Here in Tasmania it's been a long, hot summer, probably the hottest on record. Unfortunately this changing climate has a lot of downside for the island including more fire risk our beautiful wilderness areas (see Richard Flanagan's article for a brilliant summary of this). Some of our traditional crops and farming methods are not faring so well; bushfire smoke can easily ruin berry crops, for example.
The flip-side of this recent season is that many of us growing tomatoes at home have a bumper crop. I was at a friend's Chinese New Year celebration recently and there were cherry tomatoes in/on everything, so I could hardly bring him some from my garden, could I? Luckily tomatoes are so special that you can do a zillion interesting things with them so here's my take on a cherry tomato jam. The effect is somewhere in the middle ground between a pasta sauce and ketchup, and you might be surprised how versatile it is.
Use it for bumping up sandwiches to the next level: try on a piece of toasted sourdough with a layer of hommous, the cherry tomato jam, some black olives on top and shreds of cos lettuce. Use in place of ketchup in, well, everything. Stir it through cooked gnocchi and top with some freshly-chopped parsley, lemon juice and olive oil. Spread it on grilled vegetables. Mixed it with a mashed avocoado to make a creamy relish. Add to a cooked pizza for an extra kick of tomato goodness. Fold through some cooked white beans for your own lovely 'baked beans'.

Ingredients
500g cherry tomatoes
1 Tbs raw sugar 
1 Tbs cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon thyme (dried or fresh)
black pepper to taste

Method
Wash your 500g of cherry tomatoes. Depending on how big your cherry tomatoes are, halve or quarter them.
Place the the tomatoes in a small saucepan with 1 Tablespoon each of raw sugar and cider vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the 2 peeled cloves of garlic (left whole). Simmer for about half an hour on low heat until it starts to get a little sticky. There will be a lot of liquid to start with but it will thicken eventually.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and take out the 2 garlic cloves (keep for soup stock). Stir through 1/2 teaspoon each of paprika and thyme. Allow to cool and keep in a sealed jar in the fridge.

Time: 5 mins prep, 30 mins cooking, plus cooling time, 
Servings: 10
Gluten-free & nut free: yes
Low-fat: yes
Variations: adjust the spices to send the jam in the direction of your choice. For example use zaatar for a Middle Eastern style jam, galangal powder and lemongrass for Thai/Southeast Asian, some cumin and fenugreek seeds for Indian/South Asian, and so on.

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.

I guess you could call them burgers. Rissoles. Delicious. Or all of the above!
I wasn't feeling well last week and made myself some pumpkin soup thanks to the advice from Jessica S. That got me thinking a little bit about pumpkin and whether I could do something a little bit different with it. In particular, because it's deep summer here in Australia, I was looking something that would work on a barbecue. Something that would be filling and interesting and itself, yet also go with summery salads and salsas. This is actually the first version and I'm very happy with it; I hope you'll try it. I had the leftover ones in a burger bun with tomato, dill pickles and radicchio (snobby Italian lettuce) and they were great :-)

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked steamed or roasted pumpkin (summer squash for my American friends)
• 1 Tbs chia seeds & 2 Tbs water
• 2 Tbs tahini
• 1 spring onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 Tbs parsley
• 1/2 cup wholemeal flour
• 1/2 cup quick or rolled oats
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• about 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Method

1. Mash the pumpkin in a bowl until it's soft. The pumpkin that is.
2. Add the 1 Tbs chia seeds and 2 Tbs each of water and tahini. Stir well and let sit while you do some chopping.
3. Finely chop the spring onion and mince the clove of garlic and a tablespoon of parsley. Add to the bowl and stir through the mixture.
4. Measure 1/2 cup each of wholemeal flour and quick oats into the bowl.
5. Add the seasonings: salt and pepper to taste and 1/4 tsp nutmeg. A little cayenne goes well if you like heat.
6. Stir well then refrigerate for 10-15 minutes.
7. Divide mixture into 6 balls. Rolls each in breadcrumbs and flatten into a patty. Lightly pan-fry on both sides until golden.
8. Serve with a fresh tomato and onion salsa, or the salsa of your choice: vegan tzatziki, tomatillo, artichoke and olive, etc.

Time: 30 mins
Makes: 6 patties
Gluten-free: swap the wholemeal wheat flour for buckwheat flour (which, despite the name, is not related to wheat). And try rolling cornmeal or almond meal instead of breadcrumbs. Good to go!
Low-fat: Go for the grill option or use a non-stick pan with no oil.
Variations: add some fresh garden peas for little pops of extra flavour in the burger.

I was thinking about what to do with broccoli recently. A lot of people like it, of course, and it's also crushingly good for you, so why not come up with some interesting ways to use it? In particular I was looking for something that could be a savoury breakfast item.
These muffins are pretty quick to make and are also good as a snack, a lunchbox item or perhaps on a party platter. I hope you'll give this recipe a try! Any feedback welcome.
Muffins don't keep well in my opinion so make them close to when you will use them...best fresh out of the oven and still warm!



Ingredients

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1 Tbs powdered vegetable stock
• 3/4 cup plain non-dairy milk (soy, almond, rice, hemp)
  
• 1/4 cup olive oil
  
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 3/4 cups finely chopped broccoli
• 1/4 cup chopped spring onions

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a mini-muffin pan with at least 16 slots.
2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, oats, baking powder, sugar, salt and powdered stock.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, oil and mustard until well blended. Stir in broccoli and green onions.
4. Add the broccoli mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just blended. If it's a little stiff you can add a touch more water or non-dairy milk.
5. Divide batter equally into the prepared muffin tray slots. This recipe should make 16 mini-muffins.
6. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer to the rack. Serve warm with some kind of salsa or sauce: barbecue sauce, pico de gallo, vegan tzatziki, etc.