Pittwater Online News

January 1 - 31, 2025: Issue 638

Summer Salad Season

Summer vegetables and fruits in the best seasonal quality and price; asparagus, citrus varieties, artichokes and lettuce, broad beans and avocados, new potatoes, celery strawberries and bananas are now available. This Issue a few recipes and that combine some of these in dishes that suit the season and will give you great energy. Most of these, if the prep is already done, can be tossed in their dressings and served in 10 minutes, so these are great ideas for those who'd rather spend more time enjoying the season than cooking.

Broad Bean and Zucchini Salad
A mixture of broad beans, zucchini and green spring beans – celery, some home made lemon dressing.

4 medium zucchinis
200g broad beans
2 tbsp olive oil
10 to 15 walnut halves, roughly chopped
100g green beans
For the vinaigrette
2 tbsp lemon juice
100ml olive oil

Make the vinaigrette by whisking the lemon juice and olive oil together with some seasoning, then set aside. Boil a pan of water, add the broad beans and green beans then boil for 2-3 mins. Drain and plunge into iced water, then leave to cool a little before removing the skins. 

Cut the zucchinis into 4-5 pieces on the diagonal. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the courgettes. Cook, stirring for 5-8 mins, until they are a light golden colour. Add the broad beans and some seasoning, and cook for another 30 secs. Remove from the heat and stir in the vinaigrette while still warm. Serve with the chopped walnuts scattered over.


Melon, Bocconcini, Tomatoes and Greens
1 container of 200 g of mini bocconcini
15 ml (1 tbsp.) basil pesto
30 ml (2 tbsp.) olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
24 cherry tomatoes, halved
12 slices of honeydew melon 
30 ml (2 tbsp.) fresh basil, chopped
30 ml (2 tbsp.) pine nuts, lightly toasted
3 handfuls mixed salad greens
Drain the bocconcini and return to its container. Add the pesto and oil. 
Season and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and season.
Serve immediately.

Roasted Artichoke, Eggplant and Capsicums
2 large eggplants 500 grams to 1kg
2 whole Artichokes: strip outer leaves and cut in quarters or eighths if larger
1 large stalk celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal
2 red capsicums, cut into short narrow strips
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley 
1/4 cup chopped black olives
1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, as desired
2 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Green or red leaf lettuce, mixed baby greens

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Place the eggplant, quartered artichokes and capsicum on a baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes, until soft. Remove from the oven. Combine in a serving bowl with just a little of their liquid, along with the remaining ingredients. Toss well.

Pasta with Artichoke hearts, Baby Corn and Parsley
Using a nice pasta is what makes the difference to this dish. We used a homemade mustard seed dressing but you can vary this to suit your own taste.

1 750g packet of pasta
2 x jar 179g artichoke hearts
1 can baby corn
Handful Torn Continental parsley
3 x sliced spring onions
Mustard Vinaigrette
1 glove of garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon seeded mustard
5-6 tablespoons oil (vegetable, corn, canola, olive or some combination)
pinch of dried parsley
pinch of dried thyme
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cook pasta. While this is cooking slice artichoke pieces in half, slice spring onions, tear parsley leaves, and drain can of baby corn. Place salad ingredients in a large bowl. Place all vinaigrette ingredients in a jar or sealable container and shake until blended. 
Drain pasta and place in serving dish and toss through vinaigrette while pasta is still warm. Add vegetable ingredients and toss again. Allow to cool and serve.

Green Bean and Goats Cheese Salad
250-300 grams fresh green beans – blanch slightly and chop into bite sized pieces
1 bunch of asparagus
2 x ripe avocado
½ bunch of parsley 
2 x tomatoes
75 grams of goats cheese

Cut all ingredients into bite-sized  pieces and toss together while the beans are just warm still. Toss in 1 cup of chick peas and toss. Serve with crusty bread. Other ingredients that suit each other in this salad are some fresh sliced pear or pancetta for those who like meat. For those who don't, toss in a cup of freshly cooked chick peas for a protein boost. Nuts such as almonds or pine nuts also work well in this recipe and will give those added vitamins, fats and protein boost.

Baked vegetables salad

Quarter seasonal Autumn vegetables such as zucchini, tomatoes, onions, capsicum and season with salt and pepper, douse with olive oil and bake for around an hour. Leaving the skins on will keep many of the vitamins that are in these in your food. Meanwhile, cook off 1 – 1 ½ cups of lentils of your choice until soft but not falling to bits. Toss lentils and veggies together with some fresh thyme, lemon juice and olive oil while vegetables are still warm. Serve hot or cold.

Tabouli
1/3 cup cracked wheat
2 large tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 cups chopped fresh parsley leaves 
1 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil

Soak the cracked wheat n the lemon juice and olive oil for around 20 minutes. Meanwhile, wash then finely chop the parsley, mint leaves and spring onions. Wash and dice the tomatoes. Toss fresh ingredients into cracked wheat and stir well until all leaves are coated and cracked wheat is throughout the mix. Serve. 

Vegetable Bhajis
500 grams of Besan Flour (chick pea flour – available in health food section of supermarkets or in good fruit ad veg. stores)
4 zucchini (grated)
1 large onion (sliced thin)
4 large mushrooms (sliced)
2 carrots (grated)
2 handfuls fresh green beans - chopped
3 spring onions – chopped
Salt and pepper to season Besan flour
Cold water to mix – or 2 x eggs plus water
Vegetable oil
Spices as below in Onion Bhaji alternative or omit if making for children

Put oven on to 180 degrees and two flat trays in at same time to heat up (this will keep bhajis hot while you cook others – it is also a way to shallow fry them and finish off cooking process in oven, minimising oil use). Place all your prepared vegetables in a bowl, add in the Besan flour and mix so all ingredients are coated. 

Add your wet ingredients – when adding the water you want to form a sticky fairly thick mixture otherwise you will have problems flipping the Bhaji. We only shallow fry these rather then deep frying so we get the taste of the vegetables and besan flour instead of the oil predominating. Heat a frying pan and place about 1cm of oil in. Dollop a tablespoon of mixture in and allow to flatten slightly; stir with spoon to flatten if required. Allow to brown and then flip. Once other side has browned, place on your heated tray in oven to finish cooking and begin next batch. Continue this process until all are cooked. Serve with a nice crisp green salad and fresh hot bread.

Onion Bhaji
100g (4oz) chickpea flour or gram flour
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp baking powder
Salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
25g (1oz) fresh coriander, finely chopped
Cold water, to mix
Vegetable oil, for deep frying

Sift the flour, chilli, turmeric, cumin, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the chopped coriander, onions and chillies and mix well. Preheat the frypan and add oil. Gradually add enough water to the flour mixture to form a thick batter, mixing very well so the onions are well coated. Very carefully drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Drain well on paper towels. Keep warm whilst you cook the remaining bhajis on your oven trays. Serve hot.

Sides
Tamarind Chutney
1/2 lb tamarind, seeded
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups boiling water
1 1/2 tablespoons roasted ground cumin seeds
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black salt
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
Break the tamarind into small pieces and soak in boiling water for one hour. Mash it into a pulp and strain, pressing the tamarind into the strainer to remove all the pulp. Add sugar to the pulp. Mix well. Add the remaining ingredients. Mix and taste. Add more sugar, salt or pepper as needed. Chutney can be refrigerated for two to three months.
Serving suggestion: Tamarind chutney is delicious with samosas, pakoras, and bhajis.

Cucumber Raita
2 Lebanese cucumbers - peeled and thinly sliced
2 cups Greek yoghurt
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Stir together the cucumber, yoghurt, lemon juice, mint, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.