These maple-glazed crispy sweet potatoes are a dairy-free twist on the viral crispy parmesan potatoes. This recipe went viral for a reason as cooking potatoes this way makes them so deliciously crispy and flavoursome. Sweet potatoes work perfectly in place of white potatoes and add a nice nutrient boost to the dish. Sweet potatoes are packed with goodness, and one potato counts towards one of your five-a-day. They are an excellent source of fibre, even more so when baking them with their skins in place. I’ve paired these crispy potatoes with a simple sauce consisting of dairy-free mayonnaise, garlic, and chives, but any dip of choice can be used in its place.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C /Gas Mark 6. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
Wash, dry, and cut the sweet potatoes in half. In a bowl combine the olive oil, maple syrup, and smoked paprika together with some sea salt and a good grinding of black pepper. Add the potatoes and coat well.
Cover the parchment paper lined tray with an even layer of the nutritional yeast.
Place the sweet potatoes, cut side down on the tray. Carefully drizzle over the remaining oil mixture from the bowl over each potato.
Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes.
While the potatoes are cooking, in a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise with the garlic and chives. Refrigerate until needed.
Once the potatoes are cooked, serve straight away, with an extra scattering of chopped chives and the garlicy dip on the side. Enjoy!
Most farmers whether they be conventional or organic do what they do out of love for the land, because it requires a vocation to continue on the land, we as farmers simply must have a strong desire to produce food, because without it we would quit.
The rules governing food production are tough, prices and specifications and contracts are set by contract supermarket buyers. The supermarket supply chain is mesmerising and staggering and fast, and we can be thankful in one sense for the illusion of a never ending food supply (emphasis on illusion here), but it doesn’t tie in well with the rhythm of nature. The weather is unpredictable and with climate breakdown there is no doubt it is getting more erratic and difficult to plan for. Intensification has taken over, from vegetable production to dairy production it is the first step in our disconnection from the land. If even the farmer is being disconnected from the food, they produce what chance do we as consumers have?
Yet there couldn’t be a more important time for food production and supply to be done ethically and with transparency, without the green washing and false misleading narrative of large multinational retailers, that they in some way care for you and I and the environment, they don’t. But here is the kernel of hope, they change, and they can change rapidly, because of consumer sentiment, this is an amazing thing, and it is your doing, do not underestimate the power you have,. and be reassured change is everywhere.
Yesterday I had an invigorating discussion with a man who is responsible for creating a product right here in Ireland that is helping both us organic horticulture farmers control weeds and conventional farmers use less chemicals. Matt Shine runs Samco, and he with his brother and dad, have developed a compostable biofilm manufactured from corn or potato starch that fully biodegrades in the soil.
This material is not petroleum based, it is not plastic, it is plant based. It means our 500 courgette plants can thrive in the Irish west of Ireland climate where they need all the help they can get. Right now, the first courgettes are nearly ready for harvest, the biofilm coupled with the best spring I can remember on record has helped this but we already have amazing yellow courgettes from Joe Kelly in Mayo.
And that brings me to another story, I had a long conversation with Joe during the week, and he is a grower that has been supplying us for many years, he is an individual with a passion for what he does and is driven by energy and positivity and love for a better food system, he is a true believer in the ethical production of organic food. He is a vocational small scale organic farmer, and he walks the walk, there is no green washing here.
And finally, I also had a chat with Hannah Quinn-Mulligan of Tory Hill house Farm, who is doing something truly revolutionary, bucking the trend and going against the usual dairy intensification, she loves her cows and you can see that, and is producing with the help of her mum and sister organic raw milk, yogurt and kefir.
The thing that struck me about all three people I had a pleasure of talking to this week, is that even though business is hard, and farming is hard, and even though there is all the challenges and the hard conversations, and hard decisions and work hidden from view, they love what they do and they are driven by the desire to make this world a better place though their work.
And you know what they are making a difference, and they are succeeding, and I for now am grateful through your support to have the opportunity to support them.
Thank you.
Kenneth
PS As many of you go off on holidays, we see our orders drop off. It makes it difficult to know how to manage, so if you can at all please support us next week and the weeks ahead. For those of you who received your free amazing lettuce this week I hope you enjoyed it.
