Perhaps it is climate change, perhaps it is a surprise gift, and perhaps it is a sign of my increasing gardening skills- I have these lovely tomatoes still growing in their glorious reds and sunny yellows brightening up my garden. Some salad leaves are still growing along with the nasturtiums. So here is my lovely late summer, near autumn salad, simply served with a splash of olive oil and served with love- delicious!
I come from a rice eating background. I have noticed that although I am not allergic to eating wheat, I am sensitive to it. I would suffer from indigestion and some minor skin rashes after eating wheat. So I have focussed on finding alternate ways of eating things I enjoy.
It is very simple, really. I have done is substituted maize or potato flour or an equal mixture of both for many recipes. For example, see this simple pizza I made with half maize flour and half potato flour. The potato flour acts as a binder to the more rough maize flour grains. I added some organic yoghurt instead of yeast (a trick I learnt from my brother-in-law who is a chemical engineer and likes to experiment with food). Salt and a pinch of sugar and a few table-spoons of olive oil and water to make a dough (be careful with the water because maize flour is very tricky to form and you must add water little by little). I left it to ‘develop’ for a about one hour. Another version is with three equal parts of arrow root flour, potato flour and ordinary flour- although not entirely gluten free, it has one third of gluten, in case you do not mind. After one hour, I shaped the dough into a flat circle about 6-10 inches diameter (you can make it bigger if you have a bigger base) and placed it on a steel base which had olive oil brushed on it. Put it in the oven at 190C. I took the pizza base out after 6 minutes when it looked done and then added the toppings.
For toppings I added home made tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese or mozzarella cheese and cherry tomatoes- the later version being more ‘lazy’. Then I stuck the pizza back in the oven for another 10 minutes until the cheese was ‘bubbling’ and some parts were ‘browned’. Fried mushroom slices and my home grown basil leaves were added after taking the pizza out of the oven.
My ten year old pronounced it delicious! It is also quite filling for such a small size pizza. Money and time saving too- do try it and let me know how you get on-you may never order another Dominoes again!
Maize and potato flour pizza with home grown basil and tomatoes.
Left: I made the leftover dough into ‘arepas’ (Latin American patties) with with grated cheese, organic mushrooms and a ‘sunny side’ egg- perfect for lunch or breakfast.
Right: Pizza (with a mixture of arrowroot flour, potato flour and ordinary white flour), topping of home grown tomatoes, mushroom and basil.
Today’s dinner made by me with my able sous chef, my ten year old, was very special. It was made with leftovers and mint from my little container garden.
It consisted of leftover pasta, peas and baked eggs with leftover gravy/meat juice. All very simple and tasty. The peas that you see are a combination of Ramsey and Slater recipes. Very quick to make-
Two cups of frozen peas, four mint leaves chopped up, a tiny bit of garlic chopped up, half of a small onion sliced into thin slices, salt to taste and two teaspoons of olive oil. Heat the oil and put everything in it, cover it and stir from time to time. Ready in about 10 minutes!
And the mint you see is very special too. It came as a free gift with my organic vegetable box. I put all the mint in glass of water to keep it fresh and one of the stems grew roots. I put it in a pot and it grew. Now that was last year. During winter, it all died down. Now that it is spring, I have my resurrected mint again! Amazing how resilient these herbs are. I hope to get some of its resilience into my life too!
The Canny Gardener 