Serves:6

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, chopped
2 garlic clove, crushed
1 red pepper, chopped
1 litre vegetable stock
400 g tin chopped tomatoes
2 large carrots, chopped
1 cauliflower
2 small courgettes
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
AND any other veg you want!
75 g small pasta shapes
handful of brown lentils
Salt and black pepper

Method
Sauté onion, garlic and red pepper in the olive oil for 5 minutes.
Add all the other vegetables and brown lentils and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add pasta 10 minutes before the end of cooking time. Season and serve.

Bon apetit! Enjoy the rest of the week and see you soon!

Seeta, Jill, Julian and Sam

Ingredients:
450 g greengages or plums, halved and stoned
1 bramley apple sliced thinly
100g butter or marg
50g sugar

For the crust:
75 g plain white flour
50 g plain wholemeal flour
50 g butter or marg
pinch of salt
1 tsp sugar
2-4 tbsp ice-cold water

Method

• To make the crust, cut the butter/marg  into the flour with a fork until it is in small, pea-sized pieces. You can also do this in a food processor, but be careful to run the motor in a few, short pulses.
• Add the salt and sugar and mix with the fork.
• Then drizzle in the water a few drops at a time, mixing with the fork or in the food processor until the dough starts to stick together.
• Form the dough into a disc and put it in the refrigerator while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.

• In a 10-inch frying pan, melt the butter/marg.
• Remove from heat and sprinkle the sugar evenly around the pan.
• Arrange the greengage slices in a ring around the edge of the pan, filling the hole in the center with more as needed.
• Return to heat and cook on high heat about 10-12 minutes until the sugar and butter form a rich amber sauce. Remove from heat and with a fork or a spatula, carefully turn the greengages over.
• Return to heat for another 5 minutes.
• Take the refrigerated crust and on a floured surface, roll it into a crust slightly larger than 10 inches in diameter.
• Put the crust on top of the fruit, and, very carefully so as to not burn yourself, tuck in the edges along the edge of the pan.
• Bake in an oven at 190 degrees C between 25 and 35 minutes. Remove to a rack and allow it to cool at least half an hour.
• To unmold, run a knife along the edges of the tart. Place a dish on top of the pan and, with a quick motion, invert the pan.

Et voila! I served this with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

I’ve recently been craving pizza. Have you? I’ve decided it doesn’t really matter what you put on it either as long as there’s tomato sauce and a bit or cheese! Check out my recipe below.

We’ve got a great new part-time supplier on board! We’re getting some lovely fruit from a friends back garden – it’s organic and has been transported by Electric Van! She’s supplied us with Plums, Greengages, Blackberries and Bramley Apples. Do come and have a look at what’s we’ve got on the Van!

Sutton Community Farm keep supplying us with some great local produce too! With  Basil , Beetroot, Blackberries, Bramley Apples, Broad Beans, French Beans, Runner Beans, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Courgettes,  Kale, Red Onions,  Yellow Plums , Potatoes, Raspberries and Spinach all from just down the road!

Cheaper than Sainsbury’s!
95% of our produce is cheaper than Sainsbury’s! You can’t get better than that!

Veg Van Pizza recipe

crust

• 500g plain flour, white or wholemeal
• 1 packet of easy blend dried yeast
• approx 200 ml. warm water but keep adding until you get a good dough

topping:

• 1 tin chopped tomatoes (approx. 400g/14oz.)
• 2 tablespoons dried mixed herbs
• 2 tablespoons olive or sunflower oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• Any kind of veg you might like, I’ve put leeks, courgettes, beans and spinach on mine! Chop up first
• cheese

Method

1. Mix the flour with the yeast and add the water gradually.
2. Mix well and then knead for a couple of minutes until the dough is fairly smooth.
3. Place on a large greased baking tray and flatten into desired shape.
4. Leave in a warm place while you prepare the topping: Mix together the tomatoes, herbs, oil and seasoning in a bowl and then spread over the pizza base.
5. If using the all the veg you love – coat them in a little olive oil and arrange on the top of the pizza.
6. Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 200 C for 15 to 20 minutes until ready.

Happy Pizza making. See you soon on the Van!

Serves: 6 – 8

• 1 bunch chard
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 liter vegetable stock
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 600gr potatoes, peeled and diced in 1/2 inch pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

METHOD

1. Clean the chard. Remove leaves from heavy stems, keeping stems on side. Chop stems into 1/2 inch thick slices. Chop leaves thinly. Keep separate. Set aside
2. Put oil and garlic in large soup pot. Let cook 5 minutes over low heat. Do not burn.
3. Pour in stock and thyme. Put in potatoes and thick stems of the chard, raising heat to medium high. Bring to a boil. When boiling, lower heat to medium and cook until potatoes are beginning to soften, about 1 minutes. Stir in chard leaves and cook another 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add pepper and salt to taste.
4. Serve with grated cheese if desired

Enjoy the rest of the summer and soup!

Seeta, Sam, Jill and Julian

Serves 4-5
Ingredients
1kg potatoes, peeled, soaked in cold water until needed
1 onion, peeled
25g plain flour
1 free-range egg, beaten
salt and freshly ground pepper
olive or vegetable oil, for frying

To serve
apple sauce any stir-fried veg

Method

1. finely grate the potatoes and onion and mix together.
2. Place the grated potato and onion into a colander and squeeze out as much moisture as you can. Or roll up the potato and onion in a clean kitchen tea towel and wring well to extract the liquid.
3. Mix the potato and onion with the flour, egg and salt and freshly ground white pepper.
4. Heat the oil in a frying pan until moderately hot and then place heaped tablespoons of the mixture into the pan to shallow-fry. Lower the heat to medium, flatten each pancake with the back of a spoon and fry for about five minutes on each side, turning over when the edges turn golden-brown. If the heat is too high, the pancakes will become dark-brown on the outside before they are cooked inside.
5. Remove the pancakes from the pan and drain on brown paper bags (they absorb the oil, leave the pancakes crisper and the pancakes won’t stick to the paper).
6. Serve them hot with apple sauce or any simple stir-fried veg.

