This chocolate ice-cream is packed with ingredients your gut is going to love. Potassium, magnesium, and fibre rich bananas are great for the digestive system. Ensure the bananas are fully frozen before you make this dessert, as the creaminess of the blitzed frozen banana is the secret to this ice-cream. Also, to keep the gut happy, ensure the yogurt you’re using has declared it includes ‘live active cultures’. The added cacao is full of antioxidants and gives a delicious chocolate hit.
1. Peel and slice the bananas. Place in a freezer-proof container and pop in the freezer for at least 6 hours, or preferably overnight.
2. Once the bananas are fully frozen, add them with the yogurt, cacao powder and maple into a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth.
3. Pour into a freezer-proof dish and place in the freezer for about two hours.
4. In the meantime, make the pecan crunch. Place a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the pecans and dry fry for about two minutes, tossing regularly. Once the pecans start to brown a little, drizzle over the honey. Stir to combine. Take from the heat, and carefully transfer the sticky pecans to a plate to set. Once completely cooled, break the pecan crunch into pieces.
5. Scoop the chocolate banana ice-cream into bowls, scatter over some pecan crunch and serve.
Sweet treats are synonymous with Easter, so over the coming weeks we are going to share a selection of delicious, sweet recipes with you. These peanut butter brownie bars are a real favourite in our house. The brownie base is dense with a deep chocolate flavour, which is topped with a sweet, peanutty caramel layer, and finally a glossy layer of melted chocolate on top with a sprinkling of chopped peanuts for an extra crunch. These multi-textured treats are both sweet and salty, and a must-try for any peanut-fan. I’ve made these bars in a loaf tin, but for smaller bites use a brownie tray or swiss-roll tin.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C /Gas Mark 6. Line a 2lb loaf tin or a brownie tin with greaseproof paper.
To make the base layer, melt the dark chocolate with the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Once melted, take from the heat. In a large bowl combine the blitzed porridge oats, cater sugar and milk. Add the melted chocolate mixture. Stir to combine and transfer to the lined tin. Place in the pre-heated over for 20 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack.
To make the caramel layer, add the peanut butter, maple, and coconut oil to a small saucepan. Place over a low heat. Once the mixture starts to melt, stir to combine. Take from the heat and stir through the peanuts. Pour over the cooled based and place in the fridge for a couple of hours to set.
To make the topping, add the milk chocolate and coconut oil to a microwavable bowl and melt together for about a minute in the microwave. Stir to combine and pour over the set slab. Leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to fully set.
Cut into slices or chunks and place in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to five days. Enjoy!
It has been a bright few days and we are thankful for that. We have ploughed the land and done our first pass tilling. We have our tunnels ready and, in a week, or so we will be filling them with the first amazing crops of spring, the season is in full flow now.
I saw my first bumble bee, or bee of any kind today, and this morning the buzzards that live in the local forest were being chased away from our fresh ploughing by some agitated seagulls.
The first buds on the hawthorn are opening up and are soon to be bursting into life. The first dandelions and daisies have miraculously appeared, and it is hard to know from one day to the next where they came from, they just suddenly appear.
This is nature, and it has its own ebb and flow and intelligence.
Then we come along with our harsh chemicals and try to exert control and power over these natural processes. Chemistry has its place but in the fields with our food and biodiversity is certainly not the place.
I certainly could not fill a tractor sprayer and go out into the fields and unleash these harsh chemicals. Roundup or glyphosate is still the first step for clearing fields, the extension of it’s licence in 2023 by the EU for a further 10 years was a lost opportunity, the reality is if that licence had been rescinded, by now farmers would have adapted to this new landscape and found alternative methods.
In the UK they have seen the first weed resistant to glyphosate and it is only a matter of time before nature adjusts and changes as it always does to render this chemical useless.
It may be a little more than a coincidence, but there have been some correlations drawn between the increased Glyphosate application: it has gone up by 1400% since the early 1990s, and last year alone $10.5 billion was sold and sprayed on our planet and the incidence of chronic disease.
The above graph shows the correlation between increased glyphosate application and increased incidence of coeliac disease. I am sure there is other factors at play here too, but at the same time this patented antibiotic is in our food and does disrupt our intestinal microbiome, so for sure it certainly is not doing us any good and should be avoided if possible.
The best way to avoid this probably carcinogen chemical, is to choose organic where possible.
There certainly will never be synthetic chemicals like this used on our farm or on any of the organic food we grow or supply. It’s back to the fields now, and the ploughing, tilling and planting!
