Quick garden catch-up

I just jealously looked at my balcony garden photos from a year ago, as then everything was definitely more advanced, but even now things are starting to grow and the colour green is taking over the balcony.

I have been enjoying my lovely juicy strawberries and the plants have produced a few runners that I have allowed to grow

The tomatoes are blooming and have tiny little fruits on them. This year I planted Koralik bush tomatoes.

My herbs are doing well and the chillies are growing.

There are a couple of good bell peppers coming along as well.

It's not all that bad, hopefully the warmth and sunshine will continue a bit for the plants' sake.

I will write another update soon.

Redcurrant gin & tonic

I'm very sorry that this will only be a quick post that I wanted to share from yesterday. Today was a tiring day and that's why I'll have to keep it short.

So yesterday I enjoyed a lovely summer drink, a redcurrant gin & tonic made with the really tasty Mikkeller Botanical Gin. This is a very special small batch gin made with Simcoe hops. I tasted it in Denmark for the first time, and now I ordered some more. I am delighted to have this gin to boost my summer drinks.

Have a good week everyone!

Your VegHog

Sea vegetable paella

I'm continuing with the sea theme on the blog after yesterday's Jurassic Coast post. When I detected a mix of different sea vegetables in the shop, it was clear to me that I had to buy them. The mix contained samphire, sea aster and okahijiki. First I was contemplating a Japanese style tofu dish, but went with a paella idea instead. This sea vegetable paella was absolutely tasty and great summer food as well. Have a look at how I made it.

Ingredients

300 g baby bell peppers

2 onions

3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp olive oil

¼ tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp ground turmeric

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

2 bay leaves

150 g paella rice

150 ml sherry

1 tsp saffron threads

450 ml vegetable stock

15 mini plum tomatoes

20 black olives

2 tsp salt

80 g mix of samphire, sea aster and okahijiki

Method

Chop the peppers, onions and garlic and start cooking them in olive oil.

Add the spices and the paella rice. Then also add the sherry and let it absorb a little.

Add the vegetable stock and mini plum tomatoes into the pan and let simmer under the lid until the rice is cooked.

Towards the end add the olives, salt and the sea vegetables.

Serve instantly and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Jurassic Coast Walk – from Swanage to Studland

I went on a lovely walk last Saturday (sorry about the late posting, but I didn't have time to sort out my photos during the week). I did one of my favourite walks that I try to do a few times a year. It's a walk on the Jurassic Coast on the Isle of Purbeck from Swanage to Studland. The Jurassic Coast covers 95 miles of southern English coastline from county Devon to Dorset. It gets its name as there is a rich geological history of 185 million years there, with fossils and rock formations. It's a World Heritage Site recognised by UNESCO. 

The scenery and countryside there is just amazing and last Saturday the weather was just perfect for a little walk, not too hot. This walk takes a couple of hours at moderate pace with stops admiring the wild flowers, the grazing livestock and the beautiful views. There is a good path throughout and even if you are a bit terrified of heights, you don't ever have to go too close to a cliff edge. It's advisable to stay away from them anyway, as there regularly are landslips.

One of the main attractions along this route are the Old Harry Rocks, amazing chalk cliffs.  

We ended our walk as usual at the Bankes Arms pub in Studland. They have some excellent beers there from their own brewery and an amazing beer garden with a sea view. 

Here are some of my photos from that walk. I hope that you'll like them. And have a great weekend!

Gooseberry crumble

Here's another summer recipe coming right up, now that we have fully entered the season here in England as well. I only rarely post desserts, but this is one of them.

Gooseberry crumble is something that I have neither tried before nor heard of before. Nevertheless I decided to make one the other night. The idea started mainly due to the fact that I had some fresh local gooseberries lying around without a plan. As a child I loved picking gooseberries from the bushes and then pulling a face, as I mainly took the raw ones. Now I really like these quaint berries.

Here is my simple gooseberry crumble recipe (it basically makes itself in the oven).

200 g gooseberries

50 g butter

2 dl oat flakes

1 dl sugar

Vanilla ice-cream for serving

Cut the gooseberries in halves.

Melt the butter gently in a pan and add the oat flakes and sugar to it. Mix it all together.

Put the gooseberries onto the bottom of an oven dish and cover them up with the oats.

Bake at 200 C for about 30 minutes until the gooseberries have softened and the oat topping is crispy.

Serve with nice vanilla ice-cream and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Healthy summer snacking platter

Okay, so it's the hottest July day on record in the UK today and I promise you, it feels just that hot! It's no fun being at work all day and then on a delayed train without air conditioning, but now that I'm finally home I feel like a nice and light summer supper (nothing too hot of course). I still wanted to include a couple of cooked elements, but they can also be eaten cooled down just as well.

This vegan platter is just one example of what wholesome yet easy dishes you can eat in the summer. This platter contains a few warm and filling components and then fresh local vegetables.

Not too bad of a mix on a hot day.

Here are the things I had on my platter this time:

Hummus

Croutons

Spring onions

Radishes

Mixed leaves with beetroot shavings

Puy lentils

Black quinoa

Pumpkin seeds

I cooked the lentils and quinoa in water with some added vegetable stock powder and the other ingredients on the platter were raw.

I found that the croutons added something nice and also more substance, although I only rarely eat them otherwise. Maybe I should do so more often.

Now it's back to lazily lying around for me and maybe having a cooling drink to end the evening with. Luckily it's already starting to cool off here, I was just able to sense some oxygen in the air!

Have fun and stay cool!

Your VegHog