Idea | Radish Slammers

Swoosh, salt and scoff – the most fun to have with a radish

Serves 4 as nibbles

1 bunch of radishes
100g salted butter, softened
3 tbsp flaky sea salt

1 Wash the radishes and pick off any soggy leaves. Pat dry – they need to be very dry otherwise the butter won’t stick to them.

2 Arrange the radishes on a board with a mound of salt next to them and a slab of softened butter. Encourage people to pick a radish, swoosh it through the butter then dunk it in the salt before tucking in.

The radish slammers are just one of the ideas from this month’s Veg Patch Pantry feature by Kathy Slack, which also includes recipes for Chard & Herb Frittata, Whole Poached Chicken with Kale & Mushroom Broth with Barley and Caramelised Radish and Feta Salad.

Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More ideas from the veg patch and the veg box…

More from the April issue…

Veg | In Praise of Kale

Lauded as a superfood, and loved by those who love their greens, we all know now that kale is very good for you indeed. But here are ten more facts about Kale that just make us love it that little bit more…

1. It’s practically the only vegetable you can pick in abundance right now. While lesser veg are snoozing beneath the surface of the soil, gathering strength, or are still a twinkle in Thompson and Morgan’s eye in February, hardy and stoic kale is still out there, ripe for the picking. 

2. The Ancient Greeks used it as a cure for drunkeness. They boiled up (something like) kale (though it was definitely a green-leafed brassica), and drank the water to sober themselves up. Then coffee came along and spoiled everything. 

3. Shetland has its own weather proverb about kale: “Dry sunny weather was best for maetin the corn and drying the peats; wet, misty or rainy weather grew best kale.”

4. A serving of kale has more vitamin C than an orange and more calcium than a pint of milk. 

5. Kale is part of the same family as Brussels sprouts and has been cross-bred with sprouts to create kalettes*, a sort of kale sprout. There are more than 50 varieties of kale, too. And yes, there is already a book called ‘Fifty Shades of Kale’. 

6. Kale was so ubiquitous in Scotland at one stage that the word ‘kale’ was used interchangeably with the word ‘food’. There was even a school of ‘rural life’ writing known as ‘Kailyard’. 

7. We’ve been growing kale since the 4th Century BCE but this is far from its first moment in the sun. Your parents and grandparents might remember a surge in its popularity following the Dig for Victory campaign of World War Two. 

8. The Germans have a kale festival, known as Grünkohlfahrt (Curly Kale Hike). They go on a long hike, then feast on kale and beer. Tremendous fun but perhaps avoid any participants the morning after… 

9. Unlike many veg which are ruined by a spell of cold weather, kale actually tastes sweeter when picked after a good frost. 

10. Kale enjoys a bit of pampering me-time, just like we do. If your kale is a bit chewy, give it a little massage before cooking it to relax the fibres and make it a little more tender and chilled out. 

For more inspiration on using this month’s veg well, turn to page 56 of the February issue of The Simple Things where Kathy Slack (@gluts_gluttony) shares ideas from her Veg Patch Pantry. *There’s even a recipe for green noodle broth with kalettes. 

Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More vegspiration…

More from our blog…

Harvest | Things to do with Weird Veg Box Vegetables

Getting a vegetable you’ve never heard of in your veg box is very exciting and also slightly bewildering. Here’s what to do with anything unrecognisable or unpronounceable in your veg box…

Kohlrabi

Once a thing of mystery, now a veg box staple, the best thing to do with this (faintly unattractive but nice and crunchy) vegetable is to julienne it for a kohlrabi slaw, along with carrot, cabbage, red onion and a nice zesty dressing. 

Celeriac

Tastes like a nutty turnip; looks like a brain, celeriac makes a lovely creamy soup or gratin, but we think it’s particularly good sliced into ribbons with a peeler as a replacement for pasta with a creamy, cheesy sauce, and a good sprinkling of Stilton and walnuts.

Brusselberry Sprouts

Like sprouts but red, these are too pretty just to accompany a roast. They’re lovely raw, shredded into a salad with nuts, dried fruit and other additions, but we like to show them off on long skewers, cooked on the barbecue or panfried, with chunks of bacon if you like, glazed with honey and lime juice, and then sprinkled with parmesan. 

Padron Peppers

Lots of fun. Padron peppers mostly taste just like green peppers, but one in every so many is surprisingly spicy! The classic and best way to serve these tiny green peppers is blistered in a pan with a glug of olive oil and plenty of good salt. Serve with beers for a cooling swig whenever you get a hot one. 

