Winter Vege Bag - Week 4
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
Spinach (from Ahoaho māra)
Kale or Radish (Ahoaho māra kai)
Carrots (Ahoaho māra kai)
Potatoes (Ahoaho māra kai)
Microgreens or Chillis (Crooked Vege Ōtaki)
Coriander or Parsley (Crooked Vege Ōtaki)
Silverbeet or Collard Greens (Crooked Vege)
Pumpkin (Crooked Vege)
Vege highlights, tips & recipes
Collard Greens, Kale, Silverbeet
Collard Greens are popular in the southern parts of the USA. These are an heirloom variety - it’s a little similar to kale, but more tender (the stems taste crunchy and sweet and aren’t stringy). You can use collards, kale or silverbeet in any recipe that calls for spinach. I shared these recipes last week, but they work for this week too:
Saag recipe
Here’s a simple recipe I often use as a base. This recipe calls for mustard leaves, but any greens work. 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.
Colcannon - basically mashed potatoes with kale, bacon and onion/garlic. Here’s an example recipe.
Ka kite ano,
Jon
