cherry clafoutis
August brings with it the last of the cherries, so make the most of them with this traditional, elegant yet amazingly simple French dessert.
eton mess
Summer’s not Summer without Eton Mess … Make yourself popular with the kids by whipping one of these up whilst British strawberries are still abundant.
PSB, Tenderstem and Calabrese
Broccoli is a member of the brassica family, like cabbage.
The plant produces green flower heads on thick stalks. They are picked and eaten before the flowers bloom.
There can be confusion between these different types of Broccoli so let us try to help.
Click through for the low down on each type, including their different seasons, and ideas on what to make with each of them…
nature's WD40?!
Pretty much every weekday morning right now we’re mindlessly chunking up cucumber and throwing it into the box with salad leaves, peppers, spring onions, cashews, and mushrooms for lunch. Add a bit of black pepper, a splash of balsamic or even a tin of tuna and some mayo and I can be pretty sure we’ve saved ourselves from the pot noodle for another day!
But is there more to cucumber than salad? Is there more to cucumber even than tsatsiki? Cucumber side effects? Oiling your hinges? And is it possible that it can be cooked?! Read on …
would you eat them?
Following on from the June feature on ethical egg shopping, this month we’ve collaborated with the good folks over at Farm-Direct to bring you some thoughts about the chickens behind the eggs.
Since the start of VegBox Recipes, we’ve been focused almost exclusively (and unsurprisingly!) on supporting you to eat local, seasonal, organic fruit and vegetables.
However, not all of our readers are strict vegetarians or vegans. So whilst it’s still true that one of the best ways of reducing your household carbon footprint is to switch to a vegetarian or vegan diet, if we’re going to eat meat, poultry and fish, or cook it for others, the natural choice would seem to be swapping quantity (especially ‘worryingly cheap’ quantity), for quality.
Read on to find out how to know what you’re eating, and for recipes to try with your ethically-sourced chicken.
** thanks to our regular reader, Steve-in-KL, for the photo of his “ladies”!
is free range enough?
This month, as well as focusing on the fruit and veg that’s in season, we wanted to get your input on eggs and what you prefer to buy.
It seems like buying free range was one of the first ethical supermarket choices available to us. These days, however, there is a nagging sense that “free range” is not enough.
Click through to find out what we’ve discovered about ethical egg eating, and for our scrumptious recipes for:
Enjoy!
sauces, salads, tarts, soups, stews...
Tomatoes are a delicious and welcome sign that summer is here!
And they crop right through until the first frosts of autumn.
Anyone who has tried home-grown / veg box tomatoes will know their flavour and texture is vastly superior to standard supermarket tomatoes.
This is because the home-grown / veg box are left to ripen on the plant, rather than being picked too early, ripened artificially and then transported for days or even weeks, in cold storage. That’s why supermarket tomatoes often have a “floury” texture.
Read on for tips on storing, ripening and skinning, and for our brand new selection of recipes for:
and more…
ooh what a pavlova!
In 2010, National Cherry Day is Saturday July 17th.
Cherries are a short-lived, summer treat. They can be either sweet or sour, depending on the variety so check before you cook with them as you’ll need sugar for the sour ones! But the sour varieties make better jam.
In the past, the stones were used in bed-warming pans, and the cherry was grown primarily for medicinal purposes rather than to eat as a fruit.
Nutritionally, they’re a good source of antioxidants, Vitamin C, iron, potassium and magnesium and are fast on their way to becoming a “super-fruit”.
Click through for our guide on how to buy, store, freeze and cook cherries. In particular, we’re delighted to bring you two brand new recipes donated generously by FoodLoversBritain.com:
as well as our recipes for:
NOT from Mars...
Kohl rabi (or kohlrabi – from the German for “cabbage turnip”!) is one of those vegetables that makes a regular appearance in veg boxes, but sits, unused, in the corner of the fridge until it slowly goes off.
Sometimes it arrives complete with its alien tentacles, sometimes it’s trimmed. If you’ve never sen one with its tentacles in tact, check out the picture, which was sent to us by Evette who lives in North Florida and has been growing her own since 2008.
Sometimes it’s green, sometimes it’s purple.
Yet this versatile vegetable is easy to cook and a useful addition to many dishes. It’s also a good source of Vitamin C, as well as magnesium and phosphorous, which are useful in the absorption of calcium. And its mild flavour and ability to absorb the flavour of other ingredients in a meal make it an ideal vegetable for bulking up recipes and sneaking in extra veggies.
