Vege out on greens (+recipes)

Kasey and Karena Bird. Photo / Michael Craig

Fresh, seasonal veges should take pride of place on our plates.

We do enjoy a nice juicy steak but, don't get us wrong, we love eating our veges, too. We thought we would share with you some of our favourite vegetarian recipes. New Zealand has such great fresh produce and buying produce when it's in season and what's on special is the way to go. Growing your own vegetables is also a rewarding exercise.

When we were growing up, vegetables tended to be the yummy-but-second-fiddle addition on the plate, but we have come to know that they can be just as satisfying (if not more) than a meaty dish.

These days, we think vegetables have started to get the treatment they deserve. People have become more in-the-know about how to cook or serve their veges in a way that retains their health properties as well as making sure they taste great, too.
There is more variety in the supermarkets and people are starting to experiment with them.

The usual suspects like brussels sprouts and broccoli have come back into fashion in restaurants, where they are charred or served with nuts and zingy dressings.
There always seems to be someone dropping off pumpkins to our house and we love making these pumpkin, feta and caramelised onion pastries when we know people are coming over.

We came up with these one day when we wanted to do something with the off-cuts of pastry after mum made one of her signature pies. These make a great meal served with a fresh green salad.

Kumara is a staple at our dinner table. They are so good for you, they have been growing in New Zealand for more than 1000 years and it is easy to see why.

A large kumara provides about 400 kilojoules with almost no fat and truck loads of vitamins and minerals while still tasting sweet and velvety. Kumara have also been shown to have anti-cancer properties and can combat blood clotting. Wow, let's add herbs and cheese to that and we are set.

Asian cooking has been a bit of an obsession for us lately. We just love how you can add so much flavour using herbs, ginger, garlic and chilli. The little dumplings are filled with dried shitake which have been soaked and then chopped up and mixed with fresh mushrooms. The soaking liquid is then used as the base for the broth and the previously mentioned flavours are added to give the soup layers.

We absolutely love Asian greens. We have used bok choy this time but you can use any leafy green you like. Feel free to add other things you love to it - mung beans and crushed peanuts are a welcome addition and we can't go past chilli oil.

Diary note

Join Kasey and Karena and Church Road winemaker Chris Scott for an evening of sensational food and wine on Friday, November 7. As part of Hawkes Bay's FAWC! (Food and Wine Classic) summer series, you'll dine in Church Road's Tom McDonald Cellar, starting with canapes followed by a delicious three-course wine-matched dinner. From the outstanding 2013 vintage, you'll be treated to a sneak peek of the yet-to-be released Church Road TOM Chardonnay and Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, plus the special opportunity to sample Church Road's first Methode Traditionelle, a vintage Blanc De Noir. General admission tickets $150 each.

Recipes

Try out Karena and Kasey Bird's delicious recipes at bite.co.nz - links below

• Stuffed kumara
• Pumpkin, caramelised onion and feta pastries
• Mushroom dumplings and udon noodle soup