Once you make these carrot fries for the first time, they will soon become a part of your recipe repertoire as they are totally addictive and so easy-to-make. Of course, they are also bursting with goodness. Carrots are rich in beta carotene, which is converted into Vitamin A by the body. Vitamin A supports our immune system and vision, while promoting healthy skin, bones, and teeth. These carrot fries are scrumptious as a snack but are also perfect to serve as a side. The coriander dip serves perfectly with the fries, but if you’re not a fan of coriander, basil can be used in its place.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C /Gas Mark 7, or the air fryer to 200°C.
Prepare the carrots by peeling them and cutting into strips or batons.
Add to a large bowl along with the olive oil, cornflour, smoked paprika, onion granules, and garlic powder. Season with a little salt and pepper. Toss to combine and fully coat the carrots.
Cook in the air fryer for 18- 20 minutes or the oven for 25-30 minutes, turning twice during cooking.
While the carrots are cooking, make the dip by adding the ingredients to a high-powered processor and blitz for a few seconds until smooth. Refrigerate until needed.
Serve the carrots while hot with the dip on the side. Enjoy!
As the evenings are getting darker and a little colder, comforting dinners, such as this delicious green vegan mac & cheese, are perfect for tucking into. The addition of romanesco to this pasta dish adds extra flavour, texture, and colour, as well as lots of nutrient. It is part of the brassica family of vegetables and tastes like a cross between broccoli and cauliflower. This stunning vegetable is grown on the farm, so nutritionally it benefits greatly from the best of soil. It is rich in fibre, calcium, and iron, and also a good source of vitamins, such as A, C and K. This dish only takes minutes to prepare and is best served with a simply green salad and chunks of crusty bread.
Place the cashew nuts in a heat-proof bowl. Cover with boiling water and leave to soak for 15 minutes.
In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the macaroni according to the pack’s instructions. Add the romanesco to the pot for the last 3 minutes of cooking time. Drain the pot, reserving 175ml of the cooking water.
Drain the cashews and add to a processor, with the juice of one lemon, nutritional yeast, Dijon mustard, turmeric, the reserved pasta water and a little salt and pepper. Blend until combined.
In a large casserole dish, combine the drained macaroni and romanesco with the sauce. Top with the vegan cheese and place under the grill for 5 minutes until golden brown. Serve straight away. Enjoy!
Over €400 million worth of vegetables were imported into Ireland in 2023, that is an increase of 17% in value and 6% in volume since 2022.
Last week we reviewed our farm accounts, and the picture painted was not one that brought joy to the heart, it rarely is unfortunately. The fundamentals of growing vegetables means that the price paid does not cover the costs of production, so far this year we are carrying a significant loss on our farm.
Whilst we as a nation seem to be importing more and more fresh produce we are losing more and more of our growers. There is no escaping the fact that as the industry has been left vulnerable and right on the edge by the price paid by supermarket buyers. Smaller growers have exited the industry, and this has been compensated for by the larger grower here in Ireland.
However, this is no longer the case as we all have heard the familiar story at this stage as the cost of inputs has risen over the last number of years and the decline of people wanting to work in the industry is critical. A number of bigger growers have also closed their doors for good. It is not an unreasonable path to take as why would you stay in business when you are losing money, and you have very little control over your income as prices are set by external buyers. These import figures come at the same time as our minister for agriculture states “it is important to consider agrifood imports in the context of corresponding exports.
Ireland recorded a total agri-food trade surplus of more than €5 billion in 2023”. This means we exported lots and lots of meat and dairy and imported lots of vegetables and fruit, but interestingly we also imported lots of cereal based animal feed to generate this trade surplus.
But our high reliance on imports when it come to our vegetable supply means that when there are shortages as a result of drought or other climate shocks which are getting more and more likely due to climate change then we will not be at the top of the priority list when it comes to supply. Right now, we are starting our farm planning for next year. We will also be talking to other Irish growers that supply us with produce and agreeing volumes and prices, for next year, prices that are always fair.
Since 2006 when we sold our first locally grown organic vegetable the planning of our farm has always been something that has been very close to my heart, but after 19 years of growing vegetables with only a handful of those years break even, it does leave you scratching your head when you just can’t make the numbers add up. We have always persevered and will continue to do so, but we can only ever do this and support the nearly 40 people that currently work in our farm and business with your support.
