Oily Rag: Simple recipes for easy to grow vegetables

When belt tightening and frugal living combine the result is a coast to coast patch work of oily rag gardens across the nation. Having your own garden is the best way to cut the food budget, and it’s so easy - and the vegetables seem to taste a whole lot better than those that grow on the supermarket shelves. The only challenge is what to do with the fresh produce! But never fear - oily rag readers have lots of ideas.

Julie from Napier writes, “After cooking the silver beet and putting it on the plates we always put some mint sauce on it and found that the kids love it that way”.

Lilley has a favourite recipe for using up those tough broccoli stems in a soup. “You will need: 1 onion (diced), 1 large broccoli stalk (diced), any left over broccoli florets, 1 large potato, 1 vege stock cube dissolved in 2 cups water, 1 teaspoon butter, 1/4 cup milk or cream, 1/4 cup cheese (optional), and salt and pepper. Saute onion in butter till clear. Add broccoli and potato. Cover with vege stock and simmer for 30 minutes till very tender. Blend and season. Reheat with a little milk or cream. Sprinkle with cheese if you like.”

Another reader has a favourite lemon butter topping for broccoli. “Simply add 12 tablespoons of lemon juice to 115g of melted butter. Mix in a little salt and pepper to taste. Stir together and pour over cooked broccoli. Serve immediately.”

Or what about these tip for green beans with a difference: “Slice the beans and cook in water. Add a packet of onion soup mix and sliced mushrooms. Delicious!”

From the “Did you know file”. We kiwi’s munch our way through 2.6 kilograms of baked beans per year per head - that’s a lot of carbon emissions!

Another great way to cook almost any vegetable is as Tempura, which is a classic Japanese dish of deep fried battered vegetables (like zucchini, onions, eggplants, carrots, green peppers, sweet potatoes, string beans, broccoli, mushrooms). Vegetables with a very high water content are however, generally not suitable as they tend to release water into the batter while cooking. The vegies need to be cut thin enough to cook in the same time it takes for the batter to become crispy.

To make the batter you need 1 cup of plain flour, 1 egg, and 1 cup ice-cold water. Beat the egg in a bowl and stir in the ice water. Add the flour and mix lightly with a wooden spoon handle or chop stick to avoid over-mixing (having lumps in the batter is a hallmark of Tempura). Dip in the vegetables and deep fry in clean oil at 180 degrees, turning occasionally until the batter is crisp and light golden. Eat immediately after cooking, while the batter is still crispy. With a garnishing of rock salt, lemon or lime juice or with dips, Tempura is a wonderful starter. It can also be used as a side dish, especially with fish.

Frank and Muriel Newman are the authors of Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag in NZ .If you have a favourite money saving or money-making tip, send it in to us so that we can share it with others. You can contact us via the oily rag website (www.oilyrag.co.nz) or write to Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag, PO Box 984, Whangarei.

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