Cooking with Garden: Lentil, pear and proscuitto salad

I posted a while back about a few cooking adventures with my balcony garden produce. There was a yummy wild mushroom pasta and a fig sandwich. Alas Autumn is behind us now so the season for such mushrooms is passing/has passed and the sandwich craving has been eagerly filled by Earl Canteen (their bacon sandwich with quince aoli has, for me, surpassed the pork belly one - who knew!)

One dish I whipped up a lot in Autumn was a lentil, proscuitto and pear salad. I served it cold but it could easily be served with the lentils and cabbage still warm. So here is another, short, cooking with garden post.

First I boiled up some black lentils, in veggie chicken stock with a dash of pepper. I cooked them until aldente, adding some finely chopped cabbage in the last few minutes (and on one occasion some silverbeet too.) Leave this to cool in the fridge if you want a cold salad. Then it is just a matter of putting it all together. I used assorted greens from my garden, pretty much a staple. Added in the lentil/cabbage mix. On top of this I put slices of pear (I've used many varieties but corella add a great flavour, beurre bosch are good for texture) and some small strips of shaved proscuitto. No need for a dressing! Et voila one realtively healthy, high in fibre, tasty autumn salad.

Harvest Monday Happiness

A rainy Monday evening and I am just drying off after another snailageddon on the balcony garden. No matter how many I kill they just keep on coming! Still they can't get their hands on my harvest this week, well most of my harvest.

Snow peas are in at the moment, if this post at the 6 x 8 garden is to go by (and others that I have read recently but have slipped my mind.) They are in on the balcony garden too, crisp, sweet and ever so tasty. I only get three or four at a time, but once the rest of the peas grow through the harvest will increase. Yay for future stirfries!

Carrots get pulled out of the ground ever now and then. Good in salads and the vibrantly coloured ones are going to be a hit at my Casablanca 30th Birthday Party on the weekend.

Golden beetroot, pulled out, grated and placed in a beetroot and autumn veg risotto. Yum

I get a solid amount of lettuce and silverbeet eat week, probably a fistful every day. Enough for a plate of salad or an extra green sandwich.

Coriander is ready for the picking, and I had a leaf or two as a delicious garnish on my beetroot pearl couscous dish tonight (alas the beetroot was store-bought given the slowness of my purple beets in the balcony garden.)

Eggplant. Can't remember what I used it for, but whatever it was I bet it was tasty. There are even more eggplants on this hardy little plant! And it is almost winter here!!!

And these two delicious veggies, a butternut pumpkin and some cabbage, came from my cousin's garden. The pumpkin has been put in some pumpkin, pinenut and paprika filo parcels for the party this weekend (hiding in the freezer at present so they keep yummy and don't get eaten by myself before the party) and will also be cooked up to go in pumpkin coconut creme brulee. The cabbage has been added to many things including salads, a stir fry, and a corned beef.

The broccoli is budding so there might just be a new addition to the harvest post next week ... If you want to see more harvests pop on over to Daphne's Dandelions and join in the fun.