In the past, potatoes were always an integral part of dinners in Ireland, and by the mid-18th century colcannon emerged as a staple meal. They mixed potatoes with garden greens, such as kale or cabbage, with the intention to produce a meal hearty enough to keep a working man full for the rest of the day. Colcannon is still a well-loved dish in Ireland, though it is now normally served as a side.
I’m using Irish-grown potatoes and cabbage from my vegetable box in this recipe, and I’m topping the colcannon with a wild garlic butter, but finely chopped scallions can be used in the wild garlic’s place. As wild garlic is only available for a few weeks each year, I normally make a batch of this butter and store it in the freezer to enjoy over the coming months. It pairs perfectly with the creamy mashed potato but works equally well with roasted vegetables.
With a host of wholesome, nutritious ingredients, this colcannon has the makings of the most delicious Irish dish to enjoy this St. Patrick’s Day.
Stir though the steamed cabbage and divide between 4 plates, making a well in the centre of each mound of colcannon. Add a slice of the wild garlic/scallion butter to the well and serve. Enjoy!
Place the peeled and diced potatoes into a metal steamer, with simmering water beneath, and simmer for 20-30 minutes until cooked through.
While the potatoes are cooking, steam the cabbage for about five minutes until a little tender.
To make the wild garlic butter, wash and fully dry the wild garlic leaves – a salad spinner is best for this. Then, finely chop the wild garlic. Add to a bowl with the softened butter and sea salt. Combine well using a wooden spoon. Transfer the butter to a square of greaseproof paper, before wrapping tightly and popping in the fridge until needed.
When the potatoes and cabbage are ready, add the milk and butter to a large saucepan with a little salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Place over a medium heat and once it begins to simmer, turn off the heat below and add the potatoes.
Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy.
There are certain sandwich fillers which have the ability to elevate and even transform an ordinary sandwich into something spectacular. Red onions are one of my favourite vegetables to pickle as they’re so versatile. They work well in a sandwich (plain, toasted, or open), on burgers, in salads, or as a chilli topping. They become a little sweeter the longer they sit, so it’s best to prepare them a couple of days before you plan on using them, and they keep well in the fridge for up to two weeks. Once all the onion slices are gone, the liquid can be re-used for another few red onions. Likewise, hummus makes for a great addition to any sandwich or wrap. I’ve used a gorgeous za’atar in this recipe which adds deep woody and floral flavours to the hummus. To assemble the sandwich, I’m frying off some Irish chestnut mushrooms in a mild-flavoured marinade, but you could replace these with roasted vegetables, strips of pan-fried courgettes, or summer salads, once they’re back in-season.
Enjoy!
Nessa x
Loaded Open Sandwich
Pickled onions
3 red onions (350g with skins), peeled & thinly sliced
Prepare the pickled onions by adding the vinegar, sugar, salt, and bay leaf, if using, to a small saucepan. Place over a medium heat. Bring to the boil and simmer for two minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Add the onion slices to a sieve and holding over the sink or a large bowl, pour over some recently boiled hot water. Place the onion slices in a large, sterilised jar and pour over the hot liquid. Seal and once cooled, refrigerate for up to two weeks.
For the hummus, add the ingredients to a food processor and blitz until smooth. Transfer to a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
For the mushrooms, add the soy sauce, balsamic, olive oil, garlic and a little salt and pepper into a bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the sliced mushrooms and stir to combine with the sauce. Either use straightaway or cover and refrigerate for using later in the day. To cook the mushrooms, add a little olive oil to a hot pan, add the mushrooms and cook over a high heat, stirring well, for about 5 minutes.
When ready to enjoy the sandwich, brush a little olive oil on each side of the slice of bread and cook for a minute or so on each side on a hot griddle pan.
To assemble, add a layer of hummus to the griddled bread, top with the mushrooms, some pickled onions, and a scattering of microgreens. Enjoy straight away!
Pancakes are so versatile, working equally well as a sweet or savoury treat. I’m using Irish wholemeal flour in this recipe, which is fine in texture, allowing it to combine perfectly to create light and fluffy pancakes. The extra fibre in the wholemeal is also great for our gut, while helping to keep us feeling fuller for longer. This is one of my favourite pancake toppings, and if you’re a banana fan, I know you’re going to love it too.
Add the flour to a large bowl. Sieve in the baking powder and whisk gently to combine.
Add the egg to the bowl and combine with the flour before gradually adding the milk, whisking well in between each addition.
