We had a mouth-watering PermaFeast at my place on Saturday. This Harvest to Table workshop was the last of my Permaculture Life series for 2016. We cooked together on the verandah, looking out across the lake toward the National Park.

We harvested produce as we needed it straight from my permaculture garden that wraps around our house. We made a great spread of delicious creations, had lots of laughs in the process and enjoyed sharing the deliciously healthy feast.

Superfood Pesto with Seedy Spelt Crackers – a popular favourite .

1. Fresh Tea Blends and Spelt Lemon Myrtle Shortbreads
2. Superfood Pesto (recipe below) with Spelt Seedy Crackers (gluten free version)
3. Pumpkin Leaf and Choko Dolmades with Tahini Dressing
4. Stir-fry vegetables with a Spicy Quinoa, Amaranth, Millet, Chia, Rice Blend, sprinkled with crisp sesame kale
5. Fennel and Orange Salad with Tarragon Lime Dressing
6. Rosemary Kipfler Potato Chips
7. Stewed Cinnamon Choko with Lime Marmalade Poppy Seed Cake and Maleny Cream

The vegetable stir fry ingredients – picked fresh the moment before cooking.

Some of the dishes we made: herbed quinoa, amaranth, millet and chia; toasted kale and sesame; spicy greens stir fry, rosemary kipfler potato rounds

Preparing dessert from choko fruit – a little lime, cinnamon and honey …mmm!

• Kale Kim Chi – this is going to sit on my kitchen bench for the next week until it’s ready. It’s going to pack a punch with the amount of chillies that were tossed in!
• Smashed Canna and Spicy Cassava Leaves – I ended up having these for dinner because unfortunately they weren’t ready in time. The very dry conditions make these types of food much denser and more fibrous. Typically young tender canna roots take just 15 mins.

Preparing the kim chi.

 

The beautiful jar of kale kim chi jar we made.

SUPERFOOD PESTO RECIPE

The pesto was INCREDIBLE – and I’m so delighted that there is some left. It would have to be one of the most amazing pestos I’d ever tasted – the blend of greens that everyone harvested was just perfect.

Pesto can include any number of leafy greens, and it is actually a great way to get your kids to eat an enormous dose of very nourishing greens. Our pesto today included:

• greens – 3 types of kale, 2 types of parsley,  coriander, coriander flowers, tulsi, mizuna, brazilian spinach, silverbeet, nasturtium
• toasted sunflower seeds and almonds (we toasted them in a sandwich press for a couple of minutes – quickest and easiest way I know)
• garlic chive flowers and leaves (instead of garlic cloves)
• parmesan cheese
• lime juice
• olive oil

We tossed this into the food process in the following ratio:

• 2 cups leaves
• 1 lime
• 1/4 cup ground seeds/nuts
• 1/3 cup parmesan
• 1/2 cup olive oil

We at this pesto in great scoops with the seedy spelt crackers I had premade. , and I think the flavour was even more amazing because we used garlic chive flowers instead of garlic.  This I think could be called Pesto Superfood.

FRESH GARDEN TEAS

There are so many fresh leaves, fruits and flowers from the garden to make deliciously refreshing and uplifting teas.  We created tastebud sensations with our incredible intuitive blends. Our palette included:

1. Rosella
2. Yarrow
3. Lemon Myrtle
4. Lemongrass
5. Lemon Balm
6. Chocolate Mint
7. Japanese Mint
8. Pineapple Sage
9. Elderberry Flower
10. Tulsi
11. Mulberry Leaf
12. Oregano
13. Rosemary
14. Lime
15. Buddha’s Hand
16. Turmeric

All set up for the Harvest to Table Workshop today on my verandah.