Byron Smith's Chilli, Capsicum and Cashew Relish

The Foods You Will Be Eating In The Future

The ideal accompaniment for your next meal

Byron Smith's Chilli, Capsicum and Cashew Relish is packed with capsicum and chillis from the glasshouse and complemented with cashews, making it the perfect accompaniment for any dish.

Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

5 cloves of garlic
10 fresh red chilis step-trimmed and
chopped
1/2 cup cashews
1 red capsicum, coarsely chopped
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp coconut sugar
2 tbsp sesame oil
Salt, to taste

Method

Roast the capsicum until soft and begins to brown
Place the cooked capsicum and the remaining ingredients into a large mortar and pestle (or blender) and mix together until you have a smooth, but still slightly crunchy, paste
Place into a sterilised jar

Tips:
The sauce should keep for 3-4 weeks in the fridge
You can switch the coconut sugar out for brown sugar if there is none available
Feel free to add coriander if you have some growing

The Future Of Food Production

Delicious glasshouse grown recipes that can stand the rising heat

Western Sydney University has teamed up with edible garden expert and founder of Urban Growers, Byron Smith, to create a summer recipe based on produce that has come from the university's protected cropping facility, The National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre.

The dramatically changing climate and extreme heat is making it harder for producers to grow many of Australia's crops that produce food and drink consumed by Aussies every day – including avocado, apples and even beer. Researchers at Western Sydney University are testing new ways to grow some of Australia's most popular produce in protected cropping facilities to prepare for a future that's hard to predict.

"Concerns are rising around the impact climate change will have on our dining options in the near future as Australia's food production systems have never been more under threat," says Professor David Tissue, Lead Scientist of the NVPCC at Western Sydney University.

"Here at Western we are overseeing the first major protected cropping facility, The National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre to explore how glasshouses like ours will produce our favourite foods in the years to come."

Climate change isn't going away and a team of researchers at Western are looking for viable solutions to keep up with our changing environment and ensure our producers can successfully grow fresh food, and meet increasing demand for perfect produce, as temperatures continue to increase.

Western Sydney University shares its produce from the glasshouse with food relief organisation, FoodBank.