This blog has two parts this week, the first bit was an unexpected happy moment that occurred only yesterday:
We won a national organic award! We won the best “direct to the consumer” award and we are delighted. Thank you so much to Bord Bia and to all the judges for looking at our business and for giving us the thumbs up. It is absolutely a credit to everybody who works at Green Earth Organics that we won, the hard work and dedication, innovation and integrity of the whole team on our farm made achieving the award possible.
Against the backdrop of two very challenging growing seasons, and many growers opting to get out of the business altogether, the award couldn’t have come at a better time.
So, thank you to everybody who works here, thanks to all you our customers who keep us in business, and thank you to the judges for recognising it all. We are very grateful.
In Ireland in 2021 there were 3 million kgs of pesticides applied, and in that same year the dept of agriculture tested 1,039 fruit, vegetable and fungi samples mostly imported and found than 60% had detectable limits of pesticides, and 5.3% had higher levels that what was deemed safe.
It has always been clear to me from a young age that spraying chemicals indiscriminately in nature was wrong. Now I can’t say I understood why I felt this way or why I felt that our planet needed to be protected from ourselves but that is the way I was programmed.
As a scientist I understand the role science plays in our lives and in facilitating the production of food for so many people. But we have been to an extent conditioned to think that we need all these chemicals to grow food, it is not unlike the pharmaceutical industries desire to have us taking preventative maintenance doses of some of their drugs for life.
So here is the thing we have a perfectly amazing way to reduce our chances of getting sick. Being healthy indeed can be our default setting, but it seems that not unlike our natural world we too have developed a deep sense of physical and mental malaise. We are in a word not well.
The common scientific perception is that chemicals in small doses are not harmful to life. There certainly is some validity in this statement and this piece is not about engendering fear, far from it. It is about increasing awareness about how our food choices can have a remarkable positive effect on our lives and our environment.
So, taking low level doses on a daily basis of chemicals in our diet is not how at least I want to live my life. I get it that the scientists use terms like MRLS (maximum residue limit) to reassure us that our food is are, after all that is their job. But is it really? And how do they decide and who is they anyway? Well, they use all sorts of things like acute toxicity and extrapolations and lifetime consumption assumptions.
Talk of the gut Microbiome is everywhere these days and rightly so, its importance is only beginning to be understood. There is little doubt that the myriad of beneficial bacteria that inhabit our intestines play a major role in our health, from depression to inflammation.
So, it’s with interest that I discovered a couple of articles that link the constant imbibing of pesticides into our bodies not only damage our cells but also all the myriad of microbes that live in our gut and you guessed it it is not a positive feedback loop we are talking about here. You can if you are inclined read the article here.
It is no coincidence then that these pesticides that kill plants or organisms and damage the microbial life in the living soil also damage and kill the good bacteria in our gut.
Pumpkins and butternut squash are from the same plant family and are both currently in season. They can easily be interchangeable in recipes and make for a nutritious addition to any curry or casserole. They are packed full of vitamins and minerals and are also a rich source of fibre, which is essential for optimal gut health. Preparing the pumpkin or butternut squash is the most time-consuming part of this recipe, so to aid with the preparation of an otherwise speedy curry dish, I normally peel and cube the squash ahead of time and store in a sealed container in the fridge until ready to use. It will keep perfectly when stored this way for up to three days. This curry tastes just as good the day after it is made, so keep a bowl aside in the fridge for the next day’s lunch.
To serve – fresh coriander leaves, boiled brown rice and coconut yogurt
Method
Over a medium heat, add the olive oil to a large saucepan. Once it has heated through add the onion and turn down the heat. Sauté over a low heat, stirring regularly. Add the garlic and stir through, before adding the curry paste and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir to combine.
Next, add all the remaining ingredients to the pot. Place the lid on the pot. Once it starts to bubble, turn the heat to low and simmer for 50 minutes, stirring regularly.
To serve, ladle into bowls, serve alongside some boiled brown rice, scatter over some fresh coriander leaves, and add a dollop of coconut yogurt.