Oca 

Also known as Oxalis Tuber Rosa, these are a colourful, knobbly alternative to a potato. But they have one thing over the potato - they can be eaten raw as well as cooked. Thinly sliced, they have a pleasant lemony flavour and make a great salad. When cooked they taste nutty rather than lemony, and we love them roasted in oil with salt and dried chilli, as a pre-dinner nibble. 

In our September issue, Rachel de Thample has given us lots of advice on using up everything in your veg box , as well as recipes that are great for late-summer-early-autumn veg box contents. Find all her ideas from page 42 of our September issue. The feature includes recipes for sweetcorn polenta with runner bean ragu, apple soda bread, golden marrow marmalade, Moroccalilli and cauliflower dauphinoise. 

Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More from our September issue…

More veg box inspirations…

Use old bins to grow veg

Reusing old or damaged bins for container gardening is a wheelie good idea

ALL YOU NEED:
An old wheelie bin
Stones or gravel
Seeds: this works with growing (or beginning growing) almost anything
Soil

1 Drill four large holes in the bottom of the bin for drainage.
2 Add stones and gravel to the bottom of the bin, how much you need will depend on what you’re planting and how much soil they’ll need.
3 Fill with compost to just over halfway.
4 Create holes in soil for your seeds, spacing dependent on seed package instructions..
5 Keep it well watered, and add fertiliser regularly.

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here.

More from the April issue:

More growing ideas:

Growing: Edible perennials plan

Even if your garden is really tiny, it can still produce an abundance of delicious food. All you need is a planter and a plan.

We’ve all been there; you get lots of seeds you fancy but are not sure when, where or how to plant them, so you just stick them in soil, water, and hope for the best. If you don’t succeed, it can be hard to work out why.

Some plants grow well together, others don’t. Some crops will need other plants to give them shelter and support to grow to their best, others prefer open space and to be left alone to get on with it.

With natural planting, you create a diverse pocket of wildlife in an urban space and one that will provide rich tastes, colours and textures.

If you follow the simple planting plans on page 105 of May's The Simple Things, you’ll realise how easy growing your own food can be. They are designed for 1 sq m raised beds but are scaleable and feature plants that work well together, as nature intended. If you don’t like a particular vegetable then replace it with something similar that likes the same conditions. The plans allow you to grow several crops at different heights, each of which provide symbiotic benefits, resulting in more food. This means less watering, no digging, few weeds and no chemicals. Result! 

Below is a plan for edible perennials. 

PLAN 4

Perennial possibilities

If you don’t have a lot of time, or just think that growing annuals is a bit of a waste of energy, then you could grow plants that keep going for years and years, and indeed only get better over time.

Plot make-up

·      At least 4-6 hours of full sun

·      Water every other day

·      1-2 hours a week of your time

·      Eating your veg within 25-30 days

Plants you’ll be growing

A word of advice…

Consider using a portion of your plot for perennial crops, which live for a long time so you’ll only need to plant them once to get harvests for many years. They’ll also need less watering once they’re established, as they will develop more extensive root systems than annual or biennial crops. Some of these vegetables, such as the artichokes and asparagus, will actually need a few years to establish before you can harvest them, but after that they will go on and on. Others, cavolo nero and rainbow chard, for example, should provide you with a crop within a season, but they are perennial so they should see you through many years. Fruit trees, like a delicious apple or pear, are a good perennial choice as they keep producing year after year. I'd suggest either going with rhubarb or a dwarf fruit tree. Even if you don’t have a lot of space you can grow these – choose a dwarf tree, place it in any container and it will fruit for you. Other fruit, such as strawberries, are perennial too and won’t need much attention either.

Taken from The City Grower by Matt Franks (Kyle Books) 

More from the May issue:

More veg growing ideas:

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here

Give it a grow: Beetroot

WHY GROW THEM?

Don’t let the memory of eating that tasteless, shop-bought pickled beetroot put you off growing this wonderful vegetable. Try it roasted, blended (check out Ottolenghi’s incredible puréed beetroot with yoghurt & za’atar recipe) or raw to enjoy its delicious, earthy flavour, as well as benefit from all the vitamins packed within. It’s also one of those crops that can be harvested early as a baby vegetable, or left in the ground to grow to any size between a golf and a tennis ball.

WHEN TO SOW?

Sarah Raven recommends soaking seeds in warm water for half an hour before sowing in the veg patch or container. For a constant supply, sow every three to four weeks from March to July in a sunny spot and good soil. Sow thinly, so crops have a chance to form juicy bulbs, in rows about 30cm apart. You can sow more densely and pick the leaves as a tender, tasty salad crop.

WHEN TO HARVEST?

