In My Edible Tropical Winter Garden, July 2026

"Gardens shouldn't be static, but a place for change and evolution" by Tim Pilgrim - Landscape Designer

 It's winter in the North Queensland Tropics, and it's our favourite time of the year to grow vegetables, in fact it's the only time to grow actual vegetables, except for eggplant(aubergines), some spinach,  chillies, and whatever else we feel brave enough to persevere with in Summer. You might have had other successes, and I'd love to hear about them if you have.

Baked Salmon with Pea, Broccoli and Mint Mash

This is an easy-peasy recipe.... ready to eat in less than 20 minutes, it's nutritious and low calorie. Oh and of course it's delicious or it wouldn't be on my website. I've played around with the flavours a bit, to bring it up to just how I like it.

This is one of those recipes where you eat the food on the plate with your eyes first, then tuck in.

Warm Cauliflower Salad with Sweet Potato Purée

Warm cauliflower salad with Sweet Potato puree, will bring healthy fresh vegetables to your meal table in a delicious and attractive way. Cauliflower loves to be the hero of the dish and combined with sweet potato, feta cheese, chickpeas, red onion and zesty Middle Eastern spices is a meal in itself. We all need to be eating more veges.

Tasty Turkish-Style Tabbouleh

I made this Tabbouleh with quinoa as that is what I had on hand and it needed to be used, however wholemeal  couscous works just as beautifully. Quinoa is a delicious alternative. It's the time for salads here in the tropics, but then salads are popular and healthy anywhere and at anytime of the year aren't they? This salad choice came about as our Lebanese cucumbers have started bearing cucumbers (our first attempt at these), the mint and parsley are going gangbusters, and Mr. HRK with secateurs in hand, drastically pruned back the parsley so rather than let it go to waste, Tabbouleh came to mind. 

I try to base my meal choices on what we have growing or what is already in the pantry, without needing regular excursions to the supermarket for one or two items.

Home grown Lebanese cucumbers

Cooking cakes and sweets is a different matter. There are some items that just need to be purchased when I run out of them, as a cake recipe is pretty exacting.



Ingredients:

1/2 cup rinsed quinoa (tri-colour for impact if you like), or wholemeal couscous
150 ml chicken stock for extra flavour, (just water will also work well)
1 Lebanese cucumber, deseeded and diced
3-4 vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into 1 cm dice (I used 4 Roma tomatoes)
3 spring onions, green ends only, finely chopped
1/2 cup mint leaves, rinsed and patted dry
1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, or about 1/2 bunch, rinsed and patted dry
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (not the stuff out of the bottle)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Add a crushed garlic clove if you like, but not necessary
*A large avocado cut into 1 cm dice can replace the cucumber

Method:

If using quinoa:- Place the stock in a small saucepan, add the quinoa and bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until tender to taste. Remove from the heat,and stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and leave it to cool.

If using couscous:- Place the stock in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Place the couscous in a heatproof bowl and add the stock to the bowl. Cover the bowl with a plate or something plastic free (preferably), to store the heat, and stand for 5 minutes. Use a fork to fluff it up and to separate the grains. Season it slightly to your taste, and set it aside until cool.

Gather the bunch of parsley, form into a tight bundle in your hand and finely shred the leaves with a sharp knife.

Do the same thing with the mint leaves.

My coriander in our raised garden is still growing well, so a little bit of that went into the salad as well.



Add the cooled grain, quinoa or couscous to the rest of the ingredients, and mix through gently.



Making The dressing:

In a smallish bowl, gradually whisk the olive oil into the lemon juice and garlic (if using) until it starts to thicken slightly and emulsifies. Stir the dressing through the tabbouleh ingredients and season with a little salt and ground black pepper if it needs it. A little salt will really develop the flavours.

Serving options:
For an easy meal, delicious just with a boiled egg
For a more substantial and complete meal if entertaining, serve with hummus, pitta bread and sliced lamb or lamb cutlets

On a nutritional note, eating salads like tabbouleh is a healthy alternative, as the herbs, parsley, and mint are rich in sources of Vitamin K and C, some beta-carotene, folate and flavonoids.  I feel better already.......

