Spring Onions & Lemon Roasted Potatoes

3 May 2025  (Saturday)

Woken at about 4am by noisy people in the street, and did not get back to sleep until after 5.30am… my mind was worrying, going into ridiculously ludicrous scenarios that seemed important and relevant in the middle of the night that in the light of day show their true faces as just being ‘worry thoughts’ of a busy head…

Both of us are feeling a little bit slow following a late return home last night.

We recorded Sunday Chat, Richard editing it as usual soon after whilst I made some lunch.  Unusually, after lunch I spoke with Vanessa which I try and want not to do on a Saturday or Sunday - however, as we didn’t have a chance yesterday to talk about ordering stock for For Earth's Sake, and with Monday being a Bank Holiday, AND me not needing nor wanting to work work that day (unless I choose to get ahead) we needed to get the Suma order done so it would arrive on Tuesday as per usual.  After a delay as Vanessa needed to get to the Post Office to pay in cash taken, and a customer wanting something from Vanessa, we talked and got the order through.

After this, it was time to get to the plot.  There was another segment of A Week at the Plot to record, and I had no idea what it was to be… in the end it turned out to be largely me pricking out our tomatoes and potting them on so that they could grow ready to be put out in a few weeks time. 

Despite being slightly cooler, it was still relatively sunny and a hat I wore was really quite necessary to keep the sun off.

It was really busy at the allotment, with several of my direct neighbours down at the same time and therefore a bit more chat than usual, which was fine and lovely.  There was a bit of plant swapping, and offers of further swapping; on my direct neighbour’s plot there's a geranium growing in several places which I really want to remove and pot up - at least a couple for me and then maybe another two for the gate sale.  The geraniums are in an area that our plot neighbour wants to clear, so there's no issue about removing it.

When the plot neighbour with the geranium was about to go home, she showed me her harvest basket which was an array of colours, textures and soon to be eaten flavours.  In the basket were some spring onions, which I commented on as they looked so amazing AND because I always have an issue growing them - they seem to take ages to grow and I always think something is wrong, so usually they end up being put to one side.  As often happens with an allotment community, and a good community generally, three of her gorgeous spring onions ended up being gifted to me, which was lovely.  What was even more lovely was being gifted the knowledge that spring onions take a while to grow; I'd always thought that because they were a relatively small onion they’d take about eight weeks, but no, they take quite a bit of time so in future I know to let them do their thing for much longer, and not give up on them!

By the time I’d done my work and was wending my way home, I’d already put on a hoodie as the clouds had rolled in, the sun had disappeared and the breeze had really picked up and it was feeling rather chilly. My hat was definitely not needed on my journey home, though of course the hat came home with me as it will be needed when the sun shines brightly again.

When we were at the Great Green Barn a month or so ago for The Shakespeare Solitaire, the 1920s murder mystery evening presented by the Guildford Shakespeare Company, Giorgos of The Life Goddess had made some lemon roasted potatoes, which were absolutely delicious. This evening, having discussed the recipe with him a good many weeks ago, I decided to recreate them using what I had.  I used four tablespoons of lemon juice from the large bottle in my fridge rather than four lemons (which I did not have), and despite not using any herbs as I simply forgot, the dish was truly delicious, and so easy to make. 

The cooked Lemon Roasted Potatoes in one of our small stainless steel baking trays.

Plated up with a Quorn Escalope and salad. including those spring onions!

​Lemon Roasted Potatoes

1kg roasting potatoes, washed and sliced into 1cm discs
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 unwaxed lemons, juices and pith removed from skins and the skins quartered
2 sprigs oregano, or three teaspoons dried oregano
1 tbsp Marigold bouillon powder or 1.5 tsp of salt

Add all ingredients to a smallish baking dish, mine was 20cm by 15cm - you want the potatoes to overlap and not be in a single layer.  Mix thoroughly until the potatoes are coated and pop into a preheated oven for twenty minutes.  Remove the baking tray from the oven using an oven glove, give the potatoes a good stir and then pop back into the oven for a further twenty minutes until cooked through and slightly browned; the tip of a knife should have no resistance when being pushed through a slice of potato.

I served the potatoes with a veggie escalope and salad, using the gifted spring onions which were delish!  In fact, the whole supper worked.

There’s a lot of olive oil in this recipe and some was left in the tray, so I let it cool then decanted as much as I could to a small glass jar for future use.  It has a slight lemon tang and smell, so just be aware of that.  The lemons, if you use real lemons and not juice like I did, are edible - some can be served along with the potatoes or when cool put in an airtight container, and place in a fridge to be used within a few days chopped up in salads to give an extra flavour sensation.

Weather: Definitely slightly cooler, though still warm and sunny much of the day.  By 5pm there was a chill breeze and the sun was behind clouds.

Breakfast:  Crumpets, ProActiv Spread and yeast extract, and some crunchy peanut butter
Lunch:  Mixed Veg Microwave Omelette, pitta, radish and cucumber
Supper:  Quorn Garlic & Mushroom Escalope, Lemon Roasted Potatoes, Lettuce, Radish, Cucumber & Spring Onion