Crops are ready about 12 weeks after sowing, though pick earlier for a smaller, sweeter crop.

WHICH ONE?

‘Burpees Golden’ for its colour, ‘Chioggia’ to delight diners with its candy stripes, ‘Albinia Vereduna’, which is white so won’t stain hands and ‘Boltardy’, which, as it sounds, is bolt resistant. 

Read more from the July issue:

More gardening posts:

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here

Recipe: Roasted root vegetables with a fruit vinegar glaze

The addition of fruit vinegar to a pan of roasted vegetables gives them a little extra something. The bright colour and sweet-and- sour tang are a feast for the eyes and the taste buds alike. You can mix and match with other vegetables such as fennel or sweet potato, and serve on its own or with a roast or some chops. 

ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES

SERVES 4
1.5kg mixed carrot, parsnip, beetroot and celeriac (in whatever proportions you like)
2 sprigs thyme
75ml olive oil
25g butter
2 red onions, peeled and cut into 6 wedges
1 bulb garlic, broken into individual cloves, skin on
3 tbsp raspberry vinegar* 
salt and pepper

1 Heat the oven to 200C/ Fan 180/400F. Peel the root vegetables and cut them into largish chunks. 
2 Put them in a roasting
dish with the thyme, pour over the olive oil and mix well to coat the vegetables. 
3 Add the butter in small pieces over the top and season with salt and pepper. 
4 Roast for half an hour, then add the onion and garlic cloves.
5 Turn the vegetables and baste them, ensuring that everything is well coated and browning evenly.
6 Roast for another half an hour, then splash in the fruit vinegar, mixing well.
7 Cook for 10 mins, until the vegetables are soft in the centre and coated with a shiny, caramelised glaze.

* For a raspberry vinegar recipe, also from Fern Verrow, visit thesimplethings.com/blog/raspberryvinegar

Recipe from Fern Verrow: Recipes from the Farm Kitchen by Jane Scotter and Harry Astley (Quadrille).


For beautiful enamelware, have a look at The Stuff of Life, The Simple Things’ shop. Here are four picks.

Clockwise from top left:

Enamel coffee pot / Enamel espresso cups / Four season bowls / White enamel cutlery

Read more:

From the October issue

Autumn recipes

From The Stuff of Life

October's The Simple Things is on sale - buy, download or subscribe now.

Recipe: Veg patch curry

British veg patch meets Indian flavours for a fusion curry with a taste of mellow sunshine

A celebration of early autumn’s harvest. Use fresh, seasonal veg from your patch or local farm shop for this delicious veg patch curry.

Serves 4–6
1kg fresh tomatoes
350g onions
1 bulb of garlic
4 bay leaves
5cm piece of ginger
2 red chillies
1 star anise
200g coconut milk
small pumpkin or squash
handful of French or runner beans
2 courgettes or yellow summer squash
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1 corn on the cob
2 tsp fennel seeds
handful of fresh coriander or parsley

1 Preheat your oven to 200C/Fan 180/400F.
2 Halve the tomatoes – or quarter them if you’re using bigger ones. Peel and chop the onions into halves or quarters. Tumble everything into a large roasting tin.
3 Slice 1cm from the pointy tip of your garlic. Put it into the tin, still whole, with the bay leaves. Roast for 30 mins or until the tomatoes have a golden edge to them.
4 Remove the bulb of garlic and bay leaves. Tip tomatoes and onions into a food processor or blender. Squeeze in the garlic cloves from the bulb.
5 Peel and roughly chop the ginger. Thinly slice the chillies. Grind the star anise to a powder. Add the ginger, a good pinch of the chilli and the star anise, plus the coconut milk, to the tomato-and-onion mixture. Blend until smooth.
6 Gently simmer the sauce on the hob while you cook the veg.
7 Cut pumpkin (or squash), beans and courgette into bite-sized hunks. Peel the summer squash if you like. The skin is edible if it’s not too thick.
8 Season the vegetables and toss with a little oil. Grill your veg on the barbecue until it’s lightly charred all over. Or if you prefer, set a large frying pan over a high heat. Add the veg to the pan in a single layer when it’s smoking hot – don’t add any oil to the pan. Cook the veg in batches until it’s tender and lightly charred all over. To get the pumpkin and squash soft, you may have to add a few splashes of water. Put the veg in a low oven or next to the barbecue to keep it warm. 9 Cut the corn kernels from the cob. Fry the sweetcorn, remaining chilli pieces and fennel seeds in a little oil until fragrant and a little crisp around the edges.
10 Spoon the simmered curry sauce into a large bowl or platter. Arrange the grilled or griddled veg on top. Finish with the sizzled and spiced sweetcorn and some fresh herbs.

