Grilled Tiger Campsicums & Endives salad

(these things are quite tiny, no more than about 10cms long each, and the flesh is thin but substantial & flavoursome)

The Japanese organic farmers that are always on time at the Northside farmers markets here in Canberra are possibly my most trusted food source when it comes to salad suppliers. Their varieties are mostly newly developed japanese ones, so I could hardly find anything on the internet on how to prepare them. The organic nature of the veges really make me feel assured tucking into these things.

Salad leaves are usually over prayed by chemicals particularly if they have to travel and store for days before getting onto the table. A friend of mine that slogged her days as a supermarket assistant in the vege section said her hands used to sting after packing lettuces because of the harsh pesticides. Imagine that in your stomach, particularly if they are to be eaten raw etc.

Ingredience
Tiger Capsicums x 6 per serve
3 - 4 cloves garlic, dash of olive oil, sprinkle of rock/sea salt for roasting dish
Endive leaves x 250g per serve
Shredded nori

Method
1)Place tiger capscicums evenly on thinly olive oiled roasting dish, lightly crush garlic without removing skin, sprinkle with salt
2) Grill in medium heat till skin of caps are lightly brown
3) Serve chilled or warm on bed of fresh endives garnished with light shreds of nori drizzled with olive oil from tray, dash of pepper.

..................

The earthy smokey flavour of the tiger capsicums and its intense flesh made this dish taste extremely sexual. It made me fantacise about being in an alley way in New York with a Jamaican who has just smoked a dozen cuban cigars & doused in rum. (???).

Kimchi Tapanade

Ingredience
150g cabbage kimchi, roughly chopped
120g firm tofu, roughly chopped
10 stuffed green olives, roughly chopped
1 tsp black sesames, toasted
1 clove garlic
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp Lee Kum Kee garlic chilli sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 sprig spring onions - shredded for garnish

Method
Blend all coarsely, garnish, and serve with rice crackers

I remember the year when I was 11, and Mum went overseas for a month and Dad had to cook for us. On the first night he made this big pot of soup where he chucked in everything he could find in the fridge & boiled it up. It was so huge that we couldn't finish it. The next night he found more stuff to chuck into the left over soup and added more water. And so on and so on. It was still the same pot of soup when mum got back. This is like that, except much better.