Welcome

This is an attempt to document my efforts to grow and eat locally around Melbourne, Derbyshire. My family own a nine acre smallholding on which we grow fruit and vegetables and keep bees, and chickens, but that won't feed us alone, so the idea is to get to know our local produce and to see how easy/hard it is to follow a diet that is local to within 30 miles. The fun part is also trying some new (easy) recipes that use home-grown and local produce. Feel free to comment, send in recipes, and share your experiences of buying and eating locally.

Monday 2 July 2012

Rainbow coleslaw


This is a lighter version of the normal heavy, sweet coleslaw that you can make or buy.  The yogurt dressing is tasty but light.  I ate it here with a quiche and home-grown salad.  The bacon in the quiche was a pack of "bacon bits" for around £2 that I bought in Chantry Farm Shop.  I thought it was a great idea to sell those bits and they were good value, with enough to make 2 quiches.

• 2 carrots, different colours if you can find them, peeled
• 1 bulb fennel, trimmed
Use at least 2 of the following:
• 3-4 radishes
• 1 light-coloured beetroot, peeled
• ½ a small celeriac, peeled
• 400g red and white cabbage, outer leaves removed
• ½ red onion, peeled
• 1 shallot, peeled
• 1 lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil
• A handful of fresh soft herbs (use mint, fennel, dill, parsley and chervil), leaves picked and chopped
• 250ml yoghurt
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Shred the carrots, fennel, and your choice of radishes, beetroot, turnip or celeriac on a mandoline, or use the julienne slicer in your food processor. Put the veg into a mixing bowl. Slice the cabbage, onion and shallot as finely as you can and add to the bowl. In a separate bowl, mix half the lemon juice, a glug of extra virgin olive oil, the chopped herbs, yoghurt and mustard. Pour this dressing over the veg and mix well to coat everything. Season to taste with salt and pepper and the rest of the lemon juice if you like.

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