Spring Vege Bag - Week 2

Written By Crooked Vege

Click on any vegetable that has a link to see previous posts with recipes and cooking tips. You can also browse the filter the whole vege bag archive by vegetable here.

This week we have:

  1. Salad (Ahoaho māra kai)

  2. Coriander (Ahoaho māra kai) or Microgreens (Crooked Vege Ōtaki)

  3. Cabbage or Chard (Common Property)

  4. Carrots (Crooked Vege Ōtaki)

  5. Pumpkins (Crooked Vege Ōtaki/Live2Give Organics)

  6. Beetroot (Live2Give Organics)

  7. Potatoes (Mingiroa Farm)

Vege highlights/suggested uses

Riffs on Pumpkin Soup

In the establishing years of Crooked Vege, before we had any infrastructure (or income), and before we were producing much diversity (we’ve increased production nearly 10x since last winter!) I pretty much survived on pumpkins through the winters. So I’ve found a few ways to keep pumpkin soup interesting.

Probably you know how to make a pumpkin soup, and I personally prefer “suggestions” over precise recipes in the kitchen. So I’ll just suggest a few of my favourite flavour combinations.

  1. Soy sauce or miso paste, coriander, HEAPS of ginger and some kind of acid (preferably rice vinegar or lemon). Add peanut butter or tahini for a satay spin. Or add a sweet chilli for a sort of sweet and sour.

  2. Turmeric, coriander, coconut cream, ground cumin and coriander seeds, cinnamon, chilli, garam masala - and any other Indian spices you like. I often add curry leaf and tamarind (citrus or vinegar work fine too).

  3. Pho’ inspired. I’m a big fan of this Vietnamese soup, and the spice combinations work well in other dishes.
    Cinamon, cardomom (black cardamom is preferable, but harder to find - stocked at Bin Inn and various asian supermarkets), coriander, ginger, star anise, cloves, fennel seeds (don’t worry if you don’t have all of those). Beef (or other) broth, fish sauce (or soy), lime. An important part of the Pho’ flavour is to char onions and ginger (take off the blackened parts), which adds a lot of depth. Don’t be shy with the amounts of spice you throw in.

  4. “Curry” - my lazy/tired option. Throw any curry paste I have in the fridge - green curry, penang, etc - whatever floats your boat.

Throwing some toasted seeds, microgreens or finely diced herbs on top when serving is a cheap way of making an easy dinner feel a bit fancy.
Roasting the pumpkin, garlic and onion before blending adds a load of depth!

Ka kite ano,
Jon

Crooked Vege
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Spring Vege Bag - Week 1