I’ve had a couple of new things to harvest this week: beetroot which I haven’t had for awhile and spearmint which I am enjoying in tea. I also have been cooking a few different things this week. A change of seasons thing perhaps…
I found a recipe for Smoked Trout and Pea risotto, the leek, celery and parsley were all used in it. I think it sounded better than it tasted – but perhaps that’s because I used a hot smoked trout rather than than cold smoked version that I generally prefer….none of this is the fault of these lovely vegetables though.
Avocados seem particularly cheap in Melbourne at the moment so this coriander went into some particularly delicious guacamole.
We had barbecued haloumi & chorizo on a bed of lettuce & watercress. I made a beetroot, carrot and Freekeh salad to go with it. It was my first try cooking freekeh and I have to say I really enjoyed it – the rest of the family though were fairly ambivalent. Mr almost 2 threw his on the floor. Oh the joys of feeding preschoolers….
The purple sprouting broccoli was a side dish for a roast chicken.
My daughter had a cold and as she requested noodle soup I felt obliged to make it – spearmint, mint, Vietnamese mint, Spring Onions, Coriander and a previously hidden chilli to go in it:
And now for my parsley adventures – if you read my Monday Harvest post last week you will know that I harvest parsley most days but don’t always mention it because I had run out of ways to photograph it. Well this week I bring you: Parsley in unusual places.
Do you ever conceive ideas and then get a bit disappointed when the end result is not quite what you envisaged? (I had big plans for a beautiful gingerbread house for my daughters fairytale themed 5th birthday party – she got the house, but decrepit was a better description that beautiful….) Well this parsley project was a bit like that, I was picturing an inventive series of snaps with parsley in slightly surreal situations. What you get instead is parsley ‘planking’ on top of a variety of garden features. I still had fun taking them though.
For the record this week I used parsley in: Puttanesca sauce, Fritters, stock, tabbouleh and the freekeh salad and risotto mentioned above.
For more Monday Harvests have a look at Daphne’s Dandelions.
I always enjoy reading about your harvests! And your parsley photos are awesome! I particularly like the statue that appears to be blowing a parsley bugle! Cheers!
That’s my favourite as well. Did you know that the link on here doesn’t work – I think its because you need to add a .com on the end.
Thanks, Liz. I forgot the dot com. Silly me 🙂
Tabbouleh is my favorite. I think I will have some at luch today. Thanks for the idea!
I love the parsley in the raptors mouth. 😀 That made my day.
Thanks Barbie – I love that raptor – he’s lost his legs (unfortunate incident involving a then 18 month old boy….) but I still love him.
I feel your pain when your kids just throw your veggies on the floor. We have a Mrs. 7 & 9 year old’s that think almost anything that comes from dads garden is gross. It makes it hard to keep them happy when all they will eat from the garden is potatoes. I’m glad I found your blog, it’s interesting to see what’s growing on the other side of the world this time of year.
Thanks for leaving a comment! I have a five year old as well as Mr almost 2 and she is a good and varied eater (not perfect by any means though) She is also addicted to cooking shows on telly, which is probably less good…..but it does mean she’s been indoctrinated into trying things and then saying how wonderful they taste…..he he – if only all TV could be used for good…
Very creative approach to the parsley pics! I enjoy reading about how you are using your harvest almost as much as seeing the harvests themselves.
Thanks, I enjoy cooking and have a tendency to get bored easily so I do vary what we eat a bit – it also is a tactic against the kids whinging too much about one particular dish – this way they can whinge about many…..
oh how I can understand the woes of trying to feed a preschooler! I always hesitate to give him much of anything from my garden for fear he will waste what I worked so hard to grow! He has after much persistence on my part begun to enjoy peppers without spitting them out! 😉
Those are cute little pictures!
Peppers – very sophisticated! I do find though persistence seems to be key doesn’t it. The cycle of throw onto floor, mum gets upset is doomed to continue in the hope he’ll eventually like broccoli………….hmmm perhaps I should work on one vegetable at a time.
I love parsley, and your photos! It’s underrated in the kitchen, I think. It’s a must in chicken noodle soup. Have you tried it in pesto?
Funnily enough one of my very early posts was on Parsley Pesto – love the stuff.
Your herbs are beautiful and dinner at your house sounds like it is always a culinary event. I enjoyed the creative photos of parsley, certainly a change from the ordinary “this is the sprig of parsley I cut this week” photos.
Thanks Dave, Unfortunately I noticed that a lot of my parsley is going to seed – perhaps next week they will have to be photos of coriander….
I love the idea of the parsley pictures!
Liz, can I come and eat at your place?? Think I’m only just around the corner really – we also reside in Melbourne’s northern suburbs and love it. I love to cook also, but your meals always look and sound fabulous. My food eating (as opposed to breastfeeding) preschooler is a terrible eater, but thankfully she rarely throws it on the floor. Usually she takes three tiny bites then pushes it away, the only vegetable she consistently eats is mushrooms – of course something I don’t grow.
Love the parsley pictures too and as mentioned in my blog a while ago it grows rampantly in my garden. It really is a must have in pretty much every meal isn’t it?
I have one fabulous eater and one occasionally OK eater. The fabulous one doesn’t eat everything but she will try everything which is all you can ask really. The other I make excuses for as he’s still learning I guess and like all children has his good and bad days. I’ve just weaned him so I am newly conscious of making sure he’s getting a reasonable amount of nutrients from his food and there are days when I get a bit stressed about it but he’ll get there I’m sure. My mother always says my brother didn’t eat a vegetable until his late teens and he survived so…..
Greetings from Japan… looks like you have had a good harvest… the beetroot gives a good contrast to the greens…