Pod To Plate: Introducing Masterchef Georgia Barnes & Her Rainbow Chard Primavera Recipe!

Vegepod have teamed up with the lovely Ms Georgia Barnes, season 7 MasterChef runner up (although we feel she should have placed first!), nutritionist, food educator and chef. In this blog, we get an intro to Georgia and instructions on how to make her Rainbow Chard Primavera using the Vegepod! 

This is the first blog in a 'Pod-to-Plate' series in which Georgia creates recipes from her own harvesting experience with the Vegepod. Keep your eyes peeled for more Pod to Plate recipes!

Firstly, if you could tell us a bit about who you are and what you do?

I'm a born and bred Queenslander who loves all things kitchen and garden. Previously a nutritionist, I freelance as a professional cook and as a cooking class facilitator. Teaching people about the importance of seasonal, local produce is something I've always been really passionate about. I grew up learning about food and cooking from the home veggie patch and we always made everything from scratch. I truly believe your health will improve if you make (and even better, grow) your own food. I'm also a creative at heart, so I love being able to show the beauty of fresh ingredients and cooking through recipe development, food styling and photography. You can read more about my work here: www.georgiabarnes.com.au/hello

How did you hear about Vegepod initially? 

I connected with Vegepod through Instagram after I saw what amazing things they were doing and was blown away with what the Pod could do. I thought the concept was genius and having recently moved to a rental and left my in-the-ground veggie gardens behind, this seemed like the perfect solution! And I haven't looked back. I love it.

Georgia's Rainbow Chard Primavera Spaghetti

My first recipe is a Rainbow Chard Primavera Spaghetti. Primavera is typically a spring vegetable Italian pasta. I grew the rainbow chard from seeds in 8 weeks. Maturing now in the Springtime, these leafy greens and their vibrant multi-coloured stalks are a beautiful sight to harvest but also nutritionally full of Vitamin C, iron, folate and other powerful antioxidants. 

Gently sautéed with garlic, extra virgin olive oil and some fresh lemon juice, this simple recipe proves you don't need lots of ingredients to make delicious, seasonal comfort food. 

I've chosen wholegrain spaghetti to bump up the nutritional profile and reduce the guilt, and have also thrown in parsley which is growing like mad in my pod. Soft Italian herbs like parsley and oregano grow so well and compliment the flavours perfectly. Grate over a punchy parmesan or pecorino and you have yourself one balanced, crowd-pleasing pasta.