Turn to page 24 of September's The Simple Things for the rest of this Indian summer menu, including Saffron G&Ts, Herb & spiced lamb lollies with cardamom yoghurt, Golden roti, Thyme and griddled spring onion rice, and Rosy apple tarts.

September's The Simple Things is on sale - buy, download or subscribe now.

Read more:

From the September issue

Autumn roots

More Gathering recipes

Recipe: Piquant vegetable salad, and a vegetarian Mediterranean menu

Rustle up a weekend menu for family and friends - that just so happens to be vegetarian - then get the garden games out. Long, light days full of the promise of early summer and bank holiday weekends that top and tail the month - isn't May just the best? This is no time for slaving over the stove, though. What you need is food that's high in flavour and low on fuss to allow maximum time for chatting and quaffing. Fresh and colourful dishes with a Mediterranean influence will keep any post-lunch slump at bay, should the afternoon call for an impromptu game of ping-pong or boules.

Opt for an informal table with terracotta plant pots holding the cutlery and fresh herbs replacing flowers. Vintage crockery finishes the rustic, playful feel, while a freshly mixed mojito delivers a touch of holiday decadence. Double bank holidays - we'll drink to that.

Turn to page 26 of May's The Simple Things for recipes to recreate the full menu below (buy or download now):

Panzanella

Falafel with flatbreads

Hummus, Tahini sauce and Harissa

Piquant vegetable salad

French lemon tart with berry coulis

Mojitos

Piquant vegetable salad

A shredded veggie salad adds a pop of flavour and a burst of colour (serves 4 as a side salad)

Ingredients:

Half a cauliflower, finely sliced 2 carrots, peeled and grated 1 beetroot, peeled and grated

For the dressing:

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 2 tbsp olive oil Salt and black pepper, to taste 1 tsp agave syrup

Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl.

Combine all dressing ingredients, adding to the salad before serving.

For more information about National Vegetarian Week, including tips on how to go meat-free, visit the website.

Asparagus with Gill Meller, River Cottage

River Cottage's head chef explains why home-grown asparagus is worth waiting for, in April's issue of The Simple Things. "We've been waiting three years for our asparagus bed at River Cottage to yield anything considered ripe for cutting," says Gillon Meller. "Patience, our gardener insists, is the watchword when growing this delicate little plant."

"The first asparagus of the season always signals the beginning of good things to me. Maybe it's the promise of better weather or perhaps it's the variety it brings to the kitchen for the few weeks it's with us. In late March and April, I make it my culinary mission to find the freshest cut spears I can. That can mean going to quite some lengths, but it's well worth it.

"There's such a big difference between week-old asparagus and that which has been cut within hours of eating. The natural sugars found in this superb short-seasoned vegetable quickly start converting to starch, which means they lose their sweetness as each hour passes. We'll often jump in the car a few hours before service and hare up the old track to our local grower's patch in order to pick up spears cut fresh to order."

In his menu for The Simple Things, Gill has paired asparagus with 'one of the most delicious cuts of meat known to all good men - the humble pork belly'.

For the full recipes, see The Simple Things, April issue:

Slow roast pork with chargrilled asparagus and mint

Lamb's kidneys with mustard & cream

Purple sprouting broccoli with taramasalata, preserved lemon & smoked paprika

Gillon Meller is head chef at River Cottage HQ, which is found on the Devon and Dorset border. He also contributes to cookbooks, teaches at the River Cottage Cookery School and appears regularly on the River Cottage TV programmes.

To book your place on a course at River Cottage HQ visit www.rivercottage.net

Follow Gill on Twitter: @gillmeller

£20 off at Hello Fresh

We've teamed up with Hello Fresh to provide you with an exclusive offer on a delivery of fresh ingredients and recipes.

As a The Simple Things reader just enter the code ST20 to claim a tasty £20 to spend on your first box across all Hello Fresh boxes.

To Claim the Offer

• Visit www.hellofresh.co.uk/ST20
• Choose your box
• Select your number of meals and portions
• Hello Fresh will send you your first box full of fresh ingredients, £20 off.

Hello Fresh deliver recipes that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less, with all the required fresh ingredients in the exact quantities, direct to your door.

'We source the highest quality, freshest ingredients the UK has to offer and bring it all to you direct from the very best independent suppliers.' Patrick Drake, Head Chef.

