if they asked me i could write a book

[pensnest]

Poor Sable. We had to take her back to the Vet again last Saturday for the final check-up. She knew Something Was Up. She was *extremely* wary of us all morning! At one-thirty, having had her snuggled as usual while we ate lunch, she disappeared about three minutes before we decided it was time to capture her.

After some baffled pursuit, we were sure she went into the library. But... no cat to be seen. Not in her armchair, not in her usual spot on top of the shelf, not in any of the spaces between the bookshelves. It was only when Beast was on the point of searching elsewhere that I spotted an unusually furry book on the bottom shelf....

Well, her tooth is now fine. I think she forgave us for this visit, as it was brief, and nobody stuck any needles in her.

*

I have been trying to follow the ZOE advice to eat at least thirty different plants in a week, and so far it has worked well. It encourages me to be a bit more experimental - no longer is breakfast regularly mini shredded wheats with ginger, nuts and possibly sultanas. Now I break out the blackberries or raspberries or mixed berries from the freezer, or have blueberries and pomegranite seeds with kefir, or porridge with mixed seeds and cinnamon. And I've tried roasting fennel (very nice), aubergine parmigiano (not bad) and tomorrow there will be kalettes, stir fried, which should be interesting at the very least. There's not a lot of plant material in a bacon sandwich, of course.

Does anyone else do this? Any recommendations for unusual plants to eat?

Comments

[manna]

I've been eyeing up this website for possible purchases for this year. It has all kinds of interesting-looking edible plants.

https://incrediblevegetables.co.uk/shop/

[pensnest]

Those are really interesting - thanks!

[jacieleigh]

I'm glad Sable was found in time for her visit and all went well.

[pensnest]

I was mostly amused that she filed herself in Fiction under 'S'.

[minoanmiss]

Seaweeds count as plants and there are many different types

https://www.seriouseats.com/seaweed-guide-how-to-use-kelp-kombu-nori-wakame-sea-vegetables

I miss kalettes. they are the best of both parents.

[pensnest]

Seaweed is/are an excellent thought! We're pretty close to the coast here. Next time I am in town I must ask at the market's vegetable stores, and maybe also the fish stalls. Hmm.

I've never tried kalettes before, but they look cute. And they are purple, which apparently has more, hmm, polyphenols (I think) than green versions do.

[minoanmiss]

Kalettes are delightful. They taste like the sweetest most delicate kale with none of the sulfurousness of brussels sprouts, and they are SO CUTE. And IIRC you recall correctly. :)

most of the seaweed I have is dried, waiting for rehydration; I bet fresh seaweed would be awesome!

[pensnest]

The kalettes were indeed cute - so frilly! There are a couple of excellent market stalls which offer a better range of Interesting Veg than the supermarkets do. I try to visit them every time I'm in town.

[wenchpixie]

Awh, poor Sable, glad to hear she's well.


I was doing the 30 a week before dad got ill and I'm trying to get back to it now that things are a bit more settled. Soup was useful - and breakfast is an excellent way (as you've found) to cram a bunch of things in.

If you've a good local greengrocers, taking their more seasonal stock is quite a good way to go - they always seem to have more varieties of THINGS than the supermarket's homogeneous mass, ditto a good Asian grocers can be an interesting source of new things.

I was given the HF-W book on same, which I'm hoping to start into this week and I'll share any tips.

[pensnest]

We have some interesting stalls in the market - two greengrocers (hence the kalettes) and there's an Asian stall and a new Asian mini-supermarket, though I don't think that one does fresh vegetables. But it does do packets of seaweed. Hmm. So far, my weeks have made it up to around 40, so I'm doing well, and Tim Spector assures me that coffee counts!

[rikes]

I just looked up kalettes, and I want some now! I love kale and brussel sprouts! Sadly I've never seen kalettes sold here.

Have you tried swedes? They're definitely not trendy or new in any way, very old fashioned and uncool in fact! But I like them and always tend to have some in the fridge, and so I fed some (uncooked, cut into sticks) to my new year's guest froggies, who had never tried them before (or had last had them over 20 years ago) and it was a surprise hit!

[pensnest]

I must admit, it has been a very long time since I cooked or ate a swede, but I have no intrinsic objection. I'll put them on a mental list! I do adore parsnips, particularly roasted.

By the way - you're a knitter. Would you be interested in coming over for this: https://eastangliayarnfestival.com/ ? Turlough and Chalcopyrite are likely to be here for it!

[rikes]

Ahhh, that always sounds like such a cool event! Unfortunately it happens to clash with some other travel plans I already have. :( Maybe next year!

[word_geek]

My Riverford box last week came with a recommendation to try the 30 a week thing, which I had not previously heard about. I don't know that I am in a position to jump into it right now but they pointed out that herbs count.

Technically, this means that the cottage pie I made today had at least 7 veg in it (leeks, mushrooms, potato, parsnips, tomato, thyme and dill plus whatever else was in the arrabbiata sauce I used for the tomato element). And I didn't make it with peas, which I normally would, because I wasn't sure if Opal would want the other half of the pie (she's not keen on peas, a hangover from Alex complaining about them when she was small). The recipe wanted carrots and celery, but I was going off what we had in

[pensnest]

Yes - herbs and spices count! Though I kinda count them as half, since the quantities are rather small. Also, coffee! Your cottage pie is much more veg-heavy than mine (although - was it entirely vegetarian?)! I keep pondering getting a veg box delivered, but years ago I used to get an Abel & Cole, and ended up buried in potatoes. Perhaps I just need to plan a weekly visit to the market. I could combine it with a visit to the café that does great porridge....

[word_geek]

I got sent beef mince by Ocado. I can't think what it was a substitution for, or how I managed to tick to buy it, but I don't object to having mince, we just usually use soy mince as Alex is vegetarian/pescetarian.

I'd forgotten how much nicer actual mince is *sigh*

I like to cut the fat with some veg anyway and also if there's veg in the pie I don't need to cook a side dish, so I don't get caught out when the timer goes off. I usually just throw in whatever we have. The parsnip was part of the mash. It needs using up. Alex is the one who likes it and he is away

[word_geek]

Riverford has a potato free box. So we get one box with potatoes and one without, and alternate them. Also, we only get a box every other week. So we don't drown in veg we can't eat. When we got a weekly box, we tended to get gluts, and I made a lot of stock

[turlough]

Aww, poor Sable! Not even hiding among the books could save her from the dreaded vet visit. Hopefully she won't have to visit again for a long time!

I've been eating quite a lot of spinach lately but I don't think that qualifies as an unusual plant :-) And I doubt celeriac, parsnips, and carrots do either. So sorry, no unusual plant tips from me.

[pensnest]

I've also been chowing down on spinach. I'm not sure it tastes of much in its cooked form, but it is a useful filler. Bit nicer in salads, but I'm seldom in the mood for salads in winter.

Thanks for the reminder about celeriac! I'm rather partial to it. Parsnips, of course, are delicious roasted. Had some for lunch today. It's really a question of remembering the many tasty options and remembering to put them in the rotation!

[turps]

One of my challenges in class was to do the 30 plants a week thing, so I've enjoyed stalking your comments.

What helped me was being told herbs and spices could be included. I never thought they would be, but I'll take them and use them as part of the 30.

[pensnest]

It might also help to know that coffee counts, and so does chocolate! Although they do advise consuming chocolate in the darkest form you can manage.... But yes, it's a useful encouragement to whack on the turmeric and chillis!