Tuesday 29 October 2013

Vegetable Medley

I've been using up my tomatoes and peppers and anything else that's come home from the allotment with me, in vegetable medleys. In with the tomatoes and peppers, I've used courgette, squash, onion, shallot, potato and mushroom. The only thing that wasn't home grown was the mushroom. All I do is add a little oil to the roasting dish then chop up all the veggies and toss them in. If I'm using potatoes, I parboil them first before adding them. Then I add a little black pepper before giving everything a good stir in the oil. It takes about thirty to forty minutes to roast, with the occasional stir, and is absolutely delicious. It's so easy and makes a delicious meal in its own right or as an accompaniment to another dish. I've eaten it as a meal on its own, a side dish, stirred through pasta and on Sunday evening, I ate it with a couple of slices of toast which was delicious. I've made so many batches that my freezer is now jam packed, but its so easy to just tip it out and warm it up in the oven. I'll be having a taste of summer throughout winter.

I've decided which squash I will be growing next year. I called in to the allotment shed on Saturday morning and picked up a seed catalogue. The allotment asssociation have a seed scheme, so I get a discount if I order through them from Kings Seeds. I've chosen Autumn Crown which is the same shape as Crown Prince but has the colour and sweet taste of a butternut type squash. It was bred specifically for the UK climate, including the North of England, so I hope it does well. The second type I've chosen is Little Gem Rolet which is a smaller variety. It only grows to cricket ball size and has a dark green skin. This is supposed to be a heavy cropper and early to mature, so I'm hoping that this one does well for me too.

I hope that everyone came through the storm without any damage. We were very lucky here, the wind got up on Sunday but then died down again and we had some heavy rain from the early hours of yesterday morning until about lunch time, but that was it. I know not everyone was as fortunate, but I hope that any damage you did suffer was minimal.

38 comments:

  1. Glad that you came through the storms OK Jo. The veggie medley looks lovely, I do like roasted veg, so much better than the boiled to sludge stuff that we got at school! xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We were very lucky not to have the storms here, my heart goes out to all those who were affected by it. I remember the smell of boiled cabbage at school, thank goodness that school dinners have improved since then.

      Delete
  2. lovely post thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome. I love all the lovely bright colours in the vegetable medley, it will cheer me up having a taste of summer in the depths of winter.

      Delete
  3. We buy our seeds through Kings too as although we don't have am allotment association any longer a group of us joined the NSALG so we get this discount too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a good idea to do that as you can save quite a bit of money if you're making a decent sized order.

      Delete
  4. We often do trays of roast veg through the winter, so tasty :) I like the sound of Autumn Crown, anything thats supposed to do well in our nutty climate is onto a winner!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The beauty of it is that you can toss in anything you like. I haven't tried it but I bet French or runner beans would be delicious in the mix too. I'm hoping that Autumn Crown squash does well, especially as the North of England was mentioned in the write up.

      Delete
  5. I think everything that come from home grown are taste better. Your vegetables look so fresh and yummy. I hope the weather will better next.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're so right, home grown always tastes better than shop bought, and you know that everything is nice and fresh too. I'm hoping for some better weather though I fear that we're hurtling head long in to winter now.

      Delete
  6. I think that most people do variations on the vegetable medley them, I certainly do.
    It'll be interesting to see how your squash do next year. I'm still which mini variety to grow.
    Thankfully my plot was okay when I checked this morning. There were a number of roadside trees down when I went out this morning. Flighty xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you're right. I like a roasted root veg medley in winter, it seems like winter food somehow. I'm hoping that my squash do better for me next year. I intend having more plants so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a bigger crop. Glad to hear that your plot didn't sustain any damage in the storm. It's such a shame about all the trees which are down.

      Delete
  7. That sounds yummy. I think I'll be trying something similar with any veg I have knocking about.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It tastes yummy too. I like that you can throw anything in to the mix. I do it with or without potatoes, with spuds gives it a more substantial feel.

      Delete
  8. Glad you escaped the weather too. I think, if anything, for us the wind was worse on Sunday afternoon than during the storm itself. Your vegetable medley does look delicious and a great way to use things up when pickings start to get thin.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That was the same here, windy on Sunday then rainy on Monday. I started making the medley to freeze when I had so many tomatoes knocking about. I've frozen some plain tomatoes too.

