Getting children interested in growing their own food can be a struggle.
I have been trying to get my daughter interested in growing vegetables. Admittedly, this may not be an easy thing to do in our tiny kitchen garden, but I believe it has possibilities. Of course, I want to grow everything organically, including the herbs and vegetables and possibly even some fruit. I want a garden where we can go and pick our own violet-hued heritage carrots, dark leaves of cavolo nero, french breakfast radishes, climbing beans and heirloom tomatoes and, if possible, tickle some jersey benne potatoes out of the dark soil. A quince tree would be nice, too.
I want her to gain a deeper appreciation of where her food comes from, and at the same time nurture in her an interest in how to cook with respect for ingredients, but I have had little success so far. It has been a heartbreaking process, and the packets of seeds remain in the garden shed. So I am putting my hopes in New Zealand’s Garden to Table Trust.
The trust was established here by Catherine Bell, the founder and editor-in-chief of Dish magazine. Modelled on Australia’s Kitchen Garden Foundation, which was set up by restaurateur turned food writer and now food activist Stephanie Alexander, the trust aims to provide children with a pleasurable education about food, horticulture and their natural environment. So far, children in the trust’s pilot programme are growing a wide range of produce, including broad beans, silverbeet, garlic, potatoes, radishes and artichokes, to name a few. Three years into the pilot programme, the three schools are already seeing positive results. The children grow and cook the vegetables at school, then take these skills home.
Studies by Australia’s Alfred Deakin Research Institute have shown the children’s new behaviour improves families’ social dynamic, so they eat less fast food and have more social interaction, including sitting down to eat as a family.
Although the pilot schools are in Auckland, the plan is to take the scheme nationwide. They can use my kitchen garden; I already have the seeds – and the child.
My daughter usually adores mussels, and a large bagful from the supermarket has been a regular feature in my weekly shopping for several years. But children’s eating habits can be fickle, and this week she abruptly decided she no longer likes them, leaving me with a surfeit of mussels to be used as cunningly as possible so they didn’t go to waste. I have had to abandon simply steaming them open with cider and cream, or with a glass of wine, some garlic and parsley, for being a little more creative. I have managed to get away with it so far. Any trouble, and she will find herself on the end of a garden trowel faster than she can say snowball cauliflower.
I serve this dish with a tomato and lettuce salad sprinkled with a bright dressing of red wine vinegar, mustard and olive oil.
Mussel CanneLloni, Tomato Sauce and Mozzarella
12 lasagne sheets
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 leeks, washed
1 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
2kg mussels, steamed open, shells discarded
2 cups fresh tomato sauce
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
4 tbsp parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a vigorous boil. Slide the lasagne sheets into the water and cook until tender. Drain and remove to a wet tea-towel. Cut them into rectangles 6cm x 10cm and set aside.
Heat the butter in a frying pan, slice the leeks into thin rounds, then fry in the butter until soft but not too coloured. Finely chop the onion and garlic and stir into the leeks. Add the bay leaves and cook gently for 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Check the seasoning.
Place the sheets of pasta on a damp cloth and spoon some leek mixture onto each sheet, discarding the bay leaves. Top each sheet with 3-4 mussels, then roll the cannelloni into a cylinder. Spoon some of the tomato sauce into a shallow baking dish and arrange the cannelloni over the top. Distribute the rest of the tomato sauce over the cannelloni and sprinkle with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove and serve.
Will feed 4.
Tomato sauce
60ml olive oil
2 onions
4 cloves garlic
2kg ripe tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
a good handful of basil leaves
salt and black pepper
Heat the oil in a deep saucepan over a medium setting. Finely chop the onions and garlic then fry until golden brown – about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for 20 minutes; use a spoon to break them up. Continue cooking until the sauce reduces and becomes thick. Add the basil and season with salt and pepper. Use immediately or refrigerate for up to 7 days.
I like to use a combination of mussels and cockles in this dish, but feel free to use one type only. If you are a fan of chillies, add some green ones, slit lengthwise, towards the end of the cooking time.
Curried Mussels with aubergine and Potato
24 large mussels or cockles
1 glass of white wine
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
2 cups water
3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
4 tbsp oil
½ tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp ground coriander
300g potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 3cm chunks
250g aubergine, peeled and cut into 2.5cm cubes
salt
3-4 sprigs coriander
Put the mussels (scrubbed and checked for broken or dead ones) into a deep saucepan over a moderate heat. Add the wine and cover with a lid. Steam for 2-3 minutes until the shells open. Lift out the mussels, transfer to a large bowl and toss with the turmeric. Soak the cumin and mustard seeds in a small amount of warm water for 10 minutes, then put into a food processor with the ginger and onion. Blend until smooth, using a little more water to get a thick paste.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion paste over a low heat until fragrant, then add the chilli powder, ground coriander and potato chunks. Add the aubergine, pour in the remaining water and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with a little salt, then add the mussels. Add more water if required, and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Serve sprinkled with coriander leaves and accompanied by bowls of steaming basmati rice.
Serves 4.