Globe Artichokes with Summer Green Dip

Delicious? Absolutely! This recipe makes for the perfect starter dish for lovers of good food and it is also really easy to create.
This being the first time I had tried these little beauties from Riverford, I was well impressed with the outcome, such a delicate and graceful way to enjoy veg, just sorry I didn’t get to it sooner!
Nice one Guy 🙂
If you haven’t tried these yet, it’s time to get your veg box on and enjoy the wonders of nature!

Ingredients:
2x Organic Globe Artichokes
1x Small plant of Summer Greens
1x Vine Tomato
Approx 75ml Homemade Almond Milk
Dash of Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Method:
Wash and shake the artichokes, cut away the stalk and remove all the rough, outer leaves.
Boil in a pan for approx 35 minutes.
When the artichokes are ready use the same pan and boil the cabbage and tomato for approx 3 minutes.
Add them to a blender, add all other ingredients and blend for 1 minute.
Serve immediately and enjoy the divine 🙂

The best way to eat this vegetable is to pull off a leaf at a time, dip it in the sauce then gently glide your teeth from the top of the leaf to the bottom and slide out the ‘meaty’ bit! I loved trying them without the sauce first to appreciate both ways. Once you have finished each leaf pile them up and repeat until you get down to the flowery part. Satisfyingly delightful and very tasty!

Advertisement

Cardoon & Squash ‘Hungry Gap’ Spring Wraps

Fresh Cardoons from Riverford

Spring Wraps

 

It is indeed Riverford on the menu again…as ever! Well You just can’t beat perfection and they’ve got exactly what I need. Nowhere else can bring it quite like these guys. Every ingredient bar the salt comes from them on a normal week and I always try to keep it this way. It is just the healthiest way I know. Organic rocks.

If you haven’t heard of them yet, check them out >>Riverford Organic Farms<< Their food is so fresh, so organic and is absolutely bursting with natural flavours! Never did I think I could enjoy vegetables as much as I do now, being an organic vegan. Buying from Riverford has changed my life and I can really feel the difference in my diet and overall well-being. It’s great!

Recently I discovered Cardoons, one of Guy’s projects. Car-what? Yes I know, quite a bizarre name they have isn’t it?! I had never heard of them either, until this year and oh how fabulous they are.

They look like a Grandpa version of celery but definitely do not taste like it, more like artichoke! As described to me, they are indeed very bitter, they must be good for us then, right?

Accompanied by butternut squash they sure sweetened up a treat and they helped make a very impulsive decision turn into a quick and delicious meal. Inspired by this Rutabaga Wrap recipe, this is the cardoon re-vamp.

Make my Squash & Cardoon Spring Wraps:

Main Ingredients:

4″ medium Butternut Squash
3 stems Cardoons
1 Spring Onion
3 large Pointed Cabbage Leaves
5 small Beetroot Green Leaves

Dressing:

4 tsp Olive Oil
1 small clove raw Garlic
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
Pinch of Pepper
Pinch of Salt

Method:

Wash all the vegetables and leaves
Chop away the fluffy leaves and peel away the fibrous ribs using a knife or peeler (this mainly applies to the very outer stems, I felt the inside ones were fine unpeeled)
Chop the cardoons and spring onion
Thinly slice the squash
Crush the garlic (do not cook)
Lightly steam all the veg for 5 minutes
Lay out the cabbage leaves and place the squash onto them, share out the cardoons and spring onions equally, sprinkling on top.
Add the beetroot leaves for a vibrant touch and for extra goodness

Mix all the dressing ingredients together and slowly drizzle over the inside of the wraps
Fold over the leaves
Maybe drizzle a little more dressing over, whatever works for you.

Take a deep breath.

Enjoy!

I cooked a bunch of cardoons, with this recipe and I had a few chopped pieces on the side of the plate as well as in the wraps. A few were left over so I kept them in the remains of the dressing and popped them in the fridge overnight. Upon returning to the situation I was amazed at the way they had soaked up the flavour…yum. Goodness me – awesome veggies! They seriously owned that sauce!