Place a pan over a medium heat. Add a little oil and once hot add a ladle to the pan, once bubbling, flip and cook on the other side. Repeat with the remaining batter. This quantity should make about 8 small pancakes.
To caramelise the banana, add the butter to a pan, once foaming, add the banana slices and fry on each side for about a minute, until golden. Drizzle over the honey. Allow to sizzle for a few seconds before taking from the heat.
To serve, top the pancakes with the caramelised banana, add a good dollop of yogurt and a drizzle of caramel sauce, maple, or honey. Enjoy straightaway!
As organic vegetable growers we are lucky in some respects, after 19 years we are still growing. So many stop or have no choice but to get out of the industry. I was advised once that you can’t make any money from growing vegetables commercially, and it is certainly challenging and has been more so over the last ten years than ever before.
But this seems wrong to me. We never started for the money, nut any business needs to be profitable to survive, to reinvest in the business in the people in the land and more Over the last number of years, we find ourselves subsidising our farm from our business. We are lucky we sell directly to you our customers that allows us some reprieve and a bit of flexibility. Something you would never get with supermarkets.
But there may be change afoot. And two amazing things struck me this week.
1. Finally, I think, supermarkets are starting to realise at least in a small way that they need growers. You would have thought that this realisation would not be a new Eureka moment! When was it ever otherwise? Where do you think the food will comes from when/if we all stop growing? After 3 decades of playing one grower against another and effectively dismantling any resilience in the vegetable growing sector in Ireland, the penny is starting to drop that the situation is perilous.
But all of the talk in the world is pointless without supporting the talk with clear action and fair prices. Farmers don’t want to have to rely on grant aid to survive, who wants that? Imagine a food system where farmers don’t have to rely on grant aid, where fresh food is celebrated for the amazing nutrition it supplies, and as a fulcrum for protecting and enhancing biodiversity. Isn’t that the way it should be? What could be more important that having a vibrant resilient food system? Or to put it another way, what happens when our food system collapses, and we have empty supermarket shelves? What then?
Cheap imports that are becoming less cheap and scarcer, are reliant on a labour system that is not transparent and is less than fair. Exploitation of vulnerable workers is rife and underpins much of the cheap produce on supermarket shelves. That and a reliance on pesticide applications which damage our health and biodiversity.
2. The other amazing thing that is happening is young people are really fired up about growing food and in particular growing vegetables sustainably. These are the next generation of growers who want to protect biodiversity and stop using chemicals and grow food locally. Isn’t that amazing and wonderful and don’t people who want to do this deserve to get paid fairly for their efforts? They only can if the price of food increase.Just recently we have had several applications for the amazing OGI internship on our farm we hope to decide on a candidate next week.
So maybe there is a chance to reverse erosion of our vegetable growing industry and the fact that there are only 60 commercial vegetable growers left in the country, and we are one of them.
All of this has left me feeling hopeful for this season ahead, more than I have been in a while. So now we need to get muck on our boots and get on with the growing season and that we will do with your support, as always, thank you.
Ultra-processed foods are everywhere, and it can sometimes be hard to believe a basic staple, such as the bread we use for our lunchtime sandwich, can be included in this list. Over the past week there has been an international celebration of real bread through Real Bread Week – a campaign which promotes the importance of real, additive-free bread.
I love bread-making. I find it to be therapeutic but also making my own bread allows me to know exactly what I’m feeding my family. Traditional soda bread is my go-to but when I’m looking for a more substantial, nutrient-rich loaf, this oat bread would be top of my list. This oat bread is packed with protein-rich ingredients to give you a good energy boost first thing in the morning or enjoy it alongside a salad as a nutritious lunch. It’s simply oats, a good quality full fat Greek yogurt, milk, sunflower seeds, salt, and bread soda to help it rise, and a little honey to sweeten. It’s easy to assemble and bakes in just over 60 minutes. I’d love you to give it a try.
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C /Gas Mark 6. Lightly grease a loaf tin with some butter.
2. Place the oats into a food processor and blitz for a few moments, until fine and they have a similar appearance to flour.
3. Add the blitzed oats to a large bowl with the seeds, bread soda and salt. Stir to combine.
4. Make a well in the centre and add in the yogurt, milk, and honey. Using one hand, keep stirring the ingredients until a ball of dough has formed.
5. When it comes together, place into the greased loaf tin. Top with a scattering of sunflower seeds and flatten slightly to ensure the loaf is even and the seeds are sticking to the dough.
