Wild Garlic and Lovely Tweeters

Twitter is a bloody marvellous thing. Truly it is. I know that there are trolls and idiots and general arseholes there, but it can also be a bloody lovely community. 

Social media has been a godsend for spoonies. Finally we have a place we can socialize that doesn't involve getting out of bed! And nobody will judge us for being in our pyjamas! 

So anyway, I was on Twitter last week and saw that a fellow Brigtonian (yes, I just said that) was collecting some wild garlic. I told her I was jealous and low and behold, 2 days later I picked up this bag of gorgeousness! 

Actually this was about half of what I was given as I'd already used a load for pesto! 

There's something really exciting about the idea of foraged ingredients, I suppose it's that whole hunter-gatherer thing. Unsurprisingly foraging isn't exactly within my capabilities (!!) but if you are able to go out and explore, Emma over on Retreat Blog has written a great little piece about where to find it and you may be able to catch the last of it. You can read her blog here. 

So with great thanks to @BrightonSuz and @Emzyducks (in case you want to find them on Twitter) I present you with two recipes for wild garlic. Also I've started using my DSLR again, apologies for the crappy phone pictures recently.

Lemon, artichoke and wild garlic rice

I saw this recipe when researching what to do with wild garlic and adapted it for a spoonie. This takes about 3 minutes to put together and is really tasty. The original recipe was in delicious magazine here.

This was a lovely light lunch by itself and I ate about 2/3 of it, however I think it would benefit from a little extra. Next time I might try it with some cheese or maybe even some grilled or roasted chicken. Serves 2 with something else and the larger amount of artichokes.

Also feel free to sub precooked and frozen rice instead of microwave, but we can't all be domestic goddesses all the time! 

1 pack of microwave rice (I used Tilda brown basmati)

1/4-1/2 a small jar of grilled artichokes (160g)

1 lemon

Bunch of wild garlic 

Knob of butter

1/2 tsp salt

Zest the lemon and put aside.

Wash an dry the wild garlic. 

Pop a pan on medium-low heat and melt the butter.

Squeeze the juice of 1/2 the lemon into the rice and cook according to packet instructions.

Once butter is foaming add the wild garlic and cook until just wilted, 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the artichokes and allow to heat through.

Once rice is cooked mix with wild garlic mixture and add some of the lemon zest. Taste and add salt and lemon juice to adjust.

Beetroot, potato and wild garlic rostis

These are rather delicious with smoked salmon and a fried or poached egg and the colour is just gorgeous! 

These could almost certainly be done without precooking the potato, however you would then need to squeeze oodles of water out and my spoonie hands are not up to the job. The beetroot was hard enough! 

550g potato (1 giant)

190g beetroot (1 med, 1 small)

70g (approx) wild garlic

Salt and pepper

Plain flour for dusting

Scrub potatoes and cut off any nasty bits but there's no need to peel. Cut into large chunks (to fit in food processor).

Pop in a large pan of salted water and bring to the boil, cook for 7 minutes. 

Meanwhile peel and grate the beetroot. Sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon of salt over and leave. 

Once potatoes are cooked, drain and leave to cool a bit. Once cool enough to handle, grate. Don't worry if it seems very sticky, this starch is what will hold the cakes together. 

Wash and dry the wild garlic leaves before shredding.

Once the beetroot has had at least twenty minutes to sit, use a disposable j-cloth to squeeze out the liquid. Careful as this will stain anything it touches!

Put everything into a bowl and add a heaped 1/4 tsp of salt and a good amount of pepper. Mix everything together until all ingredients are evenly distributed, I find it easiest to do this with my hands, lemon juice can help with the pink stains. 

Flour your hands to prevent sticking and shape into patties. I found a large dessert spoonful to be about the right amount. 

Cover and leave in the fridge for at least an hour. They'll firm up and be easier to cook.

Pan fry on a medium-low heat in using a small amount of fat (I use animal fats mostly for cooking) for 10 - 15 minutes. I tried finishing some off in the oven and they just didn't crisp up as nicely.

I'd love to hear what you do with wild garlic and let me know how you get on if you try any of the recipes. 

My Spoonie Suppers

This post is a long time in the making. Pretty much since I first started the blog I've had this post in mind, so it's high time I got down and dirty with it really. 

I would love to be able to create elaborate meals every night of the week, but nobody (let alone us spoonies) has limitless time and energy. We all need an arsenal of meals we can make with no reserves in either the house or your body. Here's where my spoonie suppers come in.

