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Thanks all! Good suggestions all around and it seems that if nothing else, garlic and butter are the way to go.

Which of course I should not be surprised by. Garlic and butter are almost always the way to go, for many things

I’m needing to eat more veggies. Not just my five a day, but to increase my intake regardless.

Not only can they be well tasty, they’re often simple to prepare, making them useful snacks.

So far I’m looking at stir fried garlic broccoli (easy peasy, if a bit high in sodium), and I’m interested to hear of others.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
But no Cauliflower! I’m not eating, preparing or touching Satan’s Haemorrhoids for you or anybody!

I use a bit of spinach, chopped up and sauteed with garlic it's quite good.

I also love raw carrots but that might be my own odd thing.

My shrimp dish was a hit, thanks all!

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’m needing to eat more veggies. Not just my five a day, but to increase my intake regardless.

Not only can they be well tasty, they’re often simple to prepare, making them useful snacks.

So far I’m looking at stir fried garlic broccoli (easy peasy, if a bit high in sodium), and I’m interested to hear of others.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
But no Cauliflower! I’m not eating, preparing or touching Satan’s Haemorrhoids for you or anybody!

Soup.
Vegie soup.

Butter, cabbage, carrot, onion, potato all cut down what ever, in it, slightly stir, water boullion. boil , maybee throw sausage in but then stop boiling and let it simmer for 10 mins. voila vegetable soup.
And if you got leftover soup, mix it, new thing all together.

MDG one great tip for broccoli if you cut it into smaller trees, stick it under the grill with garlic, olive oil and a few chilli flakes it's an absolute beaut.

In fact roasting veggies in general is the way to go.

Another quick one is stuffed peppers - I like anchovies, feta cheese and olives with mine with some rice but there's plenty of options.

I’ve never tried Stuff Peppers. If I’m honest, I like my bell peppers (for clarity!) chopped and raw. A satisfying crunch and very slightly sweet, in a kind of savoury way.

Also a staple of my stir fry’s, as I do tend to like my vegetables hot, rather than cooked.

Roast Veg is an exception to that of course, as it totally changes their flavour profile.

All good suggestions so far!

Oh, vegetables should always be a bit crunchy in a stir fry!

Do we count sauerkraut as a vegetable? Because I love some sauerkraut.

I’ll allow it!

I’m not entirely sure the pickled veggies contain the same the goodies fresh veggies do, but I do know the fermentation gribblies are beneficial and indeed desirable!

Now then class.

What do we do when the weather is a bit rubbish, and we’re feeling a little low?

That’s right. We make Barbecue Pulled Pork. Nothing too fancy sauce wise as I’m using shop bought. Will start it after work, as it’s gonna be a 12 hour job in the Slow Cooker.

Should kept me fed until Saturday!

Back to the veggies, I finally invested in a proper steamer. Just the simple kind consisting of stackable pans but the taste compared to boiling the veg is definitely noticeable.

Would also recommend a soup maker. If you have leftover veg just chuck it in the pot with veg stock and an onion, and 20 mins later you get piping hot soup ready to eat.

Found store in Finland that sells dashi soup base. Once current VLC diet is over can try whole bunch of japanese recipes.

Also bean stew, deep fried chicken japanese style and falafel will be on cooking list.

Just have to wait until 21st for died to end.

A new possibility has entered the game…

I’m hopefully, moving house soon. To a nice place in Folkestone down on the coast, with a rather fetching back garden.

Private garden of course means….offset smoker barbecue. In due course. It’s not an immediate purchase due to cost, but it is going to happen provided my references on the new place check out (no reason to believe they won’t, but I’m not one to count chickens).

I am unreasonably excited by this development. I’ve never had a garden of my own like. And I’ve a shake and bake pod of friends ready to go to help me eat the deliciousness i create. And of course I’ll invite neighbours to make up for the delightful smells.

I will of course start off quite basic. Nothing fancy, break myself in easily with simple recipes and techniques before pushing the basics once I’ve got them down.

Congratulations MDG! A garden and a smoker are both really nice to have.

My wife and I started growing basil last year and using it to make pizza with; fresh makes all the difference. Consider mint as well, with the caveat that it expands aggressively so needs to be kept isolated.

You absolutely cannot beat completely fresh herbs.

Many many many many moons ago, in my first childhood home we had a little Mint patch. Mumsie would often send me toddling off to pick some to go with the boiled spuds.

The garden itself is Low Maintenance, so no lawn etc. But once I’m settled I should be able to observe where the sun lands each day, and potentially plant accordingly.

 catbarf wrote:
Consider mint as well, with the caveat that it expands aggressively so needs to be kept isolated.

