Thyme to Cook by Emma Galloway
In a gorgeous new cookbook, Thyme to Cook, bestselling cookery writer Emma Galloway teaches us how to grow our own vegetables at home and use them throughout the year to create over seventy delicious, healthy family meals. All the recipes are vegetarian and gluten-free and often have vegan options.
Thyme to Cook is a beautiful book. Emma Galloway, as well as being a cookery writer, is a talented food stylist and photographer. She has plated each recipe artistically on ceramic plates, most of which she made herself, having recently attended pottery classes. Her photographs make her food look mouthwatering!
In her introduction, she tells how she grew up in Raglan. Her parents grew all their own vegetables for their family meals, but she didn’t learn how to grow her own food as a kid. After she left home as a young adult to work in Sydney she couldn’t even keep basil, which she had planted in a pot on the tiny balcony of her apartment, alive. But over the years she has become a skilled vegetable gardener and is keen for anyone who would like to start a garden to benefit from her expertise.
‘When you love food like I do, all roads lead to the garden.’ she says because freshly picked vegetables just taste so much better than those which have been lingering on the supermarket shelves. And they are nutrient dense and spray free.
In the chapters which follow she guides newbies on the whole journey of growing, harvesting, and cooking real food at home.
Emma and her family live back in Raglan now and aim to live as sustainably as possible. They have three kinds of gardens, a no-dig garden, raised garden beds and container gardens. She gives detailed instructions on how to prepare these for planting and how to grow vegetables from seeds. You can make your own ‘soil amendments” too by adding more nutrients to the soil. Two of these recipes sound really easy, lawn clipping tea and liquid banana peel fertilizer, and I can’t wait to try those.
Composting kitchen and garden scraps is such an effective way to make sure nothing goes to waste and turns scraps into black gold which can be added back to your garden. She tells us how.
Her section on Growing Guides is packed full of detailed instructions on how to grow, eat and preserve twenty-five vegetablesand how to solve any problems you might encounter.
Then come the recipes. Each uses one of these homegrown vegetables and all are family friendly and quick to make. The recipes are arranged into five chapters: Snacks and Light Meals, Salads and sides, A bit more substantial, Easy dinners and Preserves. They all look very inviting, and I have bookmarked many of them including:
Lemon + oregano roasted potato salad w/feta + rocket.
A lovely substantial potato salad with a lemon dressing. Emma suggests it would be perfect for potluck dinners because it travels well.
Herbed asparagus + brown rice salad
Combining asparagus with brown rice, finely sliced radishes, and a handful of parsley, and stirring through home-made salsa verde sounds delicious.
Roasted cauliflower, quinoa + smashed green olive salad.
Another salad which travels well, so perfect to take to summer barbecues but it’s also ideal for lunches and dinners at home. This very creative salad is made by combining high-protein quinoa with golden roasted cauliflower, some salty smashed olives, toasted almonds and a generous amount of herbs.
Crispy black bean tacos w/avocado lime sauce.
These crispy tacos are a cross between tacos and quesadillas. This recipe is sure to become a family favourite.
Mushroom stroganoff w/buttered rice. Creamy mushrooms served hot over buttered rice would be a comforting, cozy meal.
Pea and paneer curry.
So easy and quick to make and not too spicy. Paneer and ghee are not staples in our house, but firm tofu and coconut oil/olive oil can be used instead.
Chocolate, orange + avocado mousse.
As avocados are so cheap right now, this decadent mousse will be a must-try this coming week. The combination of chocolate and orange sounds delicious! It can be made the night before, which makes it an easy dessert when entertaining.
Thyme to Cook is a taonga that deserves a place on every family bookshelf. If you have never grown your own vegetables before, her enthusiasm and expertise will inspire you to embark on that journey. And when your vegetables are ready to harvest, you will be able to use them to put delicious, healthy meals on your family table.
Reviewer: Lyn Potter
Harper Collins