Try something new

 

Recipe: Hemp & Almond Dip

So good!

Bud-Hearts

Ingredients:

3 tsp Hemp Hearts
3/4 Avocado
10ml Almond Milk
1 tsp Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Turmeric
1/4 tsp Salt

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl with a fork.
Transfer into a clean bowl and serve.
Dip in!

View original post

Recipe: Hemp Hearts Avocado Quartz

Yum!

Bud-Hearts

Ingredients:

3tsp Hemp Hearts
1x Avocado
1tsp Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Cayenne
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp Turmeric
1/4 tsp Salt

Method:

Slice an Avocado into quarters and peel away the skin.
Mix all the other ingredients together thoroughly in a bowl.
In the indents of the Avocado add small spoonfuls of the mixture.
Serve and enjoy!

View original post

Organic Anti-Candida Spicy Springtime Recipe

This plate of food tasted amazing, like a vegetable curry and I just totally winged it so excuse the quantities please!

This dish is to keep Candida overgrowth at bay in a delicious way as well as being great for promoting weight loss.

Swede (Rutabaga) is known to help combat candida as are spices so feel free to add amounts to your taste. Bear in mind that too much swede will write of the weight loss factor in this recipe.

Main dish:

1″ thick small Swede
Small bunch of Purple Sprouting Broccoli (leaves removed)
A few leaves of Spring Greens or 1 small head (depending on the wildness of the crop)
5″ of Leek
2 sticks of Asparagus

Sauce:

1/2 a Cauliflower’s leaves
All the leaves from the Broccoli
A sprinkle of Turmeric
A sprinkle of Cayenne Pepper
A sprinkle of Black Pepper
A sprinkle of Cumin
Approx. 1/2 Ounce Water *non-organic

All vegetables are from Riverford Organic Farm – please visit their site Riverford.co.uk for the freshest food the UK has to offer.

Method:

Wash all the vegetables.
Cut away the leaves for the sauce and put to one side.
Chop the swede, spring greens and leek into small amounts.
Half the asparagus.
Steam all the veg for about 7 minutes.
Remove the veg and drain.
Add the leaves for the sauce, the spices and the water to the blender.
Blend until smooth.
Arrange the vegetables on a plate and decorate with the sauce.
ENJOY!

I really hope you enjoy this dish. I was so happy it tasted like a curry! 🙂

 

Spring Greens – Riverford

Unruly and delicious! Spring Greens from Riverford are a huge spring hit, come to think of it so is every single food we are gifted in Spring. Nearly every week I have had these added to the order and they are the perfect hardy greens. These immature cabbages with wild style leaves certainly add character to any kitchen. Spring Greens are mostly like Kale as they do not have the hard head at the centre, I like to call them baby cabbages and they are a real source of nourishment if not over cooked. I just steam mine for around 5 minutes to loosen up all the goodies!

They do not have an overpowering ‘cabbagey’ taste which makes them perfect for adding to the boys mash for their dose of greenery!
Low in calories and bursting with nutrient goodness this vegetable is not one to be missed. Containing high levels of Vitamins A, C & K, and with fiber, iron and calcium all included too Spring Greens surely are a winner for the heart.

Check them out for yourself for only £1.75 per 350g from Riverford.co.uk.

 🙂

Soaking Time!

All beans are soaked in this house as it helps to break down the indigestible compounds, leaving our guts feeling much happier. It also evens out and reduces the cooking time as the beans are softer and more susceptible to the heat. Making soaking frugal and earth friendly, a righteous choice all round 😀

UK Broad Beans in soak.

Organic Wild Garlic from Riverford

Amazing! Yes, I just tried these amazing leaves for the first time in a Wild Garlic and Cayenne Spring Salad that I made and it complemented everything just right. Collectively the salad was a very delicious one and these little beauties now have a place in our home.

The Riverford delivery arrived yesterday and I couldn’t help but nibble some of the fresh Wild Garlic leaves straight out of the bag. I think the plant tastes fantastic, most definitely fresh! Hello organic!