These veggie satay skewers are so scrumptious, as the flavour of any finished dish will always be enhanced by the inclusion of seasonal vegetables. Mushrooms, courgette, and peppers work well in this recipe as they’re soft enough to thread onto a skewer, but they also retain the flavour so perfectly from the garlicy marinade. The peanut sauce is quick to make and pairs nicely with the cooked vegetables. To serve, a scattering of chopped scallion, chilli, coriander, and peanuts add a delicious finishing touch. Metal or wooden skewers can be used, but if using wooden skewers soak them in cold water for a couple of hours before threading on the vegetables, to avoid the sticks from burning.
Prepare the vegetables by cutting them into bitesize chunks. In a large bowl, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, olive oil and garlic, along with a little salt and pepper. Whisk to combine, before adding the vegetables. Stir well, cover and place in the fridge for about an hour.
Make the peanut dressing by adding the dressing ingredients to a mini chopper and blitzing gently for a few seconds to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas 6.
Take the marinaded vegetables from the fridge and thread onto skewers. Cook in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.
Once the skewers are cooked, serve with a generous drizzle of the peanut sauce, and a scattering of scallion, red chilli and peanuts.
It was the “green revolution” in the 1950s that changed our agricultural landscape for ever and not in the way you may think when you consider what we understand by the term “Green” today.
Dr. Norman Borlaug, an American agronomist often called the “Father of the Green Revolution” was awarded the Nobel peace prize for his work in 1970, that led to the aversion of famine in many poorer countries.
But where this Green Revolution led, I don’t think anybody could have fully imagined, and it was this very industrialisation of agriculture that led to Rachel Carson publishing “Silent Spring” in 1962 which was a remarkable reflection on the damage that the widespread use of chemicals wrought on our planet.
Today we use chemicals to force nature to behave in the way we want, we have tried to impose factory type controls onto the natural environment that we rely on for our food. But nature is not a factory, and the same rules do not apply, you cannot indiscriminately apply chemicals to our food and not expect a fall out.
I have been pulled up many times for the use of the word “chemicals” and people rightly point out that everything is made of “chemicals”. In fact, I have spent a good portion of my life studying chemicals, having a Ph.D. in organic chemistry. In another twist I left this life to pursue a belief that chemicals do not belong in our food system by becoming an organic farmer.
When I speak about chemicals, I mean synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. My purpose in this is not to alarm, and I believe that we are all better off eating more fresh food, organic or otherwise than some of the crap that lines the supermarket shelves, that is an absolute given. But when it comes to fresh produce, I firmly believe that if you can at all organic is the best option for so many reasons, to protect biodiversity, to keep chemicals out of our bodies and to be kinder to animals.
Another point that has been raised recently is that organic farmers use “chemicals” just the same as conventional farmers, well let me put that one to bed straight away. That is nothing short of rubbish.
If I speak for our farm, we don’t use any “synthetic chemicals”, we may use natural products at times, such as sulfur or magnesium, or boron, all of which are chemicals, but not pesticides, or herbicides, they are also not systemic meaning they are not absorbed into the plant, like many of those used in conventional agriculture.
Something we do use is biological controls at times, and we see more and more of this being adopted by our conventional farming brethren. Right now we are doing very interesting trial working with William Deasy in Teagasc as part of their “Growing organics programme”, using a mite to eat the red spider mite (if you grow cucumbers this little red guy can be devastating). We release a predator mite to eat the pest mite, not a chemical in sight, and by all accounts the trial looks really promising.
As we head into Holiday season now, we also head into harvest season, so if you can at all please support us, right now over the next few weeks we need your support more than ever.
Normally associated as an autumnal dessert, when the typical fruit of choice, the apple, is in peak season, a crumble is one pudding I find well placed year-round as any seasonal fruit makes for a delicious pairing to the crumbly top.
I received some gorgeous plump Irish organic cherries in my veg box this week, which spurred me on to produce this delicious dessert. Cherries make for the perfect base in this recipe, but are very much interchangeable with whatever soft fruit you may have to hand.
Cherries are packed with nutrients and antioxidants, and even though cooking any fruit can impact their nutrient content, the cherries still retain a lot of their goodness. Spelt flour, oats, and almonds also add an extra nutrient boost to this dessert, while creating a delicious crunch to the finished dish.
To prepare the crumble, place the flour in a bowl with the oats, almonds, and sugar. Add the butter and rub it into the mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Place the cherries in a large ovenproof dish. Add the cornflour and vanilla. Stir to combine.
Sprinkle over the crumble mixture and place the dish on a baking tray. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 25-30 minutes, until the crumble topping is golden brown. Serve with ice cream, softly whipped cream or custard.
