Five great garden recipes

The bounty of late summer is a garden victory but can be a little overwhelming. You want to use every last thing you grow but it often comes all at once! With a little planning your mountains of tomatoes, courgettes and cucumbers can be enjoyed in delicious ways now and also into the colder months.

This is a greener approach to feeding your family. Finding ways to use and preserve your home-grown food means fewer food miles, it cuts down on the unnecessary packaging that comes with supermarket produce and it’s kind on your wallet.

Even if you’re not a gardener you can take advantage of the inexpensive in-season produce that’s about and buy in bulk now so you can enjoy it later.

Courgettes

Using now

Brownies are a fun and indulgent way to tackle your glut of courgettes. The courgette adds a lovely moist texture. Naturally gluten free and with only dates for sweetness, these are about as healthy as brownies can possibly get. Like all baked goods using nut flours, they taste even better after a couple of days.

Rich flourless chocolate, courgette and walnut brownies

(Main picture)

• 1 generous cup dates, soaked for 20 minutes in hot water and drained very well
• 2 cups almond meal
• 5 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup good quality cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch each nutmeg and cinnamon
• 1 packed cup grated courgettes, tightly squeezed to remove as much water as possible
• 3/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Step 1 Heat oven to 160°C. Place dates into a food processor. Blitz until you have a rough purée.

Step 2 Add almond meal, eggs, cocoa, baking powder, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. Process until well combined. Add courgettes and walnuts. Process gently until just combined.

Step 3 Pour mixture into a well-greased tin. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Step 4 Wait until it is completely cooled before cutting. Store in the fridge for up to six days.

Storing for later

This recipe is a nice and simple introduction to naturally preserving vegetables using just brine and time. Courgettes are placed in brine and left at room temperature to let naturally occurring lactobacillus bacteria do its work. The end result is beautifully tart pickles that are ideal with cured meats, cheese or in salads. Fermented vegetables are naturally probiotic so they are excellent for digestion. You’ll find them addictively tasty too.

To ensure the fermentation process happens effectively you need to be able to keep the courgettes under the liquid at all times. I use old jam jars for the preserving and then a water glass or a smaller jar to sit snugly in the neck of the jar. This will weigh the courgettes down under the brine. I throw some muslin over the top of the whole thing and pop it in the cupboard.

Lacto-fermented courgette pickles

• 4 tablespoons salt (not iodised) and 900ml water to make brine solution (will be enough for 2-3 jars)
• 3 courgettes (approx.) per jar, sliced into rounds or half-moons

Optional

• 1 peeled clove garlic per jar
• 1 pinch dill seeds per jar
• 1 pinch mustard seeds per jar

Step 1 Dissolve salt completely into water to make the brine solution.

Step 2 Place sliced courgettes into jars. You want them to be firmly packed. They will shrink a little as they ferment. Add garlic and/or spices if using.

Step 3 Pour brine to the start of the neck of the jar. Place your smaller jar or glass through the neck of the jar to weigh down the courgettes. If needed, add more liquid to ensure the vegetables are properly covered.

Step 4 Place cheesecloth or muslin over jars and place in a cupboard. After about a week your courgettes will have softened and start to sink below the brine naturally so you’ll no longer need the weights. At this point you can put the jar lids on.

Step 5 Leave courgettes to ferment for at least 10 days and ideally up to 14. From day 10, start tasting a little every day and place in the fridge when you’re happy with the flavour. The courgettes will get more sour the longer you leave them. When tasting the pickles prior to refrigeration ensure you use a clean utensil. A few days into the fermenting process the courgettes may smell sour and even a little strange. Make sure you persevere – this is all part of the process.

Step 6 Once your pickles are done, place in the fridge with tight lids. Refrigeration stops the fermenting process. The pickles will keep in the fridge for a few months.

Cucumber

Cucumber is heavenly in smoothies. It’s incredibly hydrating and works in perfect harmony with both pear and avocado. This is hands-down my favourite breakfast smoothie. It’s a great way to get a load of raw spinach into you and the perfect introduction for those new to green smoothies.

This recipe serves two. Adjust accordingly if just making for one person or save half for the next day – just add a squeeze of lemon juice to help preserve and then refrigerate.

Cucumber, avocado, spinach and pear smoothie

• 1 1/2 cups water or coconut water
• 100g raw spinach leaves
• 1 small Lebanese cucumber
• 2 pears, washed and roughly chopped
• 1/2 avocado
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)
• large handful ice (optional)

Step 1 Place all ingredients in a blender and blitz until very smooth. If you don’t have a very powerful blender, be sure to give it lots of breaks to avoid overheating the motor.

Step 2 Once smooth, add ice and blend until crushed. Serve in tall glasses. Any extra can be stored in the fridge for up to 12 hours.

Tomatoes

Using now

This is how summer’s best tomatoes should be enjoyed – dressed simply and served with the best bread you can find. My family and I cannot get enough of tomatoes prepared this way. I use a mixture of cherry tomatoes and larger tomatoes to create an interesting texture. This is perfect to bring to a BBQ or as a light lunch.

Tomato, garlic and basil salad

• 2 tablespoons good quality olive oil
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 3 cups tomatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
• sea salt and pepper
• 1 large handful basil, roughly torn or chopped (plus extra for serving)

Step 1 Combine the oil, sugar, balsamic vinegar and garlic in a large bowl. Whisk to dissolve sugar.

Step 2 Add tomatoes and gently stir through the dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add basil and gently stir through. Place in fridge or set aside on bench for half an hour to let the flavours combine.

Step 3 Add more basil just prior to serving. Serve with crusty bread and salted butter.

Storing for later

This recipe is a shameless appropriation of my mother-in-law’s delicious tomato sauce. She makes bottles and bottles of it every year at the end of summer. We all wait expectantly for our allocation and cross our fingers it’s enough to get us through the year. It’s a sad day if we have to resort to store-bought tomato sauce – once you’ve tasted the homemade stuff you’ll never go back. This recipe is remarkably easy and there’s room for adding your own flavours to it once you’ve got the basic recipe sorted. Brown sugar adds richness and a soft caramel flavour.

Brown sugar tomato sauce

• 4 kg tomatoes, halved
• 3 tablespoons allspice, wrapped tightly in muslin and tied very securely
• 3 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2 cups malt vinegar
• 4 tablespoons salt
• 2 long stems (or equivalent) rosemary

Step 1 Combine all ingredients in a very large pot. Boil gently for 3 hours.

Step 2 Once slightly cool, remove rosemary stems and allspice. Blitz mixture in a food processor or use a stick blender to create a smoothish texture.

Step 3 Sterilise bottles/jars or bottles by placing in oven on a folded sheet of newspaper (bottles not touching each other) for approx. 25 minutes on 120°C.

Step 4 Use a funnel to pour the warm sauce (it’s essential the sauce is still warm) into the hot bottles. Put lids on tightly. The heat will seal the bottles/jars and allow them to last in the cupboard until you open them. Refrigerate once opened.

Kelly Gibney blogs about wholefoods at www.bonniedelicious.com.