      Delete
  9. A veggie medley goes down well here Jo :) Sometimes I do a variation and make veggie curries using similar veg but adding aubergine and cauliflower. Was nearly tempted to grow 'Autumn Crown' this year. Will be interested to read what you think about it next year. Must start to looking at the catalogues soon :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can see how similar veg would work well in a curry, and how I'd love to make one, but there'd only be me who ate it. I wouldn't mind so much but Indian food is my absolute favourite. I'll definitely report what I think of Autumn Crown, it looks a good variety to grow for us that are here in the north.

      Delete
  10. I will have to look out for the squash seed, I have grown Crown prince several times. A tray of Roasted veg is good with the addition of either a good shake of balsamic vinegar with the oil or a teaspoon of smoked paprika with the pepper. Having said that it is just good. I like it cold as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do like it on its own, but I do sometimes add balsamic vinegar. I haven't tried it with smoked paprika though. I'll let you know how I get on with the Autumn Crown squash.

      Delete
  11. Great idea for using up your vegetables.
    Love from Mum
    xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I started freezing it when I had a glut of tomatoes, but it's good for those veggies left in the vegetable drawer with no hope of being cooked. Adding them to this dish uses them up.

      Delete
  12. Mmm, roast allotment veggies are indeed delicious. I have my seed catalogue to look through too, something I always enjoy doing. It's so nice to dream about what might be grown next year. We avoided the storm here in the southwest too, thankfully.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm looking forward to having a taste of summer allotment veggies in winter, they're all stocked up in the freezer. I think I've just about chosen all my seeds for next year now, the seed order from Kings was just for things I didn't buy in the 50p seed sale. Glad you managed to avoid the storm too.

      Delete
  13. It looks lovely Jo, any of our roasted veg leftovers get added to some puff pastry & topped with goats cheese before baking again in the oven.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds delicious, thanks for the tip, I may use some of mine that way too.

      Delete
  14. Hi, found my way here through Kelli's Northern Ireland garden I am in the south of Ireland.Do you freeze the vegetable medley before or after cooking or half cook?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. I cook the vegetables fully, let them cool and then freeze. To reheat, I just tip it in to an oven proof dish and reheat again in the oven. Nothing simpler.

      Delete
  15. Your vegetable medley looks scrumptious, Jo! Sounds like the squash should be successful as it was bred for your area. I saw the storm on TV and wondered how you were faring. I'm glad you were unscathed. P. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It tastes scumptious too. Nothing better than home grown veg, I bet there's the Five A Day in this dish alone. I'm hoping that the squash does well, it sounds promising but you never know. We were very lucky in the storm, there were many who were not as fortunate.

      Delete
  16. Roasted mixed veg is one of my favourite autumn/winter dishes. I'm still waiting for my peppers to ripen though!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've taken all my peppers off the plants and brought them inside. They're just about all ripe now, it doesn't seem to take them very long indoors. I hope yours ripen soon.

      Delete
  17. I love how roasting the veg gives it a lovely sweetness. I normally hate cauliflower but even it, roasted, is lovely roasted. I haven't got anywhere near decided what veg to grow next year. I have a list of flowers which is way too long so will spend some quiet time over Christmas whittling it down. We've had so much rain here I think I might be sprouted webbed feet again but we were lucky to not have any damaging wind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It does give it a sweetness. I've never tried roast cauliflower, that's something I'll have to have a go at. I think I'm just about done deciding which veg to grow next year. I'm usually quite early as I buy most of my seeds in the 50p sale at the end of the season. We haven't had much rain after the torrential downpour on Monday morning, in fact, it's been quite bright this week, it makes a change.

      Delete
  18. I love your veggie medley, I've never thought to put potatoes in mine, what a good idea! I always add garlic to mine and the smell when it's roasting is gorgeous!xxxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love garlic but the rest of the family aren't so keen so I have to refrain. Potatoes bulk it up a bit and make it a meal in inself. Home grown are delicious if you have them.

      Delete
  19. Your vegetable medley sounds amazing! I have just started a garden and so I've been trying to incorporate the vegetables I'm growing into dinners I make. Yesterday, I made Monterrey Chicken which is chicken with tomatoes, green chili's, green peppers, onions, herbs, and bacon on top. Most of the ingredients were home grown too! I felt very accomplished. I will have to check out your recipes and give them a try! Kat Brennan | http://www.lyndalatta.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I enjoyed all the veggies I'd roasted right through winter, it was nice having a taste of summer on those dismal days. Monterray Chicken sounds delicious, I shall have to look for that recipe.

      Delete

 
!-- Start of StatCounter Code for Blogger / Blogspot -->