These cheesy veggie rolls are best enjoyed straight from the oven, when the cheese is oozing, and the pastry is deliciously crumbly and crisp. They are, however, also very tasty as a cold snack, and would be well placed at a picnic or outdoor get-together. When transporting these rolls for a picnic, ensure you pack them into a container alongside some icepacks to keep them properly cool while travelling.
Take the puff pastry from the fridge 30 minutes before using. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas Mark 6.
Add the mushrooms, red onion, and garlic to a processor and blitz until fine.
Heat a large pan over a medium heat and add the butter. Once melted add the blitzed vegetable mixture and cook for about ten minutes, stirring regularly.
Stir through the spinach and chives. Season with a little salt and pepper. Once the spinach has wilted a little take from the heat and allow to cool.
Cut the pastry into three strips. Spoon a third of the vegetable mixture along the long edge of the pastry. Sprinkle over a light layer of the grated cheese.
Fold over the pastry to cover the mixture and press down the sides using a fork. Repeat for the other two strips of pastry.
Using a sharp knife, cut each strip into five and place on a greaseproof paper-lined baking tray.
Whisk the egg gently and brush over the top of the rolls before sprinkling over the sesame seeds.
Place in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden in colour and cooked through. These rolls are best enjoyed on the day they are made or refrigerate in a sealed container to enjoy cold the next day.
There must be more to business and farming than the bottom line? If we pursue profit above all else where will this lead us? I often feel a little discouraged and depressed with the state of the world, the cruelty and destruction we as human being are inflicting on our planet seems endless and unrelenting, it can at times feel overwhelming.
Factory farms, chemical destruction of biodiversity, plastic pollution, the unravelling of our food system and indeed our humanity, clearing the last of the earths forests to grow more food to feed yet more cows, all ultimately in the name of profit and chasing the cheapest product or ingredient. Is this all there is?
In one way there is no denying we all are complicit but how are we to act any differently? We operate within a loaded system supporting a model that is breaking us and our planet. The supermarkets and food companies and large retailers, chase the same goal: make money and keep investors or shareholders happy.
But as the native Americans used to say: “When all the trees have been cut down, the last fish caught, and the last stream poisoned, you will realise that you cannot eat money”
I’m not naïve enough though to think that profit is not important, having been on the hard edge of not being able to pay the bills over the years. We have struggled to reach profitability for many years and producing and selling food as a small retailer couples all the hard points of both industries and we are up against the fierce competition of the global retailer supermarket chains. But here is the thing: Our food choices matter a great deal! I wanted to take the time today to thank you for choosing to support us.
We know you can walk into a supermarket and generally buy produce cheaper than we can sell it at, in fact sometimes you can but this same produce cheaper than we can produce it at. It is funny though, what we consider is acceptable spending. Just today as a reward for completing her first junior cert exam, I bought my daughter her requested almond milk cappuccino, costing a shocking €5.40! Is this the norm now?
But carrots at less than a €1 are considered too expensive, it seems we may have mixed up our priorities here or have I missed something along the way? The convenient road of picking up a cheap plastic clad product from a supermarket is so easy and so habitual but YOU choose to take the more difficult road, the road less travelled even.
Spending a bit more and taking a delivery at a set time each week, we know this is a big commitment. I don’t know if you know, if you fully realise the difference you are making. You have given us the green light to buck the trend, to grow without chemicals, to invest in biodiversity, to focus on products and crops that mitigate climate change and produce and support other farmers than share common values are organic in practice and in spirit.
This is surely the better path? A path that focuses on caring for nature, and ourselves, and not putting profit before all else? To me it seems that this change is all that is needed to fix the world, maybe that is naive? It will take work on your part, the path of least resistance is not always the best way, in fact it is usually only when we put in some effort that we receive the very best rewards.
So, thank you for your time, money, patience and determination to help create a food system that protects our beautiful land and is ultimately a long-term investment in our own future health.
This frittata is bursting with flavour and rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, and fibre. Chard is such a versatile vegetable and can be used in place of spinach in many dishes. It’s packed with nutrients including vitamin A and C, while being an excellent source of vitamin K. When a calcium-rich food, such as cheese or milk, is paired with a vitamin D-rich food, such as eggs, the absorption of that calcium is made a little easier for the body. Vitamin D is well promoted as the vitamin to help with the absorption of calcium, but vitamin K plays a crucial role in optimising calcium use in the body, making chard a great addition to this tasty calcium-rich dish. This easy-to-make frittata is packed with nutrients to help boost ones bone health, and serves well for lunch with a big green salad.
