This zine shares the process of hosting our Harvest Equinox Community Lunch at SWG3 on Sunday 22nd of September. It includes initial recipes scribbled on bits of paper as we walked round the veg patches, delicious food shared with friends and new friends alike, and ecologically hand processed film photographs.
The community meal marked the Autumn Equinox, when the day and night are equal lengths before the days get shorter and nights get longer. It also marked the harvest season in the SWG3 garden and included a seasonal lunch, apple pressing and creative activities. The lunch was made using veg grown in the SWG3 community garden, as well as surplus food donations from local businesses. We wanted the food to be for everyone so it was dairy free, nut free, and mostly gluten free.
We took film photos while we harvested, prepped veg, cooked, and ate. We put aside some of our food waste and used this as an ingredient in an ecologically friendly developer (following the Simple 3 recipe by the Sustainable Darkroom). This zine shares these photographs, as well as the recipes for the food we cooked, collages made at the meal, and some thoughts and reflections from folk who came along.
We are friends who share a love of tasty seasonal food, cooking, photography and crafting. This project brought together all of these things for us. We hope through this zine you get a sense of the love that went into the growing, harvesting, cooking, and eating.
This community meal was part of an artist-led project funded by Glasgow Connected Arts Network and supported by SWG3, thank you. Thank you to everyone who shared their veg for the meal. Thank you to Glasgow Apple Pressing for the apples and apple pressing equipment. Also, thank you to Kinning Park Complex for the crockery and to our friends who helped with prep and cleanup!
Thai, Ally, Kate, Meli and Hannah x
Flatbread recipe
Serves 6
260g self-raising flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
175ml cold water
In a large bowl, mix together all your dry ingredients.
Make a well, add olive oil and gradually combine water until a dough forms. It should be soft but not too sticky.
Divide into 6 pieces, roll into balls and use a rolling pin to shape into flatbreads, using lots of flour so they don’t stick.
Bring a frying pan up to a medium high heat and dry fry the flatbreads for around 2 minutes on each side.
Serve hot.
1kg of beetroot, other root veggies are also tasty
500ml vinegar, we used a combination of white wine, apple cider and rice
500ml of water
500g sugar
20g salt
spices of your choice - coriander seeds and cloves are common choices
Peel and cut the veggies of your choice. There is a lot of freedom in how you cut them, smaller cuts are fun in salads.
Toast off your aromatics in a pan, then add your vinegar, water, salt, and sugar and bring to a boil.
Add your veg and boil for around 5 minutes.
Once the pickle mix has cooled decant into sterile jars, make sure all of the veggies are submerged so they stay super fresh and crunchy.
This will keep for yonks, but we do recommend storing it in the fridge.
Roast vegetable quinoa tabbouleh
Serves 8
500g quinoa
1kg seasonal veg (carrots, parsnips, beetroot)
1 red onion
1 pomegranate
2 tsp oregano, fresh if possible
25g parsley
25g mint
50g pumpkin Seeds
3tsp sugar
5 tsp chilli oil
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cumin
3 tsp pomegranate molasses
1 veg stock cube
Scottish rapeseed oil
Salt
Preheat oven to 180 Celcius.
Prep your roasting veg and chop it into bite-size chunks.
Toss the veg in a good amount of oil, and coat with oregano, cumin, cinnamon, and salt.
Roast until caramelised and soft, this should take around 35 minutes.
Whilst the veg is roasting, cook the quinoa. Dissolve the stock cube in 1.25l of boiling water and pour this into a pan with the quinoa. Add 2 tsp of salt and mix thoroughly.
Allow the pot to simmer for 15 minutes on mediumlow with a lid to cover.
Remove the pot from the heat and leave to steam for 5 minutes without taking off the lid to absorb all of the water.
Uncover and fluff with a fork to separate the quinoa, and season to taste.
Prepare your pomegranate by slicing it open and picking through the fruit to separate the seeds, set these aside for later.
Prepare your dressing, finely dice the red onion and herbs, mince the garlic and combine with the chilli oil, sugar, and salt to taste.
Combine the roasted veg, quinoa, pomegranate, and dressing, enjoy!
Herby potato salad
serves 4-6
2kg potatoes
A handful of broad beans (whatever you can source from your local harvest)
25g parsley
15g chive
1 lemon, zested and juiced
A drizzle of Scottish rapeseed oil
Heat your oven to 180 Celsius.
Boil the potatoes until tender in seasoned water, strain, then chill.
Toss the broad beans in oil and salt. Toast in the oven until crispy and golden, then allow to cool.
Prepare your dressing. Mix oil with finely chopped herbs, lemon zest and juice, rapeseed oil, and salt.
Combine and enjoy.
Crispy smashed potatoes serves 4
2kg potatoes, Maris Pipers are a strong choice
2 tsp rice flour (cornflour is also fine!)
4 tbsp Scottish rapeseed oil
salt, pepper
Heat your oven to 180 Celsius.
You are welcome to peel your potatoes, but we like the skin.
Boil the potatoes until tender, strain, and allow them to cool.
Crush the potatoes slightly to create a fun texture and allow maximum crisp.
Preheat the oil in a roasting tray in the oven. This will take about 5 minutes, please be cautious.
Place your potatoes in the hot oil and gently flip to coat evenly.
Sprinkle some salt to your liking and roast for around 30 minutes.
Transfer your potatoes to a warm bowl and enjoy.
Chickpea Puree serves many, great for a potluck
1 can of chickpeas
Oat (or dairy) cream, 200ml
2 medium shallots
3 cloves of garlic
3 tsp Scottish rapeseed oil salt
Slice your shallots and caramelise in a heavybottomed pot with oil. Once golden, add garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Add the cream and chickpeas to the pot and allow the mix to simmer for 15 minutes.
Using a stick blender, blitz to a smooth consistency and season to taste.
Apple, rhubarb and bramble crumble
Serves 4-6
1kg seasonal fruit (we used apples, rhubarb and wild foraged brambles)
Pinch of sugar
1 tbsp water
100g plain flour
75g butter
50g rolled oats
100g demerara sugar
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Wash and chop your fruit into chunks. Place them in a pan with the water and a pinch of sugar, to taste. Stew the fruit over a medium heat until it starts to soften (rhubarb takes around 15 minutes, apples 5-10 minutes and soft fruits don’t need to be stewed, just stir them in at the end.)
Transfer the fruit mixture to a shallow ovenproof dish.
Combine the flour and butter using your hands until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
Stir in the oats and the brown sugar and sprinkle over the fruit. Transfer to the oven to bake for 30 minutes or until crisp and golden-brown on top.