6. Place in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. After this time, carefully remove the loaf from the tin. Place the loaf directly onto the oven rack and continue to bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, after which the base of the loaf will sound hallow when tapped.
7. Leave to cool on a wire rack before cutting into slices.
These veggie meatballs are rich in plant-based protein and full of flavour. They can be prepared in advance and refrigerated, ready to cook later in the day, turning them into a convenient dinner to enjoy with family or friends. I like to serve them with a smooth tomato sauce and spaghetti, before topping with some microgreens or basil leaves and a good grating of cheese – which can be dairy or plant based. A simple seasonal salad makes for the perfect accompaniment. I packed mine with Irish kale, microgreens, and carrots, along with a few nuts and slices of juicy blood oranges.
Add the olive oil to a small saucepan over a low heat. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring regularly, for about ten minutes, until the onion is soft but not coloured. Take from the heat and leave to one side.
Add the butter to a large pan, over a medium heat. Add the sliced mushrooms, season with a few grinds of black pepper. Turn up the heat and fry, stirring regularly, for about 5 minutes. Once the mushrooms are cooked, stir in the garlic and thyme, and continue to cook for about 1 minute, stirring continuously. Take from the heat and leave to cool.
Once the onions and mushrooms are completely cooled, add them to a high-powered processor along with the lentils, oats, and chilli flakes. Blitz until it turns into a paste-like mixture.
Scoop out a tablespoonful of mixture at a time, shape into a ball and place on a greaseproof paper-lined baking tray, the mixture should make about 16. Brush each one with a little olive oil. Place in the preheated oven and cook for 25–30 minutes until crisp and slightly browned.
To make the tomato sauce, add the olive oil to a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion, reduce the heat to low and sauté for 5-10 minutes until soft and slightly coloured. Stir in the garlic. Add the tomatoes, mixed herbs, sugar, and season well with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and cook over a low heat for 20 minutes. Blitz until smooth.
Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the pack. Once cooked, add to the sauce, and gently stir though the cooked veggie meatballs. Top with microgreens or basil leaves and a grating of cheese. Enjoy!
Storm Éowyn brought many things to our shores. One of those things it brought into our fields was plastic. One plastic bag caught my attention as I was gathering some out of our fields the other day. It was an empty bag of feed for cattle and sheep.
This bag listed its ingredients, the majority of which were genetically modified.
So here were some things I learned.
Fact No 1. This feed contained amongst other things, Maize and soya, both of which came from genetically modified crops.
Fact No 2. These crops have been genetically modified so that they can withstand the increased application of glyphosate.
Fact No 3. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the branded Roundup weedkiller.
Fact No 4. This chemical has been labelled as a potential carcinogen by the WHO (World Health Organisation).
Fact no 5. This feed will have been grown in countries outside of the EU, mainly in the US and Brazil, where the application of Roundup is not controlled as well as it is in the EU. The MRL (maximum residue limit for glyphosate in the US is 5mg/kg for corn and for soya it is a whopping 20mg/kg.)
Fact no 6. Although cows, sheep and lambs in Ireland are fed mainly a grass diet, there is an increasing reliance on imported feed such as this to feed animals especially during winter.)
So, the key take away here is lots of roundup is sprayed on these genetically modified crops and the process of desiccation (using roundup prior to harvest meaning loads of the chemical gets sprayed on the crop just before harvest, this is banned in the EU although there are loopholes) is still a thing outside of the EU. These crops are primarily used for animal feed which makes its way around the world and right here to our shores in Ireland
Fact No 7. In Brazil, massive swaths of the Amazon rain forest are and have been cleared to plant these crops to feed animals mainly in the US and in Brazil.
It is poignant that the increasing ferocity of these powerful storms that we now must be ready for (that caused such chaos and damage here on our shores only two weeks ago), are in part created by the agricultural system we rely on. This very system is destroying the ecology which is essential to maintain biodiversity that we need to produce healthy food and clean air.
I cannot understand ever, how we can observe nature and at times be in awe of the beauty and the bounty that it provides and yet by our choices and systems destroy this very system we need to survive. (the stories hidden in our food by our modern retail/agricultural system facilitate this)
But we have power to make choices that will have an immediate positive impact on our planet and on our health. Maybe, we can be more aware of what we eat, we can eat organic where we can and if possible, reduce our consumption so much conventional meat and dairy.
We have been at this for 19 years now and our message has never changed, “our food choices matter, and they can help make our world a better place” and although it is hard I think in these recent times it is more important now than ever before.
We will with your support, fight on, thanks for being with us on this journey.
