By Liane Arno
I AM a collector. I simply love collecting things, much to the horror of Matt who thinks that nothing more can fit in our tiny miner’s cottage that we call home. At one point he said to me, “Don’t get me wrong. I love what you do to make this house look great. But we are fit to bursting. So if you get another thing in – then something here will have to go.” My reply, “I’ll miss you Matt.”
One of my collections is of kitchen equipment. Because we travel a bit the collection includes locally village-made and very rustic equipment like coconut shredders which are nasty bits of equipment with hundreds of tiny spikes coming out of a wooden base – as well as a banana tree slicer, for making banana tree slice salad, of course. One of the bits of equipment is more modern and can be purchased locally. It is an Asian vegetable grater and only costs a few dollars. It is perfect for finely grating long strands of any vegetable you have in your garden – and ideal for the proliferation of zucchinis we have covering our yard at the moment.
I AM a collector. I simply love collecting things, much to the horror of Matt who thinks that nothing more can fit in our tiny miner’s cottage that we call home. At one point he said to me, “Don’t get me wrong. I love what you do to make this house look great. But we are fit to bursting. So if you get another thing in – then something here will have to go.” My reply, “I’ll miss you Matt.”
One of my collections is of kitchen equipment. Because we travel a bit the collection includes locally village-made and very rustic equipment like coconut shredders which are nasty bits of equipment with hundreds of tiny spikes coming out of a wooden base – as well as a banana tree slicer, for making banana tree slice salad, of course. One of the bits of equipment is more modern and can be purchased locally. It is an Asian vegetable grater and only costs a few dollars. It is perfect for finely grating long strands of any vegetable you have in your garden – and ideal for the proliferation of zucchinis we have covering our yard at the moment.
I have made fritters, cakes, lasagnes (not sure if that is a plural) and everything else to use up the zucchinis. But making an Asian salad is so easy and done in a trice. So get yourselves an Asian grater and get grating!
To grate:
To slice:
To add:
Piece de résistance
This is where Matt’s experimentation with Asian dressings finds itself. We lived in Cambodia on several occasions and so this one is modelled off one we were taught to go with just about everything.
Finely slice:
Pour the dressing over your wonderful colourful collection of grated vegetables and gently toss to combine.
To grate:
- 3 zucchinis (Don’t peel them as the skin is lovely as long as you haven’t let your zucchinis grow into marrows. Grate until you get to the seeds and stop then. Some then put salt over them to get rid of the excess moisture – but we eat it straight away so there is no need.)
- ¼ red cabbage
- 1 large carrot
To slice:
- ½ capsicum
- 1 red onion
To add:
- Handful of coriander (but no need for those that inexplicably don’t like this wonderful herb)
Piece de résistance
This is where Matt’s experimentation with Asian dressings finds itself. We lived in Cambodia on several occasions and so this one is modelled off one we were taught to go with just about everything.
Finely slice:
- 3 shallots
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 red chillis (I will leave it to you as to whether you de-seed)
- 4 kaffir lime leaves
- 150ml lime juice (please don’t use the juice of the kaffir lime – it is so tart)
- 5 tablespoons fish sauce (Bron tells us if you are a vegan/vegetarian you can get a vegan fish sauce or substitute soy sauce or miso paste).
Pour the dressing over your wonderful colourful collection of grated vegetables and gently toss to combine.