To get your hands on some of this green magic visit Riverford.co.uk and put an order in today 🙂

In season at The Farm – A Box Full Of Beans!

 

Riverford is at it again, packing the boxes to full potential with the best of the season and ever thankful are we (my family) as devoted customers. Thank You 🙂

These beans that I speak of are the classic Organic Broad Beans that are currently in season and in the vegetable boxes on The Farm.
They can be purchased at Riverford Organic Farms through the online store via the Fruit and Veg section using the link above in this post. The beans also come with free recipes about them that can be found in the recipe section via this link here.

Now, which recipes to follow with all these beans, hope my boys have a healthy appetite this week as I have one for trying out new things 😀

If you don’t already know about Riverford, where have you been?! They are a superb organic farming company with 3 main farms in this country and a couple in France. The staff work extremely hard to provide an abundance of fresh and a truly nourishing range of foods and beverages. Vegetables, fruit, meat, dairy, drinks of all sorts, bakery goods and handy items for the home can all be found on their well thought-out website – Riverford.co.uk.

They do a range of boxes if you fancy refreshing your diet and changing up your shopping list with just a few clicks, or there are different sections for you to choose your own produce and make your own list. It is all organic and delivery is free providing you spend £12.50, already sounding good right? When you place a regular order through me you will get a box free and a free recipe book 🙂 Sounding fab now isn’t it. Always wanted to make the jump over to deliciousness from mundane supermarket aisles, online stores and not so great foods that are chemically dangerous instead of healthy? Now is your chance, and best of all the overall price you spend will be a tiny fraction more than what you spend now because you will have pure quality health over quantity and affordability.

The guys at this company totally changed my life around, I am so happy with the nourishment and well-being I get from eating Riverford’s outstanding organic foods that I spend next to £0 on impulse foods. The budget is set and we know we are always getting a great deal.
An honest and friendly member of the team will arrive every week on the day allocated to your area without fail with smiles and boxes full of goodies, you will know it is them at the door as I swear the boxes glow!

If you would like to place and order and receive the free welcome gifts stated please do get in touch via our Contact Page and we can get you set on your way within minutes. If you would prefer to trial them yourself then pop over to the website give them a try, or alternatively you could call them on 01803 762059. Trust me you will never loose out or feel hard done by and you will probably never look back if I am honest.

You can feel the quality instantly and then when you live it, you know.

For a further detailed review on the farm in Hampshire please see a previous article I wrote on The Farm.

Peace.

 

 

THANK YOU RIVERFORD HAMPSHIRE – WE LOVE YOU

Pak Choi is back!

Boy am I glad to say that!

This member of the cruciferous family, at an average of around 105mg of Calcium per 100g of raw Pak Choi, is a delicate source of greens, truly an Asian treasure. A treasure that was definitely on this weeks list! That level of Calcium is ranking higher than Broccoli per 100g and seeing as this veg is also rich in Vitamin C it is most definitely therefore making its into my families meal times wherever possible. I just love raw food and discovering the true goodness of the Chinese cabbage really made me listen in and focus (well try to, given the stage of the moon we are in).
Our source of Pak Choi comes from Riverford Organic Farms where it arrives in a beautiful, clean, well packed condition.
Pak Choi is a delicious addition to any meal and can be enjoyed lightly cooked (steamed or lightly stir fried) or eaten raw in salads where this vegetable holds the most nutritional value. It has smooth and tender, large, thin leaves on a crunchy stalk with a mild ‘green’, pleasant and earthy taste.
I used some tonight in a soup where a habanero totally drowned any other flavour out so I took an after nibble sometime later and in fact after actually trying Pak Choi raw on its own again, has reminded me how wonderful this cabbage can be in a salad and with my new style of salad I am sure it will go down a treat for tomorrows testings.
Also known as Bok Choy and several other names this leafy wonder is booming full of nutrients containing high levels of Vitamins A, C and B-6 whilst also gifting small amounts of Iron and Magnesium, providing us with a healthy boost of brain and body functioning power!
I can roll with that, it is such a handsome veggie after all!