Barlotti Zucchini Fritters

GET

2 cups of Barlotti beans (cooked)
3 med. zucchinis/ courgettes
1 plain bread roll
Some Pine nuts
1 egg
Some finely grated Parmesan cheese/ or feta
Some garlic
Some finely cut shallots
Some finely cut herbs (thyme, oregano, sage etc)
Pinch of black pepper (Tasmanian pepper)
A few spoons of flour
Olive oil

DO
Cook beans. Wash zucchinis and herbs. Grate zucchinis in long strips and drain in sieve for 10 min. Soak the bread roll in some of the bean cooking water for a few minutes. Beat one egg in a large bowl. Drain  the beans and use a potato masher to make them smooth. Squeeze the liquid from the bread roll. Both the zucchinis and the bread should be very well drained! Add beans and bread and mix. Chop the garlic, shallots, herbs and pepper. Add with the cheese and nuts to the mixture.
Leave mixture in the fridge for 30 min. or more. Should they feel 'soggy', add some flour to the mixture. Sprinkle some flour on a plate and form balls from the mixture. Flatten them on the flour, let them rest for a while.
Heat oil. When the oil is hot fry them till they are golden.

The fritters are best consumed hot on the first day. For two people you might want to do half of the measurements.

Serve with steamed taro or potatoes and green beans. A tzatziki cucumber salad complements the dish.

Kale with Sesame, steamed Taro and Radicchio Salad

GET

1 bunch of Kale /Black Toscana (cavolo nero)
2 gloves of garlic
Fresh garlic, peeled, sliced
Half of a small lemon/ lime, juice
Same amount of tahini
Sesame seeds
Olive oil

Taro steamed

Radicchio/ Italian chicory 

DO

Wash and dry the dark green, crinkled, strap-like leaves of kale. Heat oil. Cut kale from the bottom up in small pieces, sauté bottom stems in olive oil first, then add chopped leaves. Add garlic and toss for a few minutes. Cover and cook for another few minutes.

Place the vegetables in a shallow casserole. Mix the lemon juice and tahini and cover evenly. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake till the seeds are golden. The dish is best consumed on the same day, as reheating dries the kale out.

Serve with steamed taro and some finely sliced dark reddish-purple radicchio (Italian chicory/Witlof?) salad to alleviate insomnia.

Taro and Red Cabbage

1 Small to medium red cabbage
3 Red onions
1 Sour apple
Olive oil
2 Juniper berries
1 Bay leaf
Pepper
300 ml hot water/ stock
Thyme

1 Large taro corm (Pacific)
Samoan pink variety if available. NB oxalic acid!
or in EU
1 Fresh white celeriac

You might want to use rubber gloves to prepare the cabbage and the taro.
Remove outer leaves from cabbage, quarter and remove core.
Cut onion into wedges and fry in olive oil.
Cut cabbage very finely. Add cabbage when onions are translucent. Boil water or stock and add some so that the cabbage is half covered. Add the spices
Peel the apple and cut into 8 pieces, add, cover and simmer for 30 min.

Wash and peel the taro/celeriac. Cut into big chunks and steam for approx. 25 min.
One could also fry the precooked taro/celeriac in olive oil as chips if one so desired.

Sprinkle cabbage with fresh thyme and serve with the taro/celeriac and a crisp green salad.

Taro in Coconut Milk

Get
2 large taro roots (Colocasia esculenta)
coconut milk

Do

Soak the cleaned taro in cold water overnight. Cook for 1 1/2 hours, or until tender. It should be completely cooked or it might irritate your skin and throat. Peel and chop it into large chunks. Heat coconut milk, add taro chunks and heat. The taro should be covered.
Optional: You might want to add hot chili and sliced okras (Abelmoschus esculentus). Taro is also nice mashed, or fried in butter.

Taro leaf stands like edible Water chestnuts (Eleocharis dulcis) in permanent water bodies

Many cultures have eddoecorm as a dessert. The Tongans seem to have a large variety of these 'root' crops.