Food Shed) says "an egg thing or a potato thing"

SESAME BROCCOLI SALAD

Ingredients
3 cups lightly blanched broccoli
1/2 cup lightly roasted sesame seeds
1 or 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt

Method
Combine all ingredients
Serve with lemon wedges