Autumn Vege Bag - Week 7
This week we have
Salad (from Ahoaho māra kai)
Zucchini (Ahoaho māra kai)
Kale (Ahoaho māra kai)
Red Onions or Aubergine (Ahoaho māra kai)
Lebanese cucumbers (x2) or Tomatoes (Crooked Vege)
Spinach or Basil (Crooked Vege)
Carrots (Crooked Vege Ōtaki)
Golden Beets (Crooked Vege Ōtaki)
Vege highlights, tips & recipes
Kale
Kale is a really important weather crop in climates like ours. Although Kale was reasonably uncommon in Aotearoa a few decades ago, it’s been a staple crop in places like Ireland (with a similar temperate maritime climate). Not only is it one of the few crops that reliably produces in cooler, damper and darker conditions of winter, it’s one of the most nutritionally packed greens available.
De-stemming
Personally I prefer to take the fibrous stems out. This video is a quick demo of the easiest way to do so.
Uses
It’s easy to include in a stir fry or a curry, but I also use it in the same ways I would silverbeet or spinach.
A classic Irish winter dinner or side is Colcannon - basically mashed potatoes with kale, bacon and onion/garlic. Here’s an example recipe.
My favourite way to use kale is as the green in a saag curry.
Here’s a simple recipe I often use as a base. This recipe calls for mustard leaves, but kale works great too. I usually add some paneer, tofu, chicken or other vegetables.
In general, the recipes on Hebbar’s Kitchen blog are pretty good - just search “Saag” (which loosely means “greens” in Hindi) or “Palak” (spinach) for a bunch of variations.
A couple of notes about the saag recipe:
The slightly less common ingredients can be easily substituted. Garlic works well instead of asofoetida, and any frying oil or butter works for ghee. New World Ōtaki might carry ghee and asafoetida, but otherwise Sai Spice Superette at Paraparaumu beach has a great range of indian ingredients (it’s the only place I’ve seen fresh curry leaf in Kapiti - albeit imported from Fiji) - the couple who run it are lovely and very helpful.
The recipe uses a pressure cooker. I don’t own one, so I simply steam the greens before dropping into a sink of cold water (this preserves the strong green colour), before blending and cooking down with the spices and garlic. It’s also unlike you own a “kadai” - any pot or wok will work.
—
Ka kite ano,
Jon
