Flavour Tales
Fledgling Lincolnshire no-dig market garden
We grow lots of 'everyday' vegetables... and some more unusual varieties too! Identify your unusual veg below and get some hints and tips on cooking.
Aubergine
A beautiful, glossy deep purple vegetable.
Slice your aubergine, and salt the slices for 30 minutes to draw out excess juices. Dry the slices. Shallow fried in a good olive oil makes aubergines into smooth deliciousness.
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Aubergines are the principal ingredient to moussaka. However you eat them, you will think of Mediterranean holidays.
Ruby or Swiss Chard
Not rhubarb! Colourful and delicious - two vegetables in one.
Cut the thicker ribs across into 2cm chunks. Either steam them, or sweat in butter and olive oil for about ten minutes. Shred the leaves roughly and cook them in the same way but only for five minutes. When cooked, add salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Kohlrabi
About the size of a tennis ball, kohlrabi is pale green or purple in colour.
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Kohlrabi can be grated, sliced or cut into matchsticks then added to salads and slaws. It gives a peppery, sweet crunchiness. It's also good in stirfry.
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We harvest our kohlrabi with its long leaves. These can be stripped off the central rib then steamed or stir fried. They taste similar to spring cabbage.
Celeriac
Not the prettiest vegetable in the kitchen, but so versatile. For a start, it has a long life and will last in a paper bag in your fridge for over a month.
It's another unusual vegetable that can be added to slaws or adds interest to winter salads. It can also be roasted in chunks or whole.
Our favourite? Mash potato with celeriac. Cook one third celeriac to two thirds spuds, then mash in the usual way.
Salsify
This is a new one to us but comes highly recommended (and is 'on trend') - so let's try something different!
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Popular in victorian times, it resembles a long thin parsnip but the taste is completely different.
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Salsify can be caramelised and braised, or roasted alongside garlic. It's best served cooked until soft, not al dente. It can be eaten raw but the taste is better when cooked.
Chicory
We add chicory leaves to our salad bags to give a pleasing bitter taste.
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Chicory is green/lemon yellow, or there is radicchio which starts off green changing to red when the cold weather sets in.
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Chicory can be added to salads (chicory, watercress and orange salad is particularly good), or cooked with pancetta or streaky bacon adding salt and pepper, garlic and olive oil.
Jerusalem artichoke
Delicious, but known for their 'gassy' side effects!
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Peel, steam or boil then rub the skins off if you wish. If you need to leave the peeled artichokes standing for any length of time, pop them in water with a squeeze of lemon juice.
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Artichokes are a lovely, flavoursome addition to soups. They can be roasted or added to mashed potato. A very versatile little vegetable.