FOOD:What to do with those worthy-but-awkward vegetables that need livening up, especially when 'rainbow' pasta sauces are so unpopular? Here are some possibilities, writes Domini Kemp
I RECENTLY COOKED "rainbow pasta sauce", aka compost pasta sauce. Needless to say, I was booed out of it, but sometimes it's hard when you're looking at some grim broccoli and a head of celery to try and figure out how to make it vaguely appetising. I don't know about you, but there's a jar of green olives in my cupboard that has been lurking there for quite some time, along with jars upon jars of capers. To this day, I still have no idea why I went on such a caper-crazed purchasing spree. And when I open the fridge, there's often a sad looking red chilli squashed under mountains of spuds.
Anyway, as a result, I have found a way to liven up some humble vegetables and have solemnly vowed to stop inflicting rainbow compost dinners on family and friends who demand feeding. I am normally pretty reluctant to pull out my char grill for anything less than a nice steak, but it does work wonders on sad, fridge-lagged vegetables.
Asparagus are another case in point: if you give them the same blanching, refreshing, chargrilled treatment that the broccoli gets in the recipe below, you'll find all they need is a simple splash of olive oil or melted butter, some sea salt, pepper and loads of Parmesan.
Chargrilled broccoli with lemon, chilli and garlic
2 heads broccoli
100 ml olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
2 red chillis, de-seeded and thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
Separate the broccoli into little florets. Have a colander ready in your sink. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the broccoli for just one minute. Drain and rinse in plenty of cold water, until the florets are genuinely cold.
Drain well and put in the fridge to truly cool down and dry off further.
Meanwhile, heat half the olive oil in a small saucepan with the garlic and chillies. Cook very gently for a few minutes until the garlic is soft and set aside. When the broccoli is dry, toss in a bowl with the remaining olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper.
Heat up a char grill or heavy-based frying pan until smoking and chargrill the broccoli in batches until nicely charred in parts.
Put them back into a large mixing bowl and when they're all done, toss with the lemon juice and the chilli and garlic oil. This tastes great when served warm or at room temperature, but doesn't take kindly to being left in the fridge overnight. Serves four to six.
Celery & olive salsa
A nice simple salsa that goes really well if served with some pan-fried trout or salmon. Just heat up a knob of butter and a splash of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan.
Fry the fish skin side down, then turn it over when the fish stops sticking to the pan (which will happen if you give it some time!), season well and when golden brown on both sides, remove from the pan and serve with a big spoon of this salsa.
We made this recipe using fairly average olives and it was fine. But if you have some gourmet ones you've just brought home from your own private olive grove in Tuscany, say, go for it, and consider me for adoption.
If your raisins have been sitting in your cupboard since 1982, put them in a bowl with some boiling water to plump up. Then drain and proceed as below.
100g raisins
A good splash white wine vinegar
50ml olive oil
3 tablespoons capers
1 big head celery, chopped
Approx 200g green olives, stoned and chopped
Handful of chopped parsley
Loads of black pepper
Mix the raisins, vinegar, olive oil and capers together and leave to marinate for 10 minutes or an hour if you have time to spare. Mix with the remaining ingredients and season well. This will last for a few hours in the fridge, and makes enough for four garnishes.