As the summer cranks up to its maximum heat, birds pant and the roads are sticky with hot tar, I thought I’d post an update on my vegetable garden. Yes, it’s gripping stuff, right up there with timed sheep-dog trails. Although it has to be said, watching a well trained dog snuffle recalcitrant sheep through a narrow gate, under pressure, while a stern faced farmer watches on, makes my New Zealand heritage proud.
Regular readers will delight in knowing that the beans are coming along nicely, but sadly the tomatoes are afflicted with various species of worm. Underfoot, strawberry plants thrive but do not produce any fruit, but hey, they make a nice ground cover. A zucchini plant has produced three and a half vegetables (one was a bit rotten) and the pumpkin plant is busily scaling the neighbour’s fence.
Unfortunately, the kale continues to cause trouble. It’s fast approaching head height, with amazingly thick stems, reaching towards the sky like the proverbial bean stalk. It’s easily my most prolific vegetable, which is unfortunate, as I’ve got a bumper crop and I don’t even like the stuff.
However, having devoted a recent post to whining about kale, I thought it was about time to do a volte-face and admit that I’ve found at least one recipe that makes it palatable. Actually, delicious. It’s called a Caramelized Cauliflower and Sauteed Kale Casserole, and it’s on the Iron You blog, written by a health nut and his partner who clearly know a thing or two about food.
I refuse to do the whole ‘it-was-awesome’ thing, but it really was. Amazing flavours, delicate yet robust, the lemon cutting through the pond-scum earthiness of the kale, and the nutty cauliflower languishing in its creamy sauce. Frankly, if I had any left, I’d be eating it now. I’ve also been treating kale like spinach, and chucking it into omletes with fetta and haloumi, and it’s really not bad, as the cheese drowns out the kale.
In other news, I’ve recently been trying to weed a bit of sugar out of my diet, and to this end found myself searching for healthy brownie recipes. (Yep, I appreciate the irony). Interestingly, there’s quite a few out there, including one by Jillian Michaels, and a number of left field renditions that include black beans or minimal sugar. But for my money, the pick of the litter is this one, found on The Baltic Maid blog.
The recipe includes zucchini, and honestly, it’s the best use of the vegetable I’ve ever tasted. Now if only someone would invent a brownie recipe that uses a lot of kale…
Helen Hopcroft: an artist's life 
That casserole sounds great! LIke you, I’m trying to cut down on sugar but I love cakes and chocolate, so I’ll try the brownies as well. Thank you! I also make my own Breakfast Cake which is great to control cravings, and very healthy. I’ll post the recipe.
Breakfast Cake! That sounds worth waking up for.