Bear in mind that kohl rabi is really at its best when “al dente” so don’t over-cook it.
Read on for top tips on buying, storing and cooking, and for a selection of kohl rabi recipes, including two excellent new contributions to the database from The Nearly Naked Veg Company:
Enter the VB "Sandwich-Off"...
May 9th-15th is British Sandwich Week.
So in anticipation and celebration of the Great British Sandwich, we’re kicking off another VegBox Recipes Round of Sandwiches…
Read on to find out how it works and for recipes to get the juices flowing:
which is which?!
Calabrese is the large headed variety that most of us call Broccoli. Actual Broccoli has individual stalks for each flower clump. It is often purple, and gets called PSB – short for Purple Sprouting Broccoli (confused yet?!).
In the picture, PSB is on the left, Calabrese is on the right.
As PSB is about to go out of season, we’ve just flagged some delicious recipes to help you make the most of it before it it’s gone:
asparagus casserole with mushrooms, nuts, rice and chickpeas...
Asparagus is considered a delicacy and its arrival heralds the start of spring – definitely something to be looked forward to.
When lightly steamed, its flavour is simply delicious. The motto with using asparagus is “less is more” – don’t worry about fancy recipes, enjoy it as it is.
If you are looking for a recipe, however, how about Asparagus Casserole with Mushrooms, Nuts, Rice and Chickpeas? Or maybe Cheesy Asparagus Flan? Mmmmmm!
a little cheeky chicory...
What we are here referring to as chicory is also known as Belgian endive (pronounced “on-deev, dontchaknow!) or witloof.
Read on to discover the amazing truth about how chicory is grown, and for recipes for Caramelised Chicory and Mashed Beans and Potatoes
with Chicory and Cheese… YUM!
what to do with swede
Fellow member of the Ooffoo online eco-community Craftymax issued a plea to us last week… “Help us with some recipes for the endless swede / turnip etc that are in season – please!”
Well, how could we refuse?
So here are the basics on Swede, including recipes for
in season in march...
March brings with it the second week of Fair Trade Fortnight, St. David’s Day (1st March), Mother’s Day (14th March), when Simnel Cake is traditionally eaten, St. Patrick’s Day (17th), the Vernal Equinox and the beginning of Spring (20th March), Palm Sunday (28th) and, on the same day, the beginning of British Summer Time when the clocks go forward. Phew!
March also brings with it a whole host of seasonal veggies, and notably, the very last of the root vegetables. Which we know some of you at least will be pleased to hear!
Love Struck, Lonely or In Need Of Pancakes?
Both Shrove Tuesday (aka Pancake Day) and Valentines Day are coming, and it wouldn’t do to leave you seasonally unprepared!
Click through for more about the traditions of Lent, gift ideas for V-Day, and of course and most importantly, for some recipes, namely:
yet another way to enjoy rhubarb...
This is our newest recipe to the database, and is SO easy to make – brilliant for making the night before a dinner party so that all you have to do is put the sauce on top on the day.
Click through to try it out.
don't be fooled - it's FIREY!
Although the peak season is usually seen as April to November, watercress is usually available year round, depending on the weather and the farming method. And even if you’re foraging for it wild, by the banks of local streams, you might see it as early as February.
Now, it’s probably absolutely right that we all take care before bandying around the word “superfood”, and there’s food labeling legislation on its way.
Nevertheless, whether or not watercress wears its pants over its tights, what IS true is that gram for gram it contains more Vitamin C than oranges, and more calcium than cows’ milk, and it also contains significant amounts of iron, folic acid, Vitamins A, E and K plus magnesium.
Click through for some hiliarious bits of watercress folklore, the low down on storing, preparing and cooking it, and for recipes for:
Hey Pesto! Some Swiss Chard Sorcery
Swiss chard is another one of those vegetables that tends to arrive in large, unexplained bundles in your veg box! But it doesn’t keep for long, so you should make it one of the first things you use from your weekly box. A lot of people are not sure what to do with chard, and don’t know that sometimes it needs to be cooked as if it were two different veggies.
Read on to find out what it’s like, how to prepare it, and to access recipes for:
in search of the mysterious winter green
I have long been asking:
Is there such a plant as a “Winter Green”?
When is it in season, exactly? And
“How do I cook ‘it’?”
spotlight on turnips
Here’s a turnip for the books (groan)…
We’ve been running for years now and have never featured turnip.
How did that even happen?!
So here you go, plus accompanying recipes for:
in season in january
At the risk of rather jumping the New Year gun, here’s a list of all the delicious British seasonal veg you should be able to get your mittens on in January.
If you want us to keep you posted with these monthly lists and the accompanying recipes we post, do make sure you’re signed up for our email newsletter.
Wishing you a very veggie merry Christmas and a lovely, local, low carbon 2010.
hate waste - love leftovers!
Of course, the best way to avoid having to find something creative to do with leftovers is to only buy and cook what you really need. It’s so easy to over-shop at this time of year, but our bellies don’t suddenly change size on Christmas Eve, so try to buy just enough for the number of people coming for dinner.
If you do end up with leftovers, you could get adventurous in the kitchen and rustle up some favourites like Bubble & Squeak, soup, curry and Bread Pudding. We also found a great book in the Marketplace to help with “using it all”. Click through for the recipes and a link to the book.
seven sprouts specials...
In honour of these much-maligned little greenies, we used to run an annual VBR “sprout peddling” competition to find the most sought-after of all seasonal cooking treasures … The Best Brussels Sprout Recipe. This recipe is recognizable by its magical power to convert entrenched sprout-loathers across the Northern hemisphere to “devout-sprout-touters” in time for Christmas.
As a result of this competition, we have accumulated a veritable cornusproutia of recipes to earn you rounds of approving nods and queues for seconds on Christmas Day whilst staying strictly seasonal.
from mars?
Kohl rabi (or kohlrabi) is one of those vegetables that makes a regular appearance in veg boxes, but sits, unused, in the corner of the fridge until it slowly goes off.
Sometimes it arrives complete with its alien tentacles, sometimes it’s trimmed. Sometimes it’s green, sometimes it’s purple. Yet this versatile vegetable is easy to cook and a useful addition to many dishes.
This month, we got in touch with our old friend Angela at Wild Star Food to give us a couple of kohl rabi top tips and a recipe…
tagine with potatoes
Potatoes come in many shapes and sizes and are usually a standard item in a veg box. We discovered, from the The British Potato Council, that there are thousands of varieties of potato grown around the world, and around 80 varieties are grown here in the UK. But when are they actually in season, and when are they from store? Should we eat the ones that have started sprouting? And is there more to potatoes than roasties and mash?
Click through to find recipes for:
parsnip + carrot = parrot!
Now I have a friend who refuses to eat parsnips on the grounds that “they’re pig food”!
However, I just LOVE them, and let’s face it, they’re a staple of winter veg boxes – you may find yourself getting them many weeks in a row. So it’s important to have a few ideas up your sleeve to keep them interesting.
Click through for eight serving suggestions, including:
give us this day...
As you may have noticed, we’re branching out a bit with our monthly spotlight features, and we thought a feature on bread was long overdue as we approach the end of British Summer Time and the idea of baking loaves in the oven ready for soup dunking becomes even more appealing.
We’ve also noticed, at least locally, that houses seem to be selling again, and we ALL know that the smell of bread baking helps give prospective buyers that warm, homely feeling when they’re looking around your house.
Click through for five great reasons to bake your own bread, and for six bread recipes including:
boost your immune system
Mushrooms.
So much more than “just a fungus”.
Between us and the “Mushroom Bureau” for Britain, we’ve included some of that ‘more’ here in this article for you.
Click through to find out about mushrooms and immunity, and for more than ten mushroom recipes, including:
VBRs most popular 'veg' of all time
Butternut squash is becoming increasingly popular in the UK, with supermarkets now importing it from as far afield as Argentina, to meet out-of-season demand.
The good news is that September through to December is peak season for UK-harvested butternut squash, meaning it’s everywhere, it’s cheaper, and it’s got a much smaller carbon “cookprint”.
Read on for tips on how to store it, prepare it and freeze it, and for recipes for:
go bananas!
When the day comes that the banana is a British seasonal fruit, we’re in big trouble. Until then, at least we can eat bananas that are fair-trade, organic and sea-freighted rather than flown in. Read on to find out the truth about whether bananas are actually herbs, whether you can be killed for eating them, and of course to find recipes for Banana Bread, Banana and Ginger Biscuits, and Banana Tempura.
What’s your favourite banana recipe?
To help you have a greener Hallowe’en, we’ve compiled a list of ideas to try. Whatever other scary footprints we may find on the garden path this October 31st, none of them need to be carbon ones!
Click through for tips on:
all designed to cut the plastic, the excess sugar and those Evil Emissions! (Mu-hah-hah-hah-hah-haahhhh!)
who's for pie?!
British pumpkin season starts in October and ends at the