Now of course we could all just eat a pack of crisps or another slice of toast, pop something in the oven or just call for a take away, but that's not actually going to help. When you are out of spoons is the most important time to be getting nutrients and goodness into your body. 

I won't go into the boring details of my new diet but that really is essentially it - I'm trying to ensure that all the food that goes into my body is giving me as much goodness as possible. Processed foods are out, whole grains are in. With this in mind it's been especially important to be organised with the food I have in the house in order to minimise the amount of times I just say sod it and order a take away!* 

A few things that need to be done ahead to help with the below ideas/mini recipes. 

I try to soak all my grains overnight to aid in digestion (there are some exceptions to this). I'll soak and cook a big batch when I'm feeling good, then freeze it in individual portions.

I'm also making homemade stock for the first time in my life. I've always known that chicken soup is Jewish penicillin and stock is essentially the same thing. It's packed full of goodies like readily available amino acids and calcium and it's stupidly easy for your body to digest. To make this cost efficient I go to the butcher and ask for a bag of chicken carcasses. Mine don't charge you but ask for a donation to charity instead so you are saving money and helping others out, double win! Again I freeze this into small portions to use when I need to - ice cube trays are great for this.

I try to eat mostly sourdough bread (the slow fermentation process is supposed to aid digestion of that tricksy gluten) so I keep a stash of this in the freezer, already sliced and packed in twos or threes. I always have avocados and some kind of greens in the house (often spinach but also rocket, chard, kale, spring greens etc etc). Eggs are basically a meal in themselves so they are also a must. Nuts and seeds add flavour and protein, I'm a fiend for pistachios and sesame seeds. I also always have a stock of fresh herbs, they can add so much vibrancy and flavour to a dish with no extra effort. I'm very happy to see the ones in my patio springing back life! I also always have garlic, ginger in the freezer and lemons or limes (these can also be frozen then popped into the microwave to thaw out before squeezing.)

Phew, that was a longer preamble than I originally intended. So without further ado here is some of my arsenal of spoonie suppers.

Toast

Sourdough toast (remember it's already sliced because you are a domestic superstar!) can be a saviour when the idea of doing anything more than pushing the button on the toaster tires you out. Ideally it's a wholemeal or rye flour too, you know, cos whole grain is always better.

What makes a difference is what you put on top and here's where the avocado comes in! Seriously, if you haven't had avocado on toast you are missing out. 

So here's what you do...

- get bread out of freezer and toast

- cut avocado in half. Take one half and slice it in it's skin. 

- get toast

- scoop out your avo slices with a spoon.

- mash slightly onto toast.

- squeeze a bit of lemon on top, sprinkle with salt and voila! Difficult I know.

That's your basic avocado toast, but don't stop there. I urge you to look further in your fridge. Got some smoked salmon or bacon? Maybe an egg just waiting to be poached? A few fresh herbs and some chillis? Some limp greens just asking to be wilted down with a garlic clove speared onto a fork as a mixing device? What about a few cherry tomatoes, a pinch of cracked black pepper and some basil? Seriously the possibilities are endless and delicious. 

Just a couple of examples of my obsession with avocado toast

Pimped up pesto pasta

Everybody loves pesto pasta. It's a store cupboard favourite. I always have some pesto hiding away somewhere, but if you have an extra spoon or two you can even whip up your own in a couple of minutes. Essentially anything green, plus nuts and cheese whizzed up in a mini chopper or food processor will make a pesto. Garlic, salt and olive oil help it along the way. Kale, pistachio and pecorino? Go for it (it's lovely). Brussels sprout, cheddar and walnut? Why not!

I often find that I am unable to lift a heavy pot or kettle of water, which can be problematic when it comes to making pasta as you can imagine. I'm sure you've heard of it already but instead I'm eating a courgetti a lot of the time and also gets me another tick on the vegetable list. It's just courgettes that have been cut to be in spaghetti like strands. They need steaming or sautéing for just a minute or two and really do work as a grain free alternative to pasta. You can use a peeler or julienne slicer, but the crème de la crème of courgetti makers is a spiralizer (can you tell I'm desperate for one?!) 

Not pesto, but so you can see courgetti. This is why I NEED a spiralizer

Anyway, pesto pasta by itself can be a bit dull. So even of you don't have the spoons to make courgetti or your own pesto you can still pimp it up.