The Aussie Backyard Bird Count

And now for some twitching. We've been participating in the Aussie Backyard Bird Count this past week.  I think today is the last day and it's been great fun. It's too hard for me to take photos of the birds at the same time as I am entering the data into the phone app, however we have submitted 8 Checklists, Sighted 22 species, and sighted 204 birds just in our suburban backyard. So Mr. HRK and I take our chairs to the courtyard late in the afternoon, settle in with a cup of coffee and wait for the birds to start their afternoon pilgrimage to the Bird bath and then back to the Golden Penda tree and the Paperbark tree. We've had a couple of challenges differentiating between species, such as the female Australasian Figged and the female Blue-faced Honeyeater but I think we have given fairly accurate statistics of what we have seen which will paint a picture of the birds in our area for Bird Life Australia.

Highlights for us were: 23 Australasian Figbirds, 1 Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike,1 Nankeen Kestrel, 1 Whiskered Bulbul, 1 Rufous Fantail, 4 Torresian Imperial-Pigeons and 62 Rainbow Lorikeets. Except for the Lorikeets, these are ones we don't see very often.

A light lunch at home, Tabbouleh, stuffed capsicum, and a boiled egg, the lettuce is coming:)

Have a happy week my friends and keep smiling,

Bye for now,

Pauline

Mint, Ginger and Walnut Cauliflower "Rice"

Cauliflower when cooked as a vegetable on its own can taste rather bland, however, this version of my cauliflower rice, with the addition of the mint, ginger and walnuts was a very enjoyable side dish to accompany a simple chicken curry made in my new pressure cooker pot. It could also stand proudly on its own served cold with a salad. We didn't miss not eating rice with the curry at all. I have tried cooking and eating cauliflower rice a few times when I am concentrating on reducing carbohydrates following a holiday or a delicious dinner party and each time I have felt underwhelmed by the flavour whilst also analysing that it is a healthy option.

So forgive me my friends for adding yet another cauliflower rice recipe to the blog continuum when there are so many versions already out there, but I need this for future reference when we may be travelling and I am cooking away from home. No doubt though when I cook it next time a couple of extra ingredients will explore their way into this very versatile and healthy vegetable option, to replace what not might be available at the time. Variety is the spice of life.

It is hard to believe it is Friday already, but it has been a busy and rewarding week. Mr. HRK and I have tackled some gardening projects together necessitating some pleasurable decision making "meetings" over coffee on our patio. I have fitted in a little knitting whilst still trying to improve my skills, and thankfully I can see some progress there, and there have been all of the other enjoyable things that we do to keep our home a happy place. We have also watched a couple of really good movies which is relaxing but also thought provoking.

My project today is to try and finish a small fleecy cap I am making for little Hugo, our adorable little 7 month old Grandson. He and his parents are travelling to Denmark and France in March, for work and to meet his French maternal family for the first time, and I want to ensure that he has all of the warm clothes he needs for the trip. I am sure his doting Mum is also thinking about his wardrobe as she dresses him beautifully and sends us lots of photos of him in his little outfits however I help wherever I can.

I would love to hear from anyone who may be reading my blog if you have a favourite cauliflower rice recipe to share, or if you are thinking of cooking it for the first time.

If you have space in your garden to grow them, having ready access to mint, chillis, fresh ginger, chives and green onions means you have a ready supply of many essential ingredients to make your cooking interesting. Chives, green onions, chillis and mint can also be grown very successfully in pots on a sunny balcony. However, in summer I grow my mint in the bush house.

Happy cooking and gardening!

Mint, Ginger and Walnut Cauliflower "Rice"

Ingredients:

1 cauliflower
2 tablespoons roughly chopped walnuts (or substitute with other nuts)
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced (optional depending on who you are cooking for)
2 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
5 green onions ( amount depends on the size of your cauliflower)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (preferably garlic if you have them)
Salt for seasoning
1 tablespoon coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil

Let's Cook:

1. Process cauliflower florets finely in your food processor
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a moderate heat and add the chilli, finely chopped ginger, and finely chopped garlic and the whites of the green onions.  Cook until all of these are softened and  their fragrance becomes obvious to you.
3. Add the cauliflower and the desiccated coconut. Cook on a low heat stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes until the cauliflower starts to turn golden and tenderise.
4. When you are happy with the look of your cauliflower, add the mint, walnuts, green onion and chives.
5. Serve in a colourful bowl and garnish with a flourish of extra green onions and mint and a dash of ground pepper.

Enjoy a relaxing and rewarding weekend everyone, and I hope you can put your feet up and do something you really enjoy.

Warm wishes, Pauline