Spinach

Hi everyone,

This week our bags have lovely Spinach which is a great fast food. After a thorough wash (it can be very gritty), you destem the leaves then pack them in a pot and steam them in the water left clinging to the leaves. Cooking will take about 2-3 minutes then you can serve it straight up with a knob of Butter or a drizzle of Olive Oil. For a really delicious sidedish sauté a few chopped cloves of Garlic in Butter then throw on the Spinach, mix everything together well and serve. For a maincourse add some cream and Parmesan and you’ve got a very quick pasta sauce. This week’s recipe is a pasta dish but without the cream as I’m sure that we’d all like to hit the beach at some stage this year…………..

spinach

Pasta with Spinach, Garlic and Black Olives (for 3-4 people)

You’ll need:

250-300gr Spinach (about what you have in your bag this week)
5 Cloves Garlic
Butter
Olive oil
Handful of stoned Black Olives roughly chopped
Pasta (whatever you like)
Parmesan Cheese

First of all stick on the kettle for the pasta (this dish is fast) Wash and destem your spinach then roughly shred it. Stem the leaves as described above then wring out any water with your hands as soon as it cools down.
While the Spinach is cooling stick on the pasta.
Chop the Garlic then gently sauté it in a large knob of Butter and some Olive Oil. When the Garlic has softened (don’t let it change colour as it’ll start to burn very quickly after that) add the Spinach and toss well to make sure it all gets coated in Butter and Garlic. When the pasta is cooked drain it and mix into the pasta adding some more Butter and Olive Oil aswell as a couple of tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan and the Olives.
Season with Salt and Pepper and serve immediately.

Spinach is, of course, fab in all kinds of salads and sambos.Try it with sundried Tomatoes, toasted Pinenuts and Goat’s Cheese or with Walnuts and Feta. Dress with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar and serve with a simple Omelette or some fish.

Hope you enjoy these recipes,
Have a great week,
Sarah

Sweet Potato and Spinach

Hi everyone,

This week our selections all feature the makings of a lovely vegetarian Thai curry- Sweet Potato (very similar to Butternut Squash and can be baked or boiled and mashed like a regular spud if you don’t fancy the curry idea) and Spinach.

If you’re worried that this recipe might be a bit longwinded don’t be. Thai curries are relatively fast to put together and don’t require nearly as much cooking as many Indian curries you might have tried. Basically, you prepare  your ingredients (in this case this involves boiling or steaming the Sweet Poato, washing and chopping the Spinach and finally, frying up cubes of Tofu) beforehand then throwing them into some Coconut Milk mixed with Green Curry Paste (this you can buy in any of the Asian markets), cooking  the lot for about 5 minutes and hey presto dinner ready and it’s soooooooo tasty (I sent out this recipe a couple of years ago and have rarely had so much positive feedback about a dish)

Thai Green Curry with Sweet Potato, Spinach and Tofu (serves 3-4)

What you’ll need:

500gr Tofu

600gr Sweet Potato (about what you have in your bag this week)

400gr Spinach (about what you have in your bag this week)

Thai Green Curry Paste

400 ml Coconut Milk

2 Limes

Fish Sauce (Nam Pla)  or Salt if you’re veggie

1-2 cups Vegetable Stock or Water

Rice

I’ve divided the instructions into stages so it’s as clear as possible.

1. Rice - Get it done at the beginning so it’s not a big panic later. I use Thai Jasmine Rice but it’s up to you.

3. Tofu – Most people I know don’t rate Tofu at all and I think it’s because it’s very rarely prepared properly. Tofu is like a sponge – it doesn’t really taste of anything but is brilliant at soaking up other flavours so it’s great in this kind of dish. When you buy Tofu it comes packaged in water and is quite waterlogged (that weird silken stuff in a box is not what I’m talking about so steer clear) so you need to squeeze some of this out to make room for the other flavours. To do this, cut the Tofu into sheets about 1 inch thick and place them on a chopping board. Cover the Tofu with another chopping board wh then put something heavy like a big pan of of water on top of this so the Tofu gets pressed and some of the water is forced out. If possible, tilt the bottom board slightly by putting a folded cloth under one side so the water can run off. Leave for about 30 minutes, then get rid of all the water that’s been squeezed out and chop the Tofu into cubes. Heat a little vegetable oil in a pan and fry the cubes until golden.

3. Sweet Potato – while the Tofu is draining peel and chop the Sweet Potato into bitesize pieces,  bring to the boil in salted water then simmer until cooked. When it’s done drain and set aside.

4. Spinach – When all the above has been set up and is cooking or draining prepare the Spinach by removing the stems, washing and roughly shredding it.