I always add a good handful of greens when I'm mixing in my pesto so they lightly wilt down in the heat of the pasta. I sometimes also add some fresh ones to the bowl to add some crunch. Extra nuts always go down well and add protein. Some chopped up ham (Serrano or Parma are my favourites) can add interest and bulk, as does some diced veggies. Got some red peppers, tomatoes or cucumbers, just throw them in! Of course you could fry off the ham to make it crispy and soften up the veg, but that seems like an unnecessary use of spoons.

This was the kale, pisatchio and pecorino pesto

Noodle soup 

Because you a superstar you have got homemade stock in the freezer. This means you just a few bubbling minutes away from a wonder food.

Defrost your stock and get it simmering.

Chop up any veggies you want in there. To go Jewish style add some slices of carrot and half a parsnip to sweeten the stock. Some salt pepper and maybe some dill and parsley stalks if you've got them. Simmer until carrots are cooked, topping up with water as needed before adding your choice of noodle. You can use courgetti (or even carrots) instead of wheat noodles. Take the parsnip out before eating. I usually add a handful of greens at the end of cooking though this is not at all traditional. If you have leftover chicken that obviously goes in, or even a breast/thigh/wing/drumstick - just make sure it's cooked through before shredding.

Chicken soup with kneidlach (mazta balls) and lochschen (noodles)

Or why not go ramen style? Simmer with aromatics like garlic, ginger and chilli. Throw in some soy sauce or tamari, mushrooms, beansprouts, spinach and coriander and you are set. Soba noodles are another great (and actually authentic!) alternative to wheat. Slurp and enjoy! 

Baked sweet potatoes

This takes a little bit of planning as the potato does take a while to cook, but you can be watching Netflix the whole time so it doesn't take any energy.

Wash and scrub the potato clean. Prick it a few times and pop it in the oven (180, of course) until it's cooked! Timing will depend on the size of the potato but an hour is usually a good guess. For an extra crispy skin rub it with some fat that can take high temperatures and sprinkle with sea salt.

A dollop of yoghurt or sour cream on top maybe with some chopped fresh herbs is a pretty good start here but I like mine with tuna and sweet corn as well. Once again though, anything goes. Bacon, cheese, roasted veg, chilli. Whatever you like on a normal baked potato will work here too. 

Eggs

Eggs are a meal in themselves, literally the food of life. When I'm really out of spoons I'll pimp up scrambled eggs with whatever I've got in the fridge. Again you can sneak a good handful of wilted greens in there or some chopped up veggies quickly fried off first. I love adding fresh chopped herbs. An omelette feels more substantial with little more effort but the epitome of eggs is (in my humble opinion at least) poached. On top of avocado on sourdough (and smoked salmon if you are being really indulgent!) with an oozy centre and some freshly cracked black paper is my idea of heaven! 

Rice or grain bowl

Sometimes I find my body is just craving a bowl full of colourful veggies but there's no way I'm spending hours on an Ottolenghi style recipe. This is where my frozen grains come in. I'll defrost/reheat a portion of grains and steam a selection of whatever veg I have in the fridge. 

If I have a dip or sauce of some kind leftover I'll use that otherwise I'll make one up. Yoghurt and some fresh herbs and lemon makes a regular appearance as does a soy and honey teriyaki-esque sauce. Once veg and grains are cooked they all go into a bowl with any salad bits I want. Sprinkled with toasted seeds or nuts and dipped or splashed with sauce, I think it's delicious and I get to feel virtuous at the same time!

So there you have it. A selection of my easy go-to meals.

I'd love to hear what you think of these ideas and what your go-to spoonie suppers are, please post in the comments or get in touch on twitter.

* I can't allow myself to post this without a mention to my other spoonie saviour. When I really do not have the spoons to cook and the boy cannot be persuaded to do so either, we've exhausted our stash of freezer goodies and neither of us is leaving the house, we have a new favourite. Recently Deliveroo has started up in Brighton and it's honestly the best (and worst) thing ever. It delivers food from restaurants in town that wouldn't otherwise do either take away and delivery and means we can get some of our favourite food when I can't even get out of the house! In sure London has had this for ages and it's certainly not the first service to do it in brighton, but the only place that did this before charged around £5 on top of food for delivery. Unfortunately I just can't justify that expense. On the other than deliveroo's charge of £2.50 is so much more reasonable. It's a little bit embarrassing how much we have ordered through them but I did recently win a £50 voucher and spent it all on sushi and it was amazing! 

A selection of the food we've had from Deliveroo recently. I love that it always comes packaged so much more nicely than a standard takeaway!

Please excuse spelling and crappy photos, it was all put together on my phone!