To a large frying pan, over a medium heat, add the oil. Once hot, add the red onion. Cook on low for about 10 minutes, until soft and slightly coloured. Add the chard and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring regularly.
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs with the milk. Season with a little salt and pepper. Pour into the pan, covering the vegetables. Add an even layer of the grated cheese.
Cook for 8-10 minutes, until almost set, then place under the grill for a couple of minutes until bubbling.
Garnish with some chopped chives and chive flowers, if you have them to hand, and serve with a green salad.
Rain at last. We never asked for it, we have definitely learned our lesson there. But we couldn’t have asked for a better run of it. Between the amazing sunshine and rain just when we needed it, it has been a miraculous start to the season and for once we are absolutely delighted with progress on the farm. We are so busy at the moment, as the three main tasks are starting to coalesce. We are planting, harvesting and the big one, weeding has just started too.
Our first sowing of carrots and parsnips have just poked their little heads through the soil, which was earlier than expected, but they look good. You know what we will do between now and harvest? We will weed with machines and by hand and we will cover them with nets to exclude the carrot root fly, and that’s it.
In my view, it would make a remarkable difference to how we perceive the value of food if we knew how it was produced, what if the list of chemicals used on the produce were mentioned on the pack, how would that influence our decisions I wonder? For conventional carrot production right here in Europe and in the UK, here are some of the lovely hidden extras you may be getting. Behind the bright orange crunch is a complex spraying programme involving herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides – some systemic, some not – all used to ensure a blemish-free, marketable crop. Carrots are sprayed with herbicides, usually starting with Glyphosate prior to planting, then a couple of other stars Pendimethalin and Aclonifen. They can be sprayed 2-3 times per season. Then it is over to insect control, expect possibly Cyantraniliprole (Benevia), which is systemic (goes into the plant) and Lambda-cyhalothrin (Karate Zeon) which is toxic to bees and aquatic organisms.
It wouldn’t be right to leave out a whole group of chemicals, so not be missed next it is the turn of the fungicides, the likes of Prothioconazole and Azoxystrobin + Difenoconazole (Amistar Top), both are systemic and the last one is an endocrine disruptor, not good for us. In 2023 the UK found chemicals in 43% of carrots tested, so nearly half.
It is so hard these days to connect how our food has been produced, what has been sprayed on it, and how those in our food system, humans and pollinators alike, have been treated, it seems to me that supermarket led cheap food comes at great cost. The best way to avoid chemicals and the damage they do to biodiversity is if possible, to choose organic.
Growing some of your own food is an amazing way to connect us with the miracle of nature and the true value of our food.
When you have good quality, fresh ingredients to hand, a recipe never needs to be overly complicated. A simple toastie with a plain green salad is instantly elevated by the quality of ingredients used. To start with, real bread, fresh and thickly cut. A good-quality Irish cheese, and while we wait for Irish tomatoes to return into season, some flavoursome sun-dried tomatoes can be used in their place. Plus a drizzle of a nice extra virgin olive oil is all that is needed for this sandwich to taste delicious. Irish, organic lettuce benefits from the quality of soil it is grown in, and this shines through in its flavour. A simple dressing with the addition of some nuts for extra flavour and a little crunch serves perfectly alongside the toastie.
When preparing a green salad in advance after washing the lettuce leaves it’s important to fully dry them. The best way to do this is with a salad spinner. Then add the dried leaves to a large salad bowl and cover with a damp tea towel or kitchen paper, and refrigerate until ready to use. To avoid the salad becoming soggy, only add a small amount of the dressing and toss through the leaves just before serving.
Wash the salad leaves and dry well using a salad spinner. If the leaves are large, tear into smaller pieces. Add the dried leaves to a large bowl and cover with a damp tea towel or kitchen paper. Refrigerate until ready to use.
In a small bowl, combine the dressing ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Drizzle one side of each slice of bread with a little olive oil. Take one slice, olive oil side down, and layer on the cheese and tomato, and top with the other slice of bread, olive oil side up.
Place the pan over a medium heat on a hob and add the toastie. Press down gently using a clean saucepan lid. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side. Once the toastie is golden and crisp, and the cheese has melted, take from the pan, and cut in half.
Enjoy straight away alongside the green salad, drizzled with the nutty dressing.
