Plum & Beetroot Salad
We eat a lot of beetroots (beterrabas), normally grated raw, with carrots (cenouras) and a mix of toasted seeds, and whatever else is around that might complement.
Yesterday I had no carrots, so I grated half a dozen small beets, toasted some sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and chopped up ten well ripe plums (ameixas) from one of our trees. And, then the magic ingredient that just brought out the taste of the plums and beets, a small clump of basil (manjericão) chopped very finely.
Delicious.
Other things I have sometimes added include apples (maças), pears (peras), sprouted seeds, cheese (queijo), pineapple (ananas), parlsey (salsa) or other herbs. But you could add almost anything. The plum idea I think is the best yet (thats why I thought I’d post it here), and I prefer to use things we’ve grown ourselves. Enjoy!
While I am here, another thing we are eating quite regularly, simply because the chooks are laying plenty, is a kind of egg-fried rice thing. Stir fry a wok full of veg, including plenty of chopped green (kale, cabbage, chard, whatever you’ve got), while a pan of rice is cooking. Add the rice, stir in well, and then break 4 or 5 eggs into the mix. Stir in briskly for 5 minutes, to ensure the eggs are cooked properly. Viola, a filling meal, making use of the egg glut and whatever veg is abundant in your garden. Obviously wholegrain rice is better (and more filling) but white is fine if you prefer, and very cheap still (rice prices are escalating around the world. Hopefully in Portugal this won’t affect us too much as rice is grown on the plains near Coimbra).
Perhaps I should keep posting my recipes here, until I have enough for a little book? I’d be interested to hear from readers who try these recipes, perhaps with your own modifications - all my cooking changes with the seasons and what is available in the garden - what worked? What didn’t? What recipes did you try and love and keep coming back to?
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