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| Chard, courgettes and fennel |
This week’s organic vegetable selection brought some
fantastic shades of green to us in the shape of ‘bietole’ (swiss chard), ‘finocchio’
(fennel) and courgettes. Fennel is a
fantastic vegetable that can be used in many ways. It is great raw, particularly in the last of
the hot weather, just discarding any outer sections that look damaged and
trimming the root and the fronds. As a
very simple snack or pre-dinner nibble, it can be sliced vertically then into
manageable pieces (for eating with fingers!), spread out on a plate and given a generous drizzle of great
olive oil, some freshly-squeezed lemon juice and a sprinkle of sea salt. If it
is sliced quite thinly (or with a mandolin slicer if you have one), you can make a
very simple salad of raw fennel, orange segments, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Delicious as a side dish or piled onto bruschette! This is really good with smoked fish, too. The green fronds on top of the fennel are
fantastic chopped up and added to a bean salad, made with cooked beans such as
cannellini, borlotti or haricot, some olive oil, seasoning and some lemon
juice, adding pieces of fennel if you wish.
You can also roast fennel, very simply by slicing it or
cutting it into chunks and tossing with oil and seasoning then roasting in a
hot oven, alone or as part of a tray of mixed vegetables with herbs of your choice. Braised fennel is delicious and can be cooked
on the hob or in the oven. Use a pan or
roasting tin large and deep enough to take layers of thickly sliced fennel.
Season, drizzle with olive oil, then add vegetable or chicken stock, a good glug
of white wine if you want to, so that the fennel slices are well covered. Leave to simmer on the hob or to cook in a
medium hot oven, keeping an eye out to make sure that the liquid reduces right
down but that the fennel doesn’t burn. It can be used to make a quick pasta sauce, cooking off some finely chopped onion and fennel in olive oil, adding a heaped teaspoon of fennel seeds, tomato puree, then a splash of wine if you have it. When it is all tender, add some crumbled Italian sausage meat (without the skin), cook it through, then add chopped tomatoes and season to taste.
Tips on how to prepare and cut fennel, with photos, are coming up, so
look out for them! (Thank you Emma Greenhill!)
If you are stuck for what to do with your courgettes, try
them finely sliced and raw in a salad with olive oil, lemon, seasoning and some
dried chili flakes, adding mint or basil to taste. Cooked beans go well in this too, or you can
mix it all into some couscous for a more substantial salad. Courgettes also work really well in cakes,
such as this courgette and lemon loaf cake shared on the Clandestine Cake Club website: http://clandestinecakeclub.co.uk/2011/09/26/courgette-lemon-cake/?no_frame=1
There are some great recipes for swiss chard from Riverford
Organic Farms that I have used back home in the UK as they were a common feature in our weekly veg box and I have given links to
these below. Otherwise, use it as you
would spinach, or mix it up with spinach or other greens. You can very simply
boil or steam, season and drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice, or mix in some butter, then
top with some grated parmesan for a very simple side dish. Trim just the ends of the white stalks, the
rest should become very tender on cooking.
Here are the Riverford recipe links:
chard and anchovy gratin (also great without the
anchovies): http://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/view/recipe/swiss-chard-and-anchovy-gratin
chard and onion tart (you can buy the pastry!):http://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/view/recipe/swiss-chard-and-onion-tart
chard and ‘bacon’ (use pancetta) pasta sauce, very simple and creamy:
chard, carrot and chickpeas to have as a side dish
for meat or
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