Colourful beet salad

 

These baby beets (and a couple of baby purple carrots) were boiled and then peeled (the skin comes off easily) and dressed with olive oil and salt, plus a sprinkle of fennel leaves. I added onion weed, borage and calendula petals to complete the salad. Very yummy, and pretty! 

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Onion weed and Parmigiano fritters

 

Yeah onion weed time again!! Pick some fat one, as many as you can, wash well the juicy bulbs and chop finely, adding some green stalks and a few flowers. Mix three eggs with 2 tbsp of self raising flour and 3 of grated Parmigiano, add salt and pepper to taste and then the chopped onion weed. Fry in olive oil until golden and crispy. So yum!

 Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Covid-19 lockdown recipe 8: eating weeds

Those who know me also know that I like foraging and to eat a variety of wild food, weeds and flowers. I used to do this a lot as a child, and foraged food was a big part of my diet, but these day I do it mostly for fun, for taste, and for health.  This week I have been back to foraging for necessity, which is the best purpose to forage after all. Strictly this has not been 'foraging' though, but more like weeding. My salad leaves are growing at such a slow speed now that it is painful to watch (and yes, I go and watch them every day!!!) but what is growing in the salad bed at remarkable speed is chickweed! This little weed tends to cover the ground in no time, but it is also yummy, especially the young sprouts, and apparently has plenty of vitamin C, A and Bs. It can be cooked, but I prefer it raw, so here are a few ideas, in case you feel like weeding the garden too!

I made a smoothie with chickweed, feijoas and frozen banana (both the feijoas and banana also came from my garden) and some coconut water as a base. It tasted great and very healthy, similar to a smoothie with fruit and spinach. Ahhh but the satisfaction of having used a weed instead!!

Then, recovering a few salad leaves, and equal part (or more...) of chickweed, I had enough for a salad. I also added a few of the youngest leaves of nasturtium plus some flowers and buds, marigold petals and dianthus. This salad went straight into salad rolls, so it didn't need dressing, but if serving it as a side salad just add a little salt, lemon juice and olive oil.

And here another serving idea: bagel with nut cheese (or cream cheese) and weeds! Chickweed, wild cress and onion weed, all growing wildly in my backyard! So, if we really get into dire straits at least you can say that I taught you how to pick weeds and eat them! 🌱🌿

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Miso Ramen with flowers

This is a quick and easy dinner: I used a mixture of gai lan (Chinese broccoli) which have edible yellow flowers, and broccoli, carrots, onion weeds and two types of seaweed (nori and tororo kombu, a kind of 'hairy' seaweed perfect for soups. I cleaned the vegetables and keep the gai lan and onion weed flowers aside. For the stock I cooked the carrots, broccoli, gai lang stalks and leaves and onion weed bulbs in a litre of lightly salted water, then I lifted the vegetables out and added miso paste (don't boil at this point, just simmer to mix the miso.  I cooked the ramen noodles in another pot, then lifted them out of the water directly in the ramen bowls. Then I topped the noodles with the vegetables and covered everything with miso soup. To finish I added boiled eggs, all the seaweed, and the gai lan and onion weed flowers.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Gnocchi with asparagus and onion weed, and a garden full of colours

The recipe is very quick, since I used bought gnocchi (to make your own click here). Pick some onion weeds, remove the bulbs, wash them and chop them finely. Keep some flowers aside for decoration (and to eat, make sure they don't have the seeds inside yet, these are quite hard!). Wash the asparagus, chop off the very ends and then cut the stalks into bite size pieces. Keep the spears (tips) asides. Gently fry the onion weed bulbs and asparagus stalks with a little olive oil, then add a little vegetable stock, just enough to cover them, and cook until the liquid has reduced to half. Add the asparagus tips and cook for 5 more minutes.  Cook the gnocchi, when they are ready lift them our with a slotted spoon and place in the pot with the asparagus. Add a knob of butter and stir well. Dish and sprinkle with onion weed flowers.

And now a few images from my garden, and a couple of flowers composition for my Pinterest Board!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Oakune Carrot and Beetroot Salad with Feta, Thyme and Edible Flowers

Ohakune is a small town in the North Island of New Zealand, situated 215 kilometres north of Wellington and 292 kilometres south of Auckland. It is located in the Tongariro National Park, at the food of the active volcano Mount Ruapehu. It is also New Zealand’s ‘carrot capital' so after a ski trip there we always get carrots, and other produce (potatoes, beetroots, swedes). 

Recipe: Wash the carrots and beetroots and boil in water (together) until soft but not too much (not mushy!!!). Then rinse under cold water and remove the skins with your fingers (from the carrots too). Cut into bite size pieces. Dress with olive oil, salt and lemon juice, add cubed feta and stir. Place on a plate and add fresh thyme, onion weed flowers and broccolini or friarielli flowers (they are edible and have a lovely peppery taste). Add plenty! These are not decorations, these are to be eaten! And now a few photo of life in the garden!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Baby perlas potatoes two ways: hot 'in padella', and salad with flowers

I received a few potatoes to try from Potatoes New Zealand to celebrate November Means New Potatoes, and here are my first creations.

  I started with baby perlas, which I knew already. These little new potatoes are cute and a real little treat, so they deserve special attention!

I boiled them first (no mint... just cannot bear minted potatoes, sorry Kiwis!) and then I divided them: half I used for salad, I picked the 'bigger' ones and cut them into two pieces, then I mix them with mayonnaise, chopped onion weed bulbs and stalks, nasturtium buds and petals, and Impatiens' petals. 