It’s now peak mushroom season in Ireland, and we’ve a great variety of them available to pick up in our online store. When preparing mushrooms for cooking they should never be washed, as they are porous and will retain this water which will interfere with their texture and flavour when cooked. However, their ability to retain fluids works perfectly for this recipe as the mushrooms are marinated in a flavoursome mixture which adds an extra level of deliciousness to these burgers. I’ve made a simple plant-based burger sauce, which works nicely with the cooked mushrooms, along with a layer of lettuce and slices of our juicy tomatoes.
Prepare the mushrooms by removing the stems and lightly brushing away any dirt. In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and garlic, along with a little salt and pepper. Whisk to combine, before adding to a bag along with the mushrooms. This allows the mushrooms to better soak up the marinade. Place in the fridge for about an hour.
Make the sauce by combining the mayonnaise, gherkin liquid, gherkin, mustard, and garlic in a small bowl. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
Place an oven-proof griddle pan over a medium heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil, once hot add the mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side.
Preheat the grill. With the mushrooms underside up, place a slice of plant-based cheese on top. Place the pan under the grill for about two minutes, until the cheese starts to bubble.
Remove straight away and layer into the toasted bun with the burger sauce, lettuce, and slices of tomato.
We all get sick sometimes, but when something serious comes along how we define what is important to us can change significantly. There is little doubt that without our health we have very little. All it takes is to be laid up in bed with a serious dose of the flu to know that being sick can be serious. The prevalence of chronic disease in our current age is frightening, it is unfortunately a reflection on how we as a society have evolved. Our eating habits, working habits, exercising habits, have steadily changed and not for the better over the last 50 years.
But what has happened to our food is very concerning. Obviously, the ultra-processed rubbish that is designed to be irresistible is very unhealthy, and we would in all seriousness be better off eating cardboard. But it is often said that it is not what we do occasionally that is the problem it is what we do every day that causes the benefit or the damage. Those things we eat everyday are one of the keys to our health. Our bodies are amazing machines and when we are young, we can cope at least for a while with just about anything, but as we grow older things start to take a greater tole on our health. So it is with our food, at least in my opinion the chemicals on conventional food must over time do damage, they hurt us on the inside and they do it gradually over years. I remember years ago my biology teacher telling me if you irritate something for long enough you will cause cancer. I know I am fortunate and can afford to consume organic food as I have it all around me, I don’t take that for granted. Ironically, for health reasons I have a restricted diet and one of the things I can eat are blueberries. Over the last couple of weeks, we haven’t been able to source organic blueberries as we do not buy airfreighted produce. So, I bought some conventional blueberries in a shop. I think they tasted a little odd, I ate them anyway. But I decided to investigate this a little and here is what I found: In 2024 Pesticides were found on 90 percent of conventional blueberry samples, compared to 81 percent in 2014. 80 percent of samples had two or more pesticides, versus 70 percent in 2014. A single sample of blueberries could have up to 17 different pesticide residues, compared to 13 in 2014. Reference here.
This information is relevant to the US, but many of the blueberries on Irish supermarket shelves come from all over the world and could have the same residues. The most troubling pesticides found on blueberries were phosmet and malathion, chemicals known as organophosphate insecticides. They kill many types of insects and are toxic to the human nervous system.
Not only are conventional blueberries on the list of items to source organically if you can, but green beans, peppers, and kale were also singled out. We have sourced organic blueberries again, the first new European harvest from Spain. I write this piece to once again highlight the difference between conventional food production and organic. Don’t we deserve to known about these unseen extras? So anyway, I am looking forward to getting the first new season organic non airfreighted blueberries next week. They won’t be as good as the Irish ones we had a few weeks ago, but they will be pretty good.
Don’t take this the wrong way but I love chemicals.
So much so that I dedicated nearly 15 years of my life to studying and working with them, I worked for years on trying to figure how to make a new antibiotic, imagine life without antibiotics?
Without chemicals our life would be so much different and not for the better. But here is one other thing I learned whilst trying to develop a selective drug, a drug that would not have any side effects, and it was this: A 100% selective drug was impossible. Impossible as all chemicals taken into the body interact with different receptors in different ways and have side effects. This silver bullet is the holy grail of pharmaceutical research and is still some way off.
