GREEN GREEN GRASS

"Green green grass, blue blue sky, you better throw a party on the day that I die!" ~ George Ezra, 'Green Green Grass'

When I say that the grass is long, I'm not exaggerating, even so, the more I age, the more beautiful green becomes to me. Don't get me wrong, I don't like wearing green, it looks atrocious on me; like I'm suffering from jaundice. No, not material green, I'm referring to all the shades of green found in nature, specifically.

Staring into someone's eyes, watching sun rays through the foliage on the trees, walking on soft emerald green pastures, discovering moss growing in the shade or seaweeds on the shorelines, even that slippery stuff on rocks, they call algae. 

My favourite colour is definitely green, what I have difficulty deciding is the exact shade of green. Which ever way, green gives me joy, so I thought it appropriate to make a green blog post to celebrate it today.

Let me start with what inspired this post today - I discovered the first embryonic leaves on one of the cherry sprouts I planted on Sunday. 

That's when I realised that green can literally make me happy - it symbolises new life, fresh starts, hope and growth.

And then when I looked back over this week, I saw a lot of greenery before my eyes.

Like the tomato plants I just trailed onto bamboo stakes and against the trellis - the growth since I first planted them into the soil has been absolutely phenomenal.

It is interesting how they have grown though, the left side - first sun - being much more lush than the right side. I would hardly have thought that the sun exposure on such a short stretch could be this different.

This is the nice thing about gardening to me in general, every day and every new project feels like a new discovery and journey.

Another green incident, perhaps more of a dilemma, was Brussels Sprouts.

Even growing up as a vegetarian, I was somehow shielded from these little 'cabbages' and for some reason, most of my adult life they have been excluded from my world too. 

I know I tried cooking them once before, but they came out disastrously bitter - I mean, non-edible bitter. So when I got gifted a pack of these the other day, I was naturally sceptical. 

Then I recalled seeing these on a friend's Christmas meal plate, so I figured it's worth a try asking him for some recipe recommendations - after all, it got served to him at a celebratory occasion, so whomever made those must have tasted something in Brussels Sprouts that I have not yet.

It was a wise call, and he sent me this recommendation as a starting point. I watched the video, it looked pretty straightforward and actually delicious too.

So I cut it as he suggested, blanched it in salty water, oiled it, and then I popped it in the little convection oven for about half an hour.

Once grilling, the lovely aroma drew all the animals - the dogs, the cat and even the flies. What is it with flies and cooking cabbage in general, I swear they are drawn to it more than dead meat and excrement?!?

The end results were a massive success, and I also think that next time I make these, I'll also serve them with crispy bacon bits as he suggested. 

It still had a bitter quality, but it was more inline with that of coffee or grapefruit.

The cat had a try, both dogs went mad for the stuff, and towards the end I found myself quite addicted to them too.

That was an awesome suggestion, one I would not have found by myself, since I had no idea what Brussels Sprouts were even suppose to taste like.

So here's a shout out to my friend from Germany, who suggested it - job well done!

Next up, what is something green, yet with absolutely nothing natural about it, but recommended none the less? 

Sparletta Creme Soda Ice Cream Floats

My best friend reminded me the other day of this childhood drink, and I've not had it since I was a teenager, so naturally I had to give it a go again. 

Nostalgia overload!

Easy to make, just put a large scoop of vanilla ice cream in a glass, then slowly pour Sparletta Creme Soda into it and watch it fizz and bubble. 

Just curious, does anyone else also think it tastes just like those green Cream Soda Fizzers we loved to chew on as kids?

Speaking of drinks, earlier this week I had to get to the shops for some Kombucha. 

While there I walked past the fresh produce section too, and spotted some apricots on special, got those when I saw spinach and fresh coriander, which got me in the mood for some green pasta.

It is the first time I'll be making kombucha and apart from making the SCOBY and getting the initial store bought starter kombucha, the ingredients are not exotic, the sort of things I usually have on hand. 

The process seems pretty straightforward too, so as soon as I got back home again, I took care of that first.

My SCOBY is perhaps not as thick as I hoped it would be, but it will have to do for now.

It has to ferment now for the next seven to twenty-one days, so I popped that in the studio bookcase and got back behind my desk to write some more.

Towards the evening, I finally started on my 'green pasta', thought I'd share the basic concept here.

Bear in mind that cooking is not like baking, you don't need to adhere to strict rules in terms of quantities, so I won't be quantifying much this time around. 

It is a matter of personal taste, really.

To start, process a whole bunch of fresh spinach, or skip this step if you are buying already processed packs from the store, and rinse them in salty water.

Then roll the leaves and cut them into strips, so that they will cook at roughly the same pace, later on.

Add the spinach and a little bit of salt, but hardly any water (apart from the water left on the leaves from when you rinsed them) to a large pot, and wilt them ever so gently with a lid on.

Don't overcook the spinach, you don't want it to lose its vibrant colour yet.

Purée the spinach with an immersion blender, add some cream and a pinch of nutmeg, stir, and put aside.

For the mince you can add mushrooms or leave them out, depending on your taste.

Start by sauteing some onions in butter, then add your diced mushrooms, if using any, and fry that up well.

Meanwhile, start up a pot of pasta; I opted for al dente macaroni but this recipe is very versatile. You can stuff the mince below, into cannelloni and cover that in the creamed spinach, top it with cheese and bake it in the oven. Or you could layer it into a dish and prepare it as you would a regular lasagne.

Next up, add some garlic and ground up spices to the fried onions and mushrooms.

For this dish, you want the taste of the mince to resemble that of biltong once cooked, so I recommend loads of coriander seeds (I used at least a tablespoon, maybe more, of this one alone), some black pepper and a bit of clove.

Add your mince meat and mix it into the rest of the ingredients well, then fry it up till it's nice and brown, taste throughout and adjust your seasoning as need be.

Last but not least, remove the pot from the heat and stir in loads of chopped up fresh coriander leaves.

Depending on your choice of pasta, assemble and bake.

In my case, I just added three beaten eggs to the creamed spinach, then mixed it all up together before placing it in a baking dish that I topped with generous amounts of grated cheese. 

I baked it in a 180°C preheated oven for twenty five minutes. 

It refrigerates well, so works wonderfully as left-overs later, and can be enjoyed both cold or reheated.

You can serve it as is, with a salad, or with what ever accompaniment you usually enjoy next to your pasta.

Personally, those apricots were the perfect accompaniment to me.

Something about their tangy sweetness, complimented the crisp, and somewhat earthy nature of the spinach, as well as the warm spiciness, and citrus undertones of the coriander beautifully.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

1. I used about half a kilo of spinach, mushrooms and mince meat respectively, three handfuls of fresh coriander, two large onions and half a litre of cream.

2. Some tricks of the trade I learned in my mother's kitchen while growing up - caramelise your onions, add lemon to your frying mushrooms and season throughout.

WORDS: rhodenel©16JAN2025

PHOTOGRAPHY: rhoderuth©JAN2025