Our Fishmonger – James Knight of Mayfair For royally appointed James Knight fresh is best and when it comes to fish or seafood you can be sure that you’re tucking in to the most sought after produce in the UK. With HM Queen and HRH Prince of Wales as two of his most loyal customers, you’ll be dining like royalty every week. All the fish we source is coastal fresh, line-caught and free from any artificial preservatives, for which reason we recommend you eat it first, within three days of your delivery.

Our Butcher – Tom Hixson Tom Hixson is certainly a man that knows his meat. A third generation butcher based in Smithfield’s market for more than 30 years, Tom is part of a family tradition that works to provide the highest quality meat available. All the meat we supply you is ethically reared. His beef, veal, lamb and poultry is the most sought after, owing to the finest standards and quite simply procuring the finest produce they can.

www.hellofresh.co.uk/ST20

July book club: The giving garden

Nothing beats growing your own, whether that's on a patio., in a window box or even just a pot, this month inside The Simple Things we give you some tips on how to turn the tiniest of spaces into big harvests, but if you need a little more inspiration here are our top five books on how to get the most from your garden/trolley/tub etc

Teeny Tiny Gardening Emma Hardy

If you can't go out, go up, Emma Hardy shows you how to make herbs, vegetables and salad leaves thrive in pots on balconies and doorsteps, no garden needed.  The book retails at £14.99 but readers of The Simple Things can get a discount call 01256 302699 quote GLR 8BN to purchase a copy at the special price of £12.99 including free P&P!

Good Companions Josie Jeffery

The ancient practice of companion planting is a simple, eco-friendly method of combining species that help each other out. Revived by American back‑to-the-land activist Bolton Hall in the early 20th century and taken up by the Good Lifers of the 1960s and 1970s, it’s perfect for busy modern gardeners too. Good Companions: The Mix & Match Guide to Companion Planting explains the history and benefits of the technique, and offers top combining tips, such as dandelions and fruit trees, or clover and cabbage. Flipbook pages help you to mix and match your chosen plant, whether tomato, peach or plum, with the best partners to nourish its roots, deter pests and enhance flavour – all totally chemical-free. Keen gardeners and novices alike will find much to learn and use in Jeffery’s highly readable guide.

The Speedy Vegetable GardenMark Diacono & Lia Leendertz

Time is of the essence with this bright little book, which promises crops within weeks, days and even hours. The Speedy Vegetable Garden offers tips on how to sow, nurture and harvest 50 quick grows, such as the herb cilantro, which takes 14 days, or fennel, edible after ten. It also offers alternative varieties of traditional slow-growing plants, such as dwarf French beans, which take 60 days, or early potatoes, ready in 75. Perfect for the busy urban gardener, plants can be grown in pots and on windowsills for quick, healthy sustenance.

HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION James Wong

Superfoods are big business, but ironically they can also be tricky to find. With his new book, James Wong shows how simple it is to grow unusual greens, veg and herbs at home. He’s also keen to point out that many of these crops are easier to grow than what he dubs ‘wartime ration book’ allotment crops. He shows how to grow a quirky selection, including cucamelons, Tasmanian mountain pepper, quinoa and red strawberry popcorn. Each ingredient comes with how to grow, harvest and eat them. And, most importantly, a great set of recipes is included too.

Gifts from the Garden Debora Robertson The garden can provide an infinite source of inspiration, and in her book, Debora Robertson takes herbs, flowers, fruit, vegetables and nuts to make special and unusual gifts to give away. You can learn how to make decorated stationery, herbal face wash and even marigold cheese, with flowers and ingredients that you have grown yourself. All the instructions and recipes in the book are beautifully laid out, with great photography and lots of extra tips and suggestions. Plus there are ideas for taking things from your garden and using them as embellishments for when you are wrapping the gifts you’ve made.

The perfect summer lunch: Gazpacho

Honour the tomato with this cold Spanish soup. Top with croutons and Serrano ham for a perfect lunch.

Serves 6 6 large tomatoes 2 red peppers, deseeded and chopped 2 yellow peppers, deseeded and chopped 1 small cucumber, peeled and chopped 3 spring onions, chopped 1 large garlic clove 1 tbsp sherry vinegar, or a splash to suit your taste A splash garlic olive oil 1 tbsp good olive oil 1 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1. Put the tomatoes into a bowl of boiling water with small crosses cut into them to help the skins to peel off. Remove the skins, wait until the tomatoes are cool and chop finely. 2. Chop everything up, removing the green part of the spring onion and deseeding the cucumber. If you have a blender or food processor, add all of the vegetables and blitz. Otherwise just carry on chopping until a paste-like consistency is reached. 3. Add the oils, sugar, sherry and paprika and taste. Add additional seasoning if it needs it. Serve toppings in separate bowls so people can help themselves.