Several times over the years I’ve been helping gardeners, I’ve heard the phrase “I’m not eating that” whispered by newbies when they’ve spotted vegetables they don’t like the look of. Indeed I probably said it myself in years gone by.
At the end of this post there are two purple salad recipes made from this unappealing little Brassica pictured below but in the meantime, I’m wondering how many of you would be put off eating food because of its initial appearance?
Many of us have grown up with perfectly shaped vegetables. We’ve become so acclimatised to the unblemished offerings sold to us in supermarkets that we’ve forgotten what real food grown without chemicals and treatments looks like. Peter Donegan of The Sodshow highlighted Ugly Veg back in 2011 and featured interviews from potato growers sharing just how much food is thrown away each year because it isn’t the perfect shape or size.
I’m now wondering how many cabbages are sent to compost heaps because they have a few holes in them.
Slugs, snails and insects like our vegetables too…
The reality of growing our own fruit and veg using organic principles is that sometimes they might not look very attractive. Most of them attract slugs and snails which slither and slime their way over the vegetables, having a munch as they do so. Butterflies land on the undersides of leaves, lay their eggs which hatch giving the tiny caterpillars an instant feed. As they grow they eat and poop, eat and poop leaving dark green cabbagy droppings all over the plant until those sweet little baby caterpillars that my daughter is so intent on rescuing, grow into cabbage destroying demons that pupate and fly away. Real food is often holey, mucky and a bit ragged looking.
Cabbage white caterpillar resting on a leaf next to another covered in dark green excrement
But here’s an admission. When I first started growing veg in our garden I remember turning my nose up too. I’d harvest the vegetables then look to see what might be lurking in them. I’d gingerly pick the caterpillars or slugs off with my thumb and index finger, shivering as I did so, then slowly chew each cooked, leafy mouthful with the desperate hope that I’d cleaned them properly. If only our great grandparents could see us, I’m sure they’d laugh or feel despair even at how soft and pampered we’ve become in our detachment from food.
Luckily I’m no longer squeamish and our children are growing up recognising real food. Once slugs and caterpillars have wiped out an entire crop that’s taken months to grow, fussiness quickly evaporate. We’ve learnt from experience that when we peel off a couple of layers, underneath we’ll likely find a perfect vegetable. If not, a good scrub with a stiff brush in the sink will soon sort them out..
Which is what happened when I took a good look at my favourite variety of cabbage pictured above.
In fact there was so much unblemished red cabbage beneath its tattered outer leaves, it made two very pretty purple seasonal salads that you might like to try.
Red Cabbage & Beetroot Salad
Red Cabbage and Beetroot Salad
Ingredients
- Half a red cabbage, sliced into bite sizes pieces
- A couple of cooked beetroot (bake in the over or boil until cooked), thinly sliced or grated
- A few thinly sliced gherkins
Dressing:
- 6 tbsp oil, extra olive or organic rapeseed
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp chopped dill
Place the beetroot, cabbage and gherkins into a serving bowl. Mix the dressing ingredients together until well combined then pour over.
Red Cabbage Coleslaw Recipe
Red Cabbage & Cosmic Purple Carrot Coleslaw
Ingredients
- Half a red cabbage, sliced and chopped into bite sized pieces
- 3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
- 1 onion
- teaspoon wholegrain mustard
- Mayonnaise (just enough to cover and bind everything, not swamp it.)
Seasoning
Mix all the ingredients together until thoroughly combined then season with freshly ground salt and pepper to taste.
So back to my original question, does it worry you how your vegetables look before they reach your kitchen?
Dee Sewell – a horticulturalist and certified trainer who started Greenside Up in 2009 and teaches people how to grow vegetables. Dee specialises in working with community gardens but also offers workshops, allotment visits, consultations, horticultural therapy, afterschools clubs as well as local talks – she tailors her services to meet clients needs. In 2012 Dee launched a Seed Gift Collection containing varieties of vegetable and insect friendly flowers with the aim of getting more people growing. Dee’s blog was a finalist in the 2012 Ireland Blog Awards in the Eco/Green and Lifestyle Categories.
