Curried Chickweed, dandelion fritters and basmati rice

Today we had a large group who went on a little foraging expedition. We were on the hunt for dandelions and chickweed.

Before we set off, David made some vegannaise using aquafaba, which we used as a dip for the Dandelion Fritters as well as a topping for the Chickweed curry.

       

The chickpeas that were left were used in the Curried Chickweed recipe which we had with a carrot and cumin seed salad

A hive of activity in this kitchen, when we prepared the carrot salad

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The Dandelions were turned into some delicate Dandelion fritters.

Dandelion fritter, and curried chickweed

Lucky us. The sun was out and the dandelions were in full bloom. Today we went to the allotment to pick these bright yellow flowers to turn into dandelion fritters. We ate them as a starter with a mayonnaise, maple syrup and pepper dip.
     

Here Yukini and Kazaki are preparing the parmesan cheese and mushroom for the delicious creamy mushroom sauce.


We made some ravioli, tagliatelle and spaghetti and a mushroom and garlic sauce.
The making of the pasta was a big hit with the children and the dandelion fritters were a real novelty.

Must do this again.

Building a vertical garden

As there as been a lot of interest into my vertical garden, I have decided to do  a little workshop this weekend. Rozenn, Mairead, Simone and Melendra turned up to turn the plastic bottles donated by various friends into a productive garden in a very small space.

We even have Ayesha from Lahore and Jorge in Colombia who watched this little video with interest. I thought you might like to see it too

Oats, Oats and more oats

Today we started with making Oat Milk as the the Creamy Vegan Broccoli Soup called for plant milk.
We went to the allotment to pick the purple sprouting broccoli.


We made some oat and yoghurt bread to go with the deliciously creamy soup.           

As a treat we made a banana blueberry vegan ice cream which went down very well with young and old.  We froze 3 bananas in chunks, as well as a couple of handfuls of blueberry, we blended them into a smooth ice cream. We kept some of the berries to defrost as a topping together with a little fresh mint.
        


What a lovely morning we had!

Bulgar wheat salad with flat bread and rhubarb crumble

As it was the first rhubarb from the allotment, it was not much but enough to make a delicious Rhubarb cordial 

and  with the left over fibre we made a crumble.

       We made some egg custard to go with the crumble an as main meal we made a Bulgar Wheat Salad with flat bread.

                

          


The whole meal was an experiment (which paid off well.)

Spinach & Feta Tarts

Spinach & Feta Tarts pine nuts served with a mixed leaf salad.

     

   
Spinach and ginger soup

 with Guinness bread