I found this recipe a few years back when I lived on my farm and was growing my own herbs, vegetables and edible flowers, and have adjusted it to suit my taste.
Growing your own food is so rewarding as well as the whole carbon footprint thing - and it's handy being able to just pop out the back door when you're in the middle of cooking dinner and realise you've run out of carrots!
It is, however, a lot of hard work. Everything from the weather, to caterpillars and other bugs, to birds can ruin your bumper crop of veg in minutes - I can't tell you how many times I woke up to find those bloody pigeons pecking at the new shoots!!
So after the frustration had subsided (and the shotgun had been put back in the cabinet!) I would head back out to put more work in for a few hours, until either my back could take no more, or the job was done and I could stand back with sweat, mud and a grin plastered on my face.
Obviously at this point I'd be starving, so this quick and simple recipe came in handy after hours of weeding and pruning. Plus, I'd want to have a beer or 3 after all that hard work, so making a salad with delicious, nutritious pigeon made me feel like I was balancing out the not-so-healthy beer with a healthy meal, if you know what I mean!
These days I don't have such a huge veg patch, but I still enjoy growing herbs in pots in my apartment!
INGREDIENTS
(Feeds 2)
~ 2-3 fresh pigeon breasts depending on your appetite
~ 2-3 rashers of bacon
~ YOUR CHOICE OF MIXTURE OF THE FOLLOWING:
handful of your fave lettuce, half a red pepper, handful of cherry tomatoes (or if you prefer, 1 x beef tomato), handful of kalamata olives, quarter cucumber, half an apple (gala or pink lady are good for this recipe)
~ Handful of edible flowers to garnish (if you're growing them or can buy from the garden centre). If not, daisy flower heads from your lawn work just as well.
METHOD
1 - Open a beer. Take as many sips as desired.
2 - Sprinkle your chosen seasoning over the pigeon breasts. Heat a little oil and butter in a frying pan and fry the breasts for 2-3 minutes on each side, then set aside on some kitchen roll to rest for a few minutes.
3 - Using scissors, cut up the bacon into strips and add to the same pan that the pigeon was cooked in. Fry until at your preferred 'done-ness'.
4 - While the bacon is frying, roughly chop your lettuce/cucumber/tomatoes/red pepper/apple into chunks and add to a mixing bowl.
5 - Remove the bacon when done and set aside but KEEP the oil. Pour the oil from the pan over your salad and toss by hand. Ahem. Then divide up onto your plates.
6 - Sprinkle the bacon over the top of the salads
7 - Slice the pigeon breast and add to the plate (either on the side or on top of the salad, whichever you prefer)
8 - Add your edible flowers on top of the salad
9 - Take out into the garden with your (second) beer and bon apetit!
Want to share your pictures of trying this recipe or photos of your own vegetable patch? Just add to the comments below or message me on Instagram
And most importantly - enjoy!
Picture - my much loved vegetable patch that I built at my old farm - yes my back was ruined afterwards but it was worth it!
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