On the menu today

Another cooking session at the Transition Cafe (saving and serving surplus food) resulted in three mushroom quiches, two buckwheat pasta bakes, one rhubarb and ginger crumble and a spiced carrot salad.* (This wasn't all that was on offer, just what I made.)

Late spring is known as "the hungry gap" in Britain, when the winter vegetables are finished and the new crops not yet ready, so we currently have very little fresh produce coming in. But as the role and reputation of the cafe has become better known we have been receiving more donations, including quantities of reject goods from a large food wholesaler and, just today, the entire stock of a local whole food stall holder who is having to give up his business. So our shelves are groaning with cereals and beans, dried fruit and nuts, jars of honey, bars of chocolate, bags of crystallized ginger, even boxes of saffron. Not much chance of a hungry gap here!

*This is so popular I thought I'd share the method here. It couldn't be simpler.
Grate several large carrots. (I use a processor.) Add a large pinch of salt. Heat a slurp of vegetable oil in a frying pan and add a tablespoon of black mustard seeds. As soon as they begin to pop remove the pan and pour all the contents over the carrot. Mix well. (You can add sultanas and/or lemon juice if you wish - I don't bother.)
Recipe courtesy of Madhur Jaffrey.