5. Putting it all together

Once you’ve got all the ingredients sorted heat a dash of Oil in a wok or pan then add 2 Tablespoons (or 2.5 if you really like it hot but please, please ignore any instructions on the packaging that says you’ll need about 3 times that amount because believe me it’ll end in tears) of Thai Green Curry Paste. Stirfry the paste in the Oil for a moment then add 400ml Coconut Milk gradually allowing the Paste and Milk to mix properly together. To this you can add the grated zest of a lime and then the Sweet Potato, Tofu and Spinach.Sesaon with a little Salt or a dash of Fish sauce iof you aren’t vegetarian. Stir for about 5 minutes until the Spinach has fully wilted adding a cup or 2 of vegetable stock or water if things start to dry up. To serve add a squeezing of Lime and eat with the Rice. Yummy!!!!!!!!!!!

Market Watch

Loads of you are planning to make Marmalade so we’ll be getting in more Seville Oranges next week. They cost 3.20E per kilo. If you’d like some just let us know. I’m not  a marmalade maker myself  but my friend Margaret who makes amazing preserves will be giving me recipes which I’ll post on the blog http://homeorganics.wordpress.com/over the next few days.

Hope you enjoy the curry,

Have a fantastic weekend,

Sarah

Spinach and Chickpea Gratin with Crème Fraiche and Parmesan

Hi everyone,

This week we have lovely Spinach from Co. Wicklow in all our bags and my recipe is for my current favourite dinner (well one of them anyway), a gratin of Chickpeas with a rich Tomato sauce topped with Crème Fraiche and Parmesan. It’s very easy and especially nice served with shortgrain brown rice which brings a nice nuttiness to the dish.

Spinach and Chickpea Gratin with Crème Fraiche and Parmesan

Start by making your Tomato sauce – roughly chop a large (or 2 small) Onions and begin cooking at a low to medium heat in a generous dash of Olive Oil until soft and beginning to change colour. You can also put on your brown rice as it takes between 30 – 40 minutes although soaking it first will bring this down to about 20 minutes and is, apparently, far better for you. Anyway, when the Onions are ready add 4-5 cloves of Garlic roughly chopped and a little chilli and keep cooking until everything is nice and soft (another 5-10 minutes) then add 2 tins of chopped Tomatoes, a generous teaspoon Sugar and season with Salt and Pepper. Continue to cook until everything has reduced by at least half and is a gorgeous rich, dark red. While the Tomato is cooking get on with the other ingredients…

Prepare your Spinach by removing any thick stalks and washing it well. Wilt it in a pot or pan. There’s no need to add any water for this as there’s enough with what is left clinging to the leaves after you wash it. When it has wilted (this will take no longer than 1-2 minutes) put it in a colander so as much water as possible can drain off. Drain a tin of Chickpeas and rinse well. Grate 3 Tablespoons  Parmesan and mix with 3 Tablespoons Breadcrumbs.

To put the dish together, squeeze any excess water from the spinach and arrange in an oven dish in clumps the size of small dumplings. Add the Chickpeas and Tomato sauce. The dish should be quite shallow and with the Chickpeas, Tomato sauce and Spinach about 1-2 cms deep. Dot the top with Crème Fraiche (you’ll need about 2/3 tub for this) and top the lot with the Breadcrumbs and Parmesan.

Bake in a hottish oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

This week’s bags have, what I imagine will be, the last of this year’s Celeriac and last night I mixed it with Potatoes, pan-fried Onions, Garlic and Green Chilli and cooked in a vegetable stock.  We ate this with Lamb and a Yoghurt and Mint sauce and it went down a treat………..

Crushed Celeriac and Potatoes with Sautéed Onions, Garlic and fresh Green Chili

Begin by slicing a largish Onion and sautéing in Olive Oil in a pot or pan until soft and beginning to change color. While the Onion is cooking peel and chop your Celeriac into large bite-sized piece. Peel and chop roughly the same quantity of Spuds. When the Onions are done add 4 roughly chopped cloves Garlic and 1/2 Fresh Green Chili chopped. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the Garlic has softened then throw in the Celeriac and Spuds. Add 700ml of vegetable stock and a little Salt and Pepper, bring everything to the boil then turn down the heat and cook until the veg has softened (but not turned to complete mush) and the stock has evaporated. The end result should be like a very roughly mashed mash (if you know what I mean!) as the spuds will fall apart but most of the Celeriac will keep its shape.

Hope you enjoy these recipes, for organic food delivery in Dublin, check out our site.

Have a great weekend,

Sarah