Keep a few flowers aside for decorations, and onion weed flowers too, if you like. I think that a lot of people now are comfortable with eating nasturtium flowers and buds (I left some buds for decoration too, and for you to see). Buds taste a little like capers. Young tender leaves are nice too (see soup below). Not so many people would eat Impatiens though, or know about them. They taste a little like rocket, and I prefer the red ones, although I always add a few pink ones just because the colour is so pretty. My preference for red ones may be just because I observed the chickens eating all the red ones while leaving behind the other colours, but maybe they are just colour blind? Anyway, I tasted all the colours and decided that the chicken were right... Of course don't eat the flowers if you spray your garden with chemicals!

As for the smaller potatoes, I just heated it some garlic with olive oil in a skillet and then tossed the potatoes around, with an extra good pinch of salt, until hot. Then turned the heat off and added some fresh thyme, another toss, and ecco fatto! Patatine novelle in padella al timo!

I also tried some more potatoes, a variety called Carrera, which I used to make one of my classic spring soup, with asparagus and onion weed and flowers (yes, using lots of onion weeds and flowers, my Spring staples!), and you can find the recipe here, just substitute the agria potato for the Carrera potatoes and you are done!

Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Strangolapreti (Strozzapreti), with silverbeet, onion weed and sage flowers

I had lots and lots and lots of silverbeet and Swiss chard in the garden, I filled a big basket and though of a recipes to use them all, plus the omnipresent onion weed, plus flowering sage. Strangolapreti is a type of gnocchi made either with spinach or with silverbeet, plus bread crumbs or stale bread. 

First divide the leaves from the stalks and wash well (the stalks will be used in a different recipe)

Then cook the leaves with a little water and a pinch of salt, drain, add the raw onion weed (well washed) and blend.

Place into a bowl, add a couple of tbsp of grated Parmigiano, and some breadcrumbs, enough ti get a soft dough. If using stale bread grate it to breadcrumbs (if very dry), or soak it in milk and break it up, if not dry enough to grate. Add salt and pepper to taste, and if you like add one egg (it will keep the 'gnocchi' more 'together'. 

Shape into longish gnocchi, more or less the size of a cotton bobbin. 

Bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Add the strangolapreti one by one, and if you have big quantities cook just a plate at the time. They will loose some green bits during cooking, but not their shape (unless you did something wrong!) Pick them up when they rise to the surface and place them in a plate.

Drizzle with butter, melted in a pan with a few sage leaves, and sprinkle with fresh sage flowers (and onion weed flowers too, if you like). Add more Parmigiano and serve hot.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Halloumi with onion weed bulbs, flowers and thyme

The beautiful white and crunchy bulbs of onion weeds to me taste even better than spring onion, plus you can eat the leaves and flowers too (although here I just had the bulbs and a few flowers.

Nothing could be easier than this dish! Pull out the onion weeds from your garden (while weeding) or from any field where they abound (like here in Oratia), wash and clean, remove the outer skin of the bulbs and sauté in a pan with just a little olive oil. Add the Halloumi and cook on on both sides. No need to add salt as the cheese is already salty and its juices will coat the onion weed too. Finish with a few sprigs of fresh thyme (if you like) and some onion weed flowers (just use the flowers which have not formed a seed  pod yet). Serve with salad or in a burger bun, or with pita and olives, or how you like. You will be digging for more onion weed bulbs in no time!

 For more recipe ideas with onion weed click here

For more recipe ideas with edible flowers click here

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Carrot leaf fritters, Vegan and gluten free

Having munched through everything green in the veggie garden I am left with the leaves of carrots, I usually make frittata with them, or fritters, and this time I tried a vegan experiment which was very successful (the kids looooved them). To be repeated soon, in the meantime here is the recipe.

Pick your carrots (mine are always small, since they grow in clay soil poor things). Keep the leaves, wash them well and remove the thicker stalks (a bit like cleaning parsley really).

To make the vegan batter I used the liquid from a can of chickpeas, two tbsp of chickpea flour, a good pinch of salt (or two), and the tip of tsp each of ground cumin, ground coriander and ground turmeric.

Then I added the carrot leaves

At this point you can add a chopped spring onion, or some chopped onion, or chives, but since I picked my first onion weeds I added a couple, bulb, stems and leaves, You can also add the flowers, but I kept them for decoration (i.e. to take the photo!). 

Spoon into a frying pan with hot vegetable oil and cook on both sides until crispy.

Drain on kitchen paper, sprinkle with salt (optional) and then serve, hot or cold, with a good squirt of lemon juice.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Asparagus and onion weed soup

I have been cleaning the garden for planting and picked a few onion weeds with some nice juicy bulbs, plus some little potatoes and cavolo nero, so I put everything into a soup, with the addition of some asparagus, and vegetable stock. I blended everything (but left our a few whole steamed asparagus tips to add later) and used some onion weed and pansy flowers for decoration.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Pea, onion weed and feta dip, and butter peas with onion weed, again!

Spring recipe for New Zealand! Personally I find frozen peas a bit boring, but I love the colour, plus the frozen ones are so cheap, and if you add some onion weeds, which are free, and a little butter and salt, you have a quick and delicious side veggie. Plus you can use the leftovers to make a low cost dip just by adding a little feta. 

For the peas, just clean and chop the onion weed (bulbs, stem and leaves, leave the flowers aside for decorations, they can be eaten too!). Melt a dollop of butter and add the chopped onion weeds, then add the frozen peas (don't boil the first, it is not necessary) and a little salt. Stir, cover and simmer (add a tiny bit of water when needed, but never too much). Enjoy!! 

With the leftover peas, just blend them with some feta and some of the brine from the feta (if you feta has no brine use a little water). Add more raw onion weed if you like a stronger taste. Super yummy on bread and crostini, with chips, eggs, salads or as a spread.

And now a photo of my cat Nikita

And of my garden! Happy weekend!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©