Live Healthy, Eat Healthy

Grow Your Own

These are some tried and true recipes for making the most of your harvest.

Peeled Tomatoes

Recipe by Maria Ciavarella

This is a good way to use up different sized glass jars and loads of tomatoes. The Roma or plum-shaped types are best for this as they contain more flesh and less pulp but others will do also.

Peel the tomatoes. I do this by pouring boiling water over a bowl full of the tomatoes. Wait until the water has cooled a little before peeling the tomatoes. Cut them into chunks and squeeze out any of the watery pulp. Put them into clean washed jars (no need to sterilise as the tomatoes are quite acidic - I clean in soapy water, rinse and air dry). Cram in as many chunks as possible, pouring out any watery pulp as it develops during the squeezing. A lot of tomatoes will go in this way to each jar. If the watery pulp is left in there you will end up with watery peeled tomatoes.

Secure the clean (non-rusty) lid tightly and place the filled jars in a saucepan of cold water. Make sure each jar is covered with water. Sometimes I place a tea-towel around the inside of the saucepan to stop them clicking as the pot boils. Bring the saucepan of water and jars of tomatoes to the boil and LEAVE TO BOIL FOR AT LEAST 20-30 MINUTES. Turn off the stove and remove the jars when the water in the saucepan has cooled. Label your jars and store them away for whenever a recipe calls for peeled tomatoes!

Dried Tomatoes

Recipe by Maria Ciavarella

You could even use some of the smaller tomatoes for this. The flavour is intense and so a little goes far.

Using a dehydrator: cut the tomatoes in half and place cut side up on the trays. Do not salt. Check at intervals because not all the tomatoes will dry at the same rate. Remove them as they dry and place in a dry glass jar.

Using your oven: Cut the tomatoes in half, sprinkle salt over the cut sides and place on an oven tray. Set the oven to low (100 C) and leave the door slightly ajar. Check regularly because they can burn if kept too long.

Making genuine Sun-dried tomatoes: The ideal time is during the hot dry months, so probably January to March in Melbourne. Construct a drying box using polystyrene foam cases, readily available from the greengrocers. Use the ones that have air slits. Cut part of the top off the box so that one of the sides is taller than the other. This allows more sunlight in. Line the inside with Al Foil to reflect some of the heat. Cut the small tomatoes in half lengthwise and sprinkle with cooking salt. Place these on cake cooling trays (the slatted varieties) and then put these in the foam boxes.

If you have any sheet glass panes/perspex handy this will speed up the drying process enormously. Place these on top of the box and face the box so that it gets the most of the afternoon sun. It should be insect proof at this stage. If there is no sheet glass handy, use flynetting on the top of the box. Bring the tomatoes in every night or if it is humid weather. Otherwise they really only take a day or two at the most to dry.

When dry, place them in clean jars and cover with a good quality olive oil. Let the flavours mature for about a month or so. Then use them for a taste burst with fresh crusty bread. The olive oil remaining can be used in salads for a flavoursome change. If you don't want to preserve in oil, the dried tomatoes will freeze well. Try not to eat them all at once as they are delicious!

Pesto

Recipe by Maria Ciavarella

I make this right throughout the basil growing season. The more basil you pick the more it will grow. Extend the growing period even more by cutting off the flowering stalk when you see it growing.

You will need:

2 packed cups of fresh basil
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons pine nuts
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup olive oil

Pan fry the pine nuts until they are just golden (keep close as they are easy to burn).

Put the basil, the garlic, the pine nuts and seasonings in a food processor. Process and trickle olive oil in as the machine is going. This is your pesto sauce.

Use it in dollops over pasta (farfalle or spirale are good) and grate parmesan cheese over it. This amount is ample for 4 large serves of pasta.

Toss some through mixed barbequed vegies to really bring them to life.

Freeze it in meal size portions. It will lose flavour over time but is still delicious.

Pasta with Broad Beans

Recipe by Tiziana Raneri

Ingredients

Broad Beans
1 Clove Garlic
Generous Handful of Parsley
Generous Handful of chives
Handful of Olives
A few chopped anchovies
Olive Oil
Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper.
Pasta

Method

1. De-pod broad beans. If the beans are still tender they are fine, but if they have developed a thick tougher skin, peel them.

2. Put the pasta in salted boiling water and cook until al'dente while you are making the sauce.

3. Quickly stir fry the broad beans with finely chopped garlic, parsley and chives, olives and anchovies.

4. Add a grinding of black pepper and salt.

5. Add some good olive oil and the pasta

6. Serve with shaved parmesan cheese on top.

Pasta with Broccoli

Recipe by Tiziana Raneri

Ingredients

1 Onion, finely chopped
1-2 Heads of chopped broccoli
A few finely chopped anchovies
Some Capers
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Method

1. Get a pot of salted water on the boil.
2. Stir fry the onion in oil in a frying pan.
3. In the pot, start to cook the pasta until al'dente.
4. Add broccoli and fry a little, put a lid on and slowly cook until tender.
5. Add anchovies and capers and cook for a few minutes.
6. Mix through pasta.

Roast Beetroot Dip

Recipe by Anna Thirkell-Johnston

Ingredients

3 large or 5 small Beetroot
I red onion chopped finely
1 large or 2 small garlic cloves
¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 small bunch mint leaves, finely chopped
1 tub of Sour Cream
Juice of ½ a lemon

Method

1. Roast beetroot whole in the oven until roasted through.
2. Allow to cool then peel off skin and dice.
3. Sauté onion, garlic and olive oil until translucent.
4. Add beetroot, spices and lemon juice. Cook stirring for 1 minute.
5. Allow mixture to cool then whiz in a food processor with mint and sour cream until smooth.

Roast Beetroot and Rocket Salad

Recipe by Marika Wagner

Ingredients

3-4 Beetroot
1 large Garlic clove
Two good handfuls of rocket
Cubed goats fetta
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil

Method

1. Preheat a hot oven.
2. Peel and Chop beetroot into 2cm cubes.
3. Put on tray with roughly chopped garlic clove and a generous sloshing of olive oil
4. Roast until cooked through and lightly caramelised on outsides.
5. Remove from oven and cool.
6. Submerge rocket in water in a container for a few minutes. This will dislodge any critters, mulch and dirt from the leaves. Rinse and catch water in container to then return water to the garden.
7. Roughly chop rocket and put in salad bowl.
8. Remove garlic from oil and chop finely, add to rocket along with beetroot and roasting oil. Toss through.
9. Add cubed fetta and balsamic, toss once or twice, serve.

Zucchini Soup

Recipe by Joy Froebel

A creamy and delicious soup that will help use all those darn zucchinis that you don't know what to do with. Also low in carbs and fat for the weight conscious. What more could you want?

Ingredients

Zucchini, even those big oversized ones, scoop out seeds if they've got that far.
Stock, vegetable or chicken
Leek, sliced thinly (or onion and spring onion)
Garlic, chopped
Freshly ground Pepper
Nutmeg
Parmesan Cheese

Method

1. Heat a large, thick bottomed pot with some oil.
2. Slice zucchini (peel if you wish)
3. Saute zucchini, leek, garlic and a pinch of nutmeg in pot
4. Cover with stock
5. Simmer until tender
6. Whiz in a food processor (or use a bamix if you have it, less dishes to clean!)
7. Serve topped with freshly ground pepper and shaved parmesan.

Winter / Spring Stir Fry

Recipe by Marika Wagner

A quick, easy and nutritious meal. Winter and early spring can be seen as a time of little harvest and inspiration, but that doesn't have to be true. Planting garlic chives, spring onions, kaffir lime and Vietnamese mint in spring and plenty of coriander and asian greens in autumn can see you through stirfrys for winter and early spring. Try bok choy, pak choy, mustard greens, giant red mustard, mitsuba, mibuna, mizzuna.

Ingredients

Bunch of Coriander
Bunch of spring onions (just harvest the tops and let the white bits stay in the ground to multiply) Handful of garlic chives
3 kaffir lime (or lemon myrtle)leaves, sliced thinly width ways
3 long sprigs Vietnamese Mint
Packed colander full of mixed Asian greens.
Or whatever is available in the garden!
Noodles or rice
1 large clove or 2 small cloves of garlic, chopped or sliced
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 chopped dry chillies or ½ cup sweet chilli sauce
3 tbsp green curry paste
1 tin coconut cream
Soy Sauce to taste
Halved and sliced onion
Sliced tofu, tempeh, fish or meat

Method

1. Get a pot of water boiling for noodles or start to cook rice.
2. Submerge your picked greens in a container for a few minutes. Any critters, mulch and dirt will then come loose in the water. Rinse, catching the water in the container then return the water with soil and bits back to the garden.
3. Heat a thick based fry pan or wok with some oil and sauté onions for a minute, then add ginger and garlic, sate for 30 seconds 4. Add tofu, tempeh, fish or meat pieces and cook for a few minutes.
5. Cook noodles separately..
6. Add roughly chopped garden greens.
7. Clear some space in the side of the pan, add curry paste, chillies, kaffir lime leaves and cook for a minute.
8. Add soy sauce and coconut cream to curry paste mix, blend then stir through mix.
9. Serve on a bed of rice or stir through noodles.