Autumn is a great time of year for devising recipes. The end of summer is usually peak time for lots of different vegetable produce. With so much that is at its best in terms of taste and freshness there are exciting possibilities. Here's a dish that came mostly from my own garden but you should be able to find all the ingredients at a local market in Tasmania. This salad was excellent warm and just as satisying when the cold leftovers had their turn on the table.
Ingredients

• handful of fresh beans in pods
• 2 new potatoes
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 beetroot
• 1 tomato
• 2 Tbs fresh herbs of your choice
• 2 tsp infused oil of your choice
• juice of half a lemon
• seasoning to taste
• sprouts for garnish

Method

1. Cut the beetroot into smallish cubes about fingernail size. Steam for 3 minutes.
   
2. Trim the beans and slice diagonally into short sections. When the beets's 3 mintues are up, add them in a layer on top and steam another 2 minutes.
3. Chop the potatoes into cubes similar to the beets. Add to the steamer when the beans' 2 minutes are up and steam another 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile chop the tomato into small cubes, finely chop the 1/2 red onion and shred the herbs. I used 1 tablespoon each of parsley and sorrel.
5. When the vegetables have finished steaming, rinse quickly under cold water then drain and place in a bowl. Add the tomato, onion and herbs and toss lightly.
6. Measure 2 tsp of infused oil - I used 'flavours of Italy' by Rosedale Park - and squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the bowl. Add seasoning to taste and toss lightly. Serve warm with a garnish of fresh sprouts and edible flower petals such as calendula.
   

Time: 20 mins.
Serves: 2
Gluten-free & nut free: yes!
Low-fat: use a low-fat dressing instead of the infused oil
Variations: try a different root vegetable instead of or in addition to the beetroot. Try grilled tomatillos in place of the tomatoes.

Summer is well and truly over - we had the first, gorgeous, snow of the year on Mt Wellington this week - but my tomato plants have been hanging on. It's time to do something with both the red and the greens. I'll deal with the green ones in another post but tonight I felt like making a simple, filling and warming dish to eat by the fire using the lovel ripe tomatoes that are bursting with flavour and sweetness. I suppose you could think of it as something like baked beans but without all the sugar and gunk they put in the tinned versions. In actual fact bean dishes similar to this are quite traditional in some parts of the world; I remember eating something like this with green beans in Tuscany.I hope you'll like it.


Ingredients
350g small white beans like cannellini or navy beans
half a leek
350g ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sage leaves
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste

Method

1. Soak the beans overnight, drain, add fresh water and cook the beans: 20 mins in a pressure cooker, or more like 90 mins on the stove top. You want the beans to be cooked but still reasonably firm and not mushy. Drain the cooked beans and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large pot and gently fry the leeks until soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes, the cooked beans and the teaspoon each of sage and salt. Put a lid on the pan and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Serve with a few twists of pepper and some crusty bread. Buon appetito!