ENJOY!!!

Ultra Local Produce from Wallington! We have Courgettes and Potatoes from Sutton Community Farm. Come grab super fresh unsprayed produce that can’t be missed!

Potato Gratin is a great way to make use of our lovely potatoes and layered with some lovely fresh courgettes it’s the perfect summer filler. I found the Love Potatoes website and it inspired me! Enjoy the recipe!

Potato Gratin

serves 2
Ingredients

• 675g (1 1/2lb) Potatoes, well scrubbed
• 1 Courgette
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 150ml Single Cream (optional)
• Grated cheese (optional)

Method

1. Lightly grease an ovenproof dish.
2. Very thinly slice the potatoes or grate them then cover the base of the dish with a layer of slices.
3. Make alternate layers of potato and courgette and seasoning with salt and pepper. Finish with a layer of potatoes.
4. Pour over the cream and top with grated cheese
5. Cook for 1-1½ hours or until the potatoes are tender and the top is golden brown – if the top is brown before the potatoes are cooked cover with foil and continue cooking.

Hope you enjoy the recipe! It’s one of my favourites and my nephew loves it too.

Happy Veg Vanning and please do come and say hello,

Seeta, Sam, Jill and Julian

The cherries are Fresh and so is the rhubarb – what more would you want but PIE!!!!

Pastry Crust:
250 gr flour
50 gr margarine
a pinch of salt
one glass of warm water
Filling:
400 grams fresh sweet cherries
500 grams of chopped Rhubarb
250 grams granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

• Start making the Pastry by putting flour and salt in a bowl. Let the margarine soften at room temperature if needed and cut it into small flakes: add them to the flour. At this point you need to kneed the butter into the flour, so to get some small crumbles of flour and margarine.  When no more flour can be made to stick to the margarine, add the warm water, one tablespoon at the time and just enough to make a non sticky ball out of the flour mix. Make sure not add too much water or you will have to restart everything over!
• At this point roll the ball, over it with cling film and put in the fridge for at least half an hour.
• Slowly, take away all the kernels from the cherries (we promise you it is worth the time and effort!), collecting also all the juice this process may create. Add the chopped rhubarb to the cherries and add the cornstarch, needed to get the juice out of the cherries and to make a denser syrup, and the sugar. Let sit for at least half an hour.
• Take the dough out of the fridge and cut it into two parts, one double of the other. Take the bigger portion and roll it thinly with a rolling pin over some baking paper to make it big enough to spill out of the edges of your cake baking pan about 1 inch (3 cm). Place it inside the pan and fill with the cherries. Roll out what is left of the ball and place it on top of the cherries.
• Make sure to glue well together the edges of the two disks, since you do not want syrup to come out from the edges. Cut the excess dough and set aside.
• Now make a small hole in the centre of the cake: this step is needed in order to allow steam to come out. If you force the steam to stay inside, the syrup will be too runny and potentially the pressure will make the syrup come out from the edges anyway. In the hole, place a cone of paper covered with tinfoil or use directly baking paper.
• With the excess of dough, create some leaves to decorate your pie. They are really easy to make and the result is visually really pleasing! Glue the leaves to the pie with some water.
• At this point, using your fingers or a cooking paintbrush, brush the entire surface with a thin layer of (soy)milk.
• Bake at 180 degrees for 45 minutes.

Hope you’re enjoying the sunshine. We have more delicious fresh salad straight from the community farm in Wallington available this week (we sold out last week so get yours while you can!) – unsprayed, nutured by the community, transported by bicycle and only £1 a bag, you can’t get better than that?! We also have some fresh peas in their pods and a few courgettes from the farm too.

This week our lovely kentish potatoes are cheaper than Sainsburys at a bargain 65p per kilo  – see recipe below for delicious potato salad. Did you know the average Brit eats 500 potatoes a year and potatoes provide 15% of the UK’s vitamin C? It was also the first vegetable in space! More potato facts here: www.lovepotatoes.co.uk/fun-facts/

This Saturday the Veg Van is going to be at ‘Active at the Phoenix’ from 10 til 4 at the Phoenix Centre in Wallington with our new bicycle powered smoothie machine – do pop by and have a go!

Potato Salad

• Place the vinegar, mustard, oils, honey and salt and pepper in a screw-top jar or in the bowl of a small hand blender. Shake or blend well until creamy. Add more seasoning if desired.
• Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for about 15-20 minutes until just tender. Drain well and, when just cool enough to handle, cut into halves or quarters, if quite large.
• Place the potatoes in a mixing bowl with the tarragon, shallots, cornichons or gherkins and walnuts, if using, and toss in as much or as little of the dressing as you want.
• 2 tbsp walnut pieces (optional)
• 1 tbsp tarragon or cider vinegar
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp walnut oil
• 1 tsp honey
• flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 900g/2lb new / small potatoes, washed or scrubbed
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon leaves
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped cornichons or gherkins (optional)

If using walnuts, place in a hot oven (about 200C/400F/Gas 6) for a few minutes until beginning to colour slightly.

Bon appétit!

Hope to see you at the Veg Van soon! Find out where we are here: http://www.vegvan.org.uk/where-we-are/

Summer wishes from the Veg Van team,

Jill, Sam and Seeta