Carrot and Kumara Roesti

• 1 large carrot - shredded
• 1 medium kumara (sweet potato) - shredded
• 1 medium brown onion, finely diced and sauteed
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 4 tablespoons flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon tumeric or curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• Oil for cooking

1.  Mix grated vegetables, onion, herbs, and spices in a large bowl
2.  Add beaten egg and stir through thoroughly
3.  Gradually add flour until mixture is combined and 'sticky'
4.  Shallow fry over medium heat until golden and cooked through

Yummy variations

Add 2-3 tablespoons of:

•  chopped cashews
• fried, diced bacon
• shredded parmesan
• crumbled feta
• cooked lentils

Kumara Soup

1 large Kumara (sweet potato)
1 large parsnip
1 large brown onion
3 rashers of middle bacon fried and chopped (optional)
Slurp of sunflower or olive oil
1.5 litres stock or water
Salt & pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh herbs - chives, rosemary, thyme
Cream for serving

1. Dice the vegetables and sautee in oil until onion is transluscent
2. Add stock.  Bring to gentle boil then simmer until vegetables are very tender.
3. Puree in blender or using stick blender
4. Season with salt & pepper to taste
5. Stir through (optional) bacon
5. Ladle into ramekins and swirl cream into soup.  Garnish with  herbs of choice.

Other recent zucchini treats include:

• Zucchini Cake 
• Muffins
• Pancakes
• Zucchini "pasta"
• Diced, sliced or shredded panfried zucchini with mushrooms or tomatoes on toast
• Grated zucchini added to mashed potato
• Zucchini and mushroom stuffed capsicums and tomatoes
• Diced into brown rice dishes
• Added to bread
• Curries
• Stir fires
• Omelettes
• Fritters
• Meatloaf
• Roasted for salads

My, it's been a while!

It's well and truly zucchini time again.

I grated a giant zucchini into a bulk bolognese brew a few nights ago. This is fabulous because zucchini adds moisture too. It, along with an additional grated carrot was added approximately an hour before serving as I wanted to "up" the vegetable flavour.  

Ingredients included freshly picked tomatoes and celery, grated carrot and homegrown mushrooms rounded out the vegetable ingredients.  Minced beef (not a personal favourite) was the meat of choice for this extended family meal.  As we were cooking with ingredients on hand, this bolognese was not as richly tomatoey as it might have been as there was no tomato paste in the pantry!  Still it was a satisfying meal at the end of a long day.  The evening had a delicious chill so a hot, slow cooked meal was just the ticket.  Served with three types of pasta - again using up what was on hand - spaghetti, penne and spirals :)