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YOUR RECIPES

- Spinach.

Sesame Spinach

Moving to a one-acre lifestyle block in rural township proved to be a steep learning curve for Feilding gardener Maria Keogan. Four years on, Maria and her husband Murray are still learning but have started to crack the gardening game. Their spot is a little hilly and exposed to wind – considerations to be taken into account before doing any planting.

During lockdown last year, Murray built a rocky garden; Maria refers to as his Great Wall. She uses it as a herb garden, and her Mediterranean herbs have grown so well there she regularly has to give some of the bounty away! She also learnt how to dry herbs from NZ Gardener and loves how they’re still a fresh green colour, unlike the store-bought kind.

Spinach proved to be a little tricky initially, with a couple of failed attempts but it now grows in abundance in daughter Missy Jade’s flower garden.

Maria got this versatile recipe from a colleague many years ago – who had learnt it from her own family – and it’s been a big hit with the family ever since.

Missy Jade has been chief taste-tester of the sesame seasoning since she was just one year old, and now, at six, she’s in charge of the mortar-and-pestle. The Keogans enjoy it as a side dish with roasts, curries, steak, fried rice, the Korean dish bibimbap or as part of DIY sushi nights.

Leftovers work great in sandwiches, and it’s versatile too – you can add shredded toasted seaweed, substitute the sesame oil for olive or vegetable oil or use French string beans or mung beans in place of the spinach.

Serves 4 as a side dish

1 bunch spinach, washed

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Blanch the spinach until wilted, then drop straight into a bowl of iced water so it doesn’t overcook. Lift the spinach and cut into strips, then squeeze the water out.

Add the sesame seeds to a dry pan and toast lightly, shaking continuously, until they are golden brown in colour. Tip the toasted seeds into a mortar and pestle. Add the sugar and salt and grind everything together to a fine powder.

Sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of the powder all over the spinach with the sesame oil and soy sauce. Toss together with clean hands and taste, adding more powder if necessary. Sprinkle more powder on top to garnish before serving.

Spinach Squares

Fran Stowe has the best of both worlds. She usually lives in British Columbia, Canada for half the year and stays with her daughter Gabrielle and son-in-law Jordan in Papamoa for the other half. It’s a perpetual summer kinda life and Fran loves it.

In Canada, Fran has set up a mini container garden on her balcony, growing silverbeet, strawberries and a couple of tomato plants.

In New Zealand, Gabrielle and Jordan moved into their first home on a tiny section just recently and their hope is to get involved in the neighbourhood community garden to grow their favourite veges there. Spinach will be on the list of course, mainly so they can make Fran’s Spinach Squares.

The recipe originally came from Debbie, an old neighbour of Fran’s when they first moved to British Columbia in 1988. It’s been a firm Stowe family favourite since and Gabrielle, in turn, made it for her son Felix when he was first exploring solid food.

It’s a handy finger food for toddlers (adjust seasoning to suit), and has proven to be a big hit with the grownups too, being always super popular at potlucks.

This dish also makes for a great lunch with a salad on the side, and is the perfect picnic fare as it can be served hot or cold.

Makes 16 squares

2 tablespoons soft butter

250g softened cream cheese

300g blanched and chopped spinach

225g grated Colby cheese

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground pepper

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

4 eggs, beaten

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Cream together the butter and cream cheese. Squeeze all the excess moisture from the spinach and add it to the cream cheese mixture with the grated cheese and seasonings. Add in the beaten eggs and mix well.

Turn into greased 20cm x 20cm cake pan. Bake for 40 minutes, or until set in the middle.

Cool slightly before cutting into squares.

Fran Stowe’s spinach squares are handy finger food for toddlers (adjust seasoning to suit), and have proven to be a big hit with the grownups too, being always super popular at potlucks.

Creamy Spinach & Mushrooms

Jenny Taylor’s vege garden in suburban Christchurch is a quarter the size of what she and husband John had in the place they moved from about a year ago, but the 3m x 3m garden is in a sheltered, sunny flat area facing north, beside the deck and conveniently close to the kitchen. After enriching the soil with a mix of sawdust, pig manure, mushroom compost, plus some blood and bone and general fertiliser, there was a good crop of beetroot, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, summer spinach and tomatoes last summer. Right now there’s plenty of silverbeet and brassicas.

Jenny grows baby leaf spinach and herbs in pots on the deck, feeding them a small amount of Nitrophoska Blue fertiliser at the beginning of the season, then a couple of times throughout, as well as liquid potassium occasionally.

This recipe evolved from reading a recipe for creamed spinach, and having mushrooms in the fridge that also needed using. You could use silverbeet in place of the spinach – just discard the white stalks first. It’s fab with roast pumpkin and potatoes, alongside any meat you like. John loves this dish, and requests it regularly.

Serves 4 as a side dish

10 white mushrooms, sliced

2 tablespoons butter

½ teaspoon dried sage (or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped) ½ teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped) 1 teaspoon Maggi Vegetable Stock Powder

1 clove garlic, crushed

5 large bunches spinach, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon cream cheese zest and juice of ½ lemon

Melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the mushrooms, herbs, stock powder and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes.

Steam the spinach until it is wilted, then put in a microwave-proof bowl and top with the cooked mushrooms. Add the cream cheese. Microwave for 1 minute on high or until the cheese softens. Stir the cheese through the veges to form a creamy sauce. Return to the microwave and cook till hot. Stir in the lemon zest and juice.

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2021-09-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

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