Have you heard of polyphenols? If you are interested in your health, you will certainly have heard this term. They are powerful antioxidants found in plants and may have a very positive effect on our health. More on these later.
So, in the super controlled environment of pharmaceutical development a drug that does not have side effects is impossible to produce. So, who in their right mind decided that we should take toxic chemicals and start spraying them indiscriminately on our food?
In the conventional food world now, we have farmers spraying nonselective chemicals on our food to kill insects and other plants. These chemicals kill both the target (ie the aphid) but also other insects flying around, devasting biodiversity.
Then there is the issue of these chemical being that toxic that they harm life, what do they do to us when we consume them on our food? Nothing good for sure, and there is plenty of literature out there on the damage they do.
So, let’s keep going down the rabbit hole now. Take this a step further, as some of these chemicals are “systemic” that means they are absorbed into the plant, brought inside and there they reside until harvest and eventual consumption on our dinner plates. Washing will do little to remove these as they are inside the produce.
So, we have these non-selective, systemic toxic chemicals being sprayed on our food and they are hurting us and destroying biodiversity. But there is an often-overlooked further issue here, and that brings us back to polyphenols.
These amazing compounds are produced by plants to defend themselves against disease and pests, these powerful antioxidants protect the plants, and guess what? They protect us too, when we consume them. But here’s the issue, when plants are sprayed to remove pests then the plants have little need to produce polyphenols so not only are we getting chemically contaminated food, but the actual composition of the food is also being changed by the application of these chemicals, isn’t that just crazy?
It is so easy to ignore all of the above, as when we see produce on the supermarket shelf it looks amazing (and it is without doubt better to eat fresh produce than not), but if there is an option at all, and I understand for some this is not possible (But you can always try our rescue box, which is always sold at a greatly reduced price) then choosing organic is just always, always going to be better for you, if you can choose local organic then there are all the other benefits also of supporting a local food economy.
So please for your own sake and the sake of our fragile planet, if you can at all choose organic.
Tomatoes are naturally high in lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant. Cooking tomatoes not only increases the level of lycopene in the tomato but also makes it easier for the body to absorb. This is also a great dish to make if you’ve young chefs in the kitchen who’d like to help-out as it is so easy to prepare. It’s packed full of nutrients and serves well by the bowlful with chunks of bread on the side, or it transports well in a thermos flask for a lunch on-the-go. Enjoy!
Method 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas 5.
2. Place the chopped tomatoes, garlic cloves and onion in an ovenproof dish. Drizzle over the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle over the smoked paprika and sugar, and season with a pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper.
3. Using a wooden spoon, combine all the ingredients together.
4. Roast in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.
5. While everything is roasting, make the pasta according to the pack’s instructions.
6. In a large saucepan heat the stock, stir in the cooked roasted tomato mixture and simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes.
7. Add the basil, saving a few leaves for serving. Using a liquidiser or hand blender, blend the soup until smooth.
8. Divide the pasta between four bowls, pour over the soup and top with a few basil leaves.
This roasted sweet potato and broccoli bake is so tasty and only takes minutes to prepare. The sweet potatoes are coating in cornflour and seasoning which makes them deliciously crispy, while our broccoli needs little encouragement to shine as it is already so flavoursome and packed full of freshness. The toppings are another opportunity to add more goodness to the dish along with an added layer of tastiness.
Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/gas 7. Cut the sweet potatoes into slices and place in a large bowl. Drizzle over two tablespoons of olive oil plus the cornflour, smoked paprika and season with a little salt and pepper. Stir well to combine and transfer to a large baking tray, placing the slices evenly on the tray. Drizzle over any remaining oil in the bowl. Place in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Take the tray from the oven. Add the florets of broccoli. Drizzle with a little olive oil and place back in the oven 15-20 minutes, stirring once during this cooking time.
While the vegetables are baking, make the sauce by stirring together the yogurt, lime, nutritional yeast, garlic and a little salt and pepper, in a small bowl.
Once the sweet potato and broccoli are cooked, transfer to a platter. Squeeze over the juice of half a lime and serve the other half on the side. Top with dollops of the sauce, chunks of avocado, a scattering of scallion, red chilli and coriander, plus a drizzle of hot sauce. Enjoy straight away.
