If you’re getting ready to harvest some homegrown veggies over Christmas, then have a quick look through our collection of veg recipes and ideas…
Brussels Sprouts
- Finely slice your sprouts before stir-frying them quickly with some chilli flakes and garlic slices. Season with sea salt and serve.
- Roast them! We love them like this… toss the sprouts with rapeseed oil and season with sea salt. Put them in a roasting tray (whole or halved) and roast in a hot oven for 20-25 mins. Give them a squeeze of lemon juice when you take them out, they’ll be yummy!
- However you cook them, you can mix them with any combination of: bacon / toasted almond flakes / balsamic / lemon juice / parsley
Parsnips
- They are at their best roasted in honey and mustard (wholegrain)
- Use leftover parsnips in a bubble and squeak
- Try a parsnip and apple soup as a warming starter or light lunch
- Use raw parsnip in winter slaw (see below)
Red Cabbage
- We just love red cabbage cooked the traditional way – braised with apples. We can highly recommend the Riverford recipe for this.
- Set aside a bit of your raw red cabbage to add to a winter slaw – see below.
Kale
- Kale crisps are really fun, and add a bit of crunch to a roast dinner. All you need to do is roughly chop kale leaves into inch pieces, toss with olive oil and sea salt and spread out on baking sheet. Cook them in the oven for 5-10 mins (check them regularly as they burn quickly!)
- Chopped kale is great to add to a stir-fried veg medley – just throw some onions, broccoli, sliced sprouts and kale into a wok with some olive oil, fry it quickly with some garlic and add lemon juice and sea salt.
A Cheat’s Nut Roast
- Roast some winter squash (in chunks) before mashing and mixing them with mixed chopped nuts, fried red onion and (this is the cheat bit) some sage and onion stuffing. Half a squash, a 100g packet of mixed nuts, one onion and 2 spoonfuls of stuffing should do the trick. Season with salt and pepper before putting the mixture into a loaf tin and roasting it.
Winter Slaw
- This is a nice way to add lots of healthy veg to your diet over the course of Christmas! Finely slice some red cabbage, white cabbage, and chop a small parsnip, carrot and small celeriac into matchsticks (or put the whole lot through a grater on your mixer). Mix with 2-3 tbsp olive oil, a freshly squeezed lemon, 2-3 tsp wholegrain mustard and 3 tbsp soured cream or creme fraiche. Season with sea salt and pepper. Sprinkle chopped fresh herbs (parsley is a great option) over the top and serve.