Mint is the absolute WORST to grow. . . JFC, every damn spring I have to rip out 3-4 newly sprung mint plants. So yeah, I concur it spreads aggressively. So pay attention, or youll hate your minty fresh garden

Though being very, very slightly hippy? I may see if I can somehow cultivate wild flowers for the bees.

Because Bees are ace. And our food chain is worryingly reliant on their fuzzy little bums!

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 catbarf wrote:
Consider mint as well, with the caveat that it expands aggressively so needs to be kept isolated.

Mint is the absolute WORST to grow. . . JFC, every damn spring I have to rip out 3-4 newly sprung mint plants. So yeah, I concur it spreads aggressively. So pay attention, or youll hate your minty fresh garden

This is why you should plant mint in a planter isolated from the ground. Otherwise it will spread as far as it can find water and appropriate sunlight.

Ensis Ferrae wrote:Mint is the absolute WORST to grow. . . JFC, every damn spring I have to rip out 3-4 newly sprung mint plants. So yeah, I concur it spreads aggressively. So pay attention, or youll hate your minty fresh garden

Vulcan wrote:This is why you should plant mint in a planter isolated from the ground. Otherwise it will spread as far as it can find water and appropriate sunlight.

I have the lower half of a whiskey barrel, filled with dirt, serving as a planter. Keeps the plant isolated but still big enough to support a pretty good volume of mint; no maintenance required besides the usual pruning.

 Vulcan wrote:

This is why you should plant mint in a planter isolated from the ground. Otherwise it will spread as far as it can find water and appropriate sunlight.

Lol, we did do that. . 2 above ground planter boxes. . . Mint was intentionally planted in one of them. It took over the other one too.

Of course, I was opposed to the planting in the first place, because growing up, I lived across the highway from an industrial/professional sized mint farm, and holy cow the smell around certain times of year!!!

Bagged the flat with the garden…

FLAME ON! In due course, as I’m gonna have to save up for a decent piece of kit.

Congrats!

Nice. Getting a grill was my first order of business when I bought my house a year ago.

Still working out how much garden I want to plant. Fresh veg/herbs is good, but I need stuff that thrives on neglect.

I’d definitely be down for planting fresh herbs. Not too difficult to look after, and most U.K. supermarkets sell potted fresh herb plants, so in theory it will just be popping them into a series of planters.

Plus I have a dehydrator, so I could even preserve my own herbs come Autumn/Winter. I also do Cross Stitch as a hobby, and I figure using off cuts/remnants of Aida Fabric will stop the leaves blowing around, whilst still allowing the air to circulate.

I do need to research grills. I honestly do not know my arse from my elbow, but I strongly suspect that You Get What You Pay For will prove somewhat elastic. Dirt cheap bad of course, but £3k+ possibly overkill.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’d definitely be down for planting fresh herbs. Not too difficult to look after, and most U.K. supermarkets sell potted fresh herb plants, so in theory it will just be popping them into a series of planters.

Plus I have a dehydrator, so I could even preserve my own herbs come Autumn/Winter. I also do Cross Stitch as a hobby, and I figure using off cuts/remnants of Aida Fabric will stop the leaves blowing around, whilst still allowing the air to circulate.

I do need to research grills. I honestly do not know my arse from my elbow, but I strongly suspect that You Get What You Pay For will prove somewhat elastic. Dirt cheap bad of course, but £3k+ possibly overkill.

Lot of options with grills.

Gas/propane are quick and easy. No muss with getting the coals just right, more stable temps, lot of other nice features. But more traditional charcoal grills get more flavor, you can burn assorted woods, some have smoke boxes. More work, but better results.

Really what you are looking for. You just want to put some grill marks on some meat at the end of a workday? Gas. But if you really want to push things, and get results, go old school.

I’m lazy, and went with gas. But keep thinking about getting a smoker. Couple friends have them, and put out amazing things.

Well, I don’t know is the honest answer!

I’m keen on something I need to learn, because learning is cool. I’m kind of looking at dual fuel ones, so those with a wood hip/charcoal grill and a gas grill. Options are good, and there’s nowt wrong with a gas grill for shorter cooking where I just want to be outside and not stuck in a hot kitchen on a hot day. The wood/charcoal is for when I have a better handle on the theory.

Did first go at deep frying today doing kara-age though since I didn't have sake the recipe called for used beer instead. Let's call it japanese deep fried chicken finnish style Didn't manage to cause fire which is success already in my book ;-) And taste wasn't that bad either so going to do this again one of these days.

I'd love to work on my garden. If only there weren't about two foot of snow still on top of it. *sigh*

I've been in slow cooker mode cooking wise. I've been sick a lot and it's nice to just get a bunch of meals prepped so I don't have to do much when I'm tired in the evening!

I’m gonna have friends over once I’ve moved, and I’ll be doing Barbecue Pulled Pork in my slow cooker. Because it’s minimum effort and maximum flavour!