Ask your grandparents when, as children, they ate tomatoes and they will undoubtedly say summer: It is only a recent thing to have seasonal fruits and vegetables available year round, due to the supply chain and increased movability of food around the country and the globe. I’m not sure how well that serves us.
If the food that grows here serves us best, let’s eat the tomatoes and stonefruit while they are plentiful, ripe, and available locally.
Let’s crave the pumpkins and parsnips that come with autumn and winter, indulge and enjoy them when they come, to again wait for spring and summer and the spoils those seasons bring.
Jar, can, freeze, and jam that which are plentiful today to enjoy in the winter months until they can be enjoyed fresh again. Sauce, store, and ferment while affordable and accessible in preparation for the scarcity of winter. And when winter arrives, get creative, visit the farmers market for weekly inspiration, and find comfort and excitement in holding on for what is to come.
Facebook: Jamalia Rose – Holistic Health Coach
Instagram: @jamaliarose
Fig, chevre salad with crispy streaky bacon
Ingredients
2 figs
1 block chevre goat’s cheese
200g streaky bacon
2 cups rocket
½ cup balsamic vinegar
¼ cup cold pressed olive oil
Method
1. Heat a large pan to a medium heat.
2. Place the bacon in and lay flat. Cook until beginning to brown and flip it.
3. Cook until browning and remove from heat. Allow to cool.
4. Place balsamic vinegar in a small pot and heat until it reaches a rolling boiling. Reduce until halved in volume. Remove from heat.
To assemble the salad
1. Place rocket in a large shallow bowl, cut the figs in half length ways, and then cut each half into four length ways and arrange on top of the rocket.
2. Cut the chevre into desired-sized pieces and arrange alongside the figs.
3. The bacon should have gone very crispy on cooling, break into shards and arrange on top of the salad.
4. Drizzle with the balsamic reduction and olive oil.
Fennel, silverbeet, and cashew soup with capsicum cashew topping
Ingredients
1 white onion
4 garlic cloves
¼ cup coconut oil
1 bulb fennel
½ cup finely sliced fennel fronds
1 bunch silverbeet
2 tsp salt
½ cup cashews
3 cups liquid (water, chicken broth, or vegetable broth)
pinch of nutmeg
10cm sprig fresh thyme
⅓ cup your favourite pesto (I have used a capsicum and cashew sauce)
To garnish
fresh thyme, fennel fronds and cashew nuts
Method
1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot on medium heat.
2. Dice the onion and crush the garlic, and add to the oil along with the salt, stirring so they don't catch.
3. Slice the fennel bulb, and silverbeet and add to the pot along with the fennel fronds.
4. Stir, and cook until the vegetables have softened.
5. Add the liquid, cashews, thyme, and nutmeg.
6. Bring the soup to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes.
7. Remove from the heat and blend with a stick blender until smooth.
8. Taste and season.
9. Plate soup into bowls, and top with a tablespoon of the capsicum sauce, along with a sprinkle of cashews, thyme, and fennel fronds.
