weekend
ESTHER’S VEG BOX CHALLENGE
SWEDE
Make good use of your surplus veg with ideas from deputy food editor Esther Clark. This month, she creates three recipes using a veg box staple photographs YUKI SUGIURA
S
wede isn’t the most beautiful of vegetables, nor is it the most popular. It’s often disguised by other veg, either mashed with potatoes or roasted with other root vegetables. But, I think there’s something really delicious about swede, and luckily for me, I’m regularly left with one in my veg box. It has a nice bite when cooked, and pairs well with dark meats and rich, buttery slow-cooked or minced lamb, or cream sauces, as in a gratin. My favourite way to use swede is to cook it with onions and celery, then whizz the veg with cream to make a soup, as I’ve done. It holds itself well in a soup as the star, and it pairs beautifully with curried spices. You can finish it with yogurt or chilli oil if you like. I serve it with a melting cheese toastie which takes it to the next level of comfort food.
May 2021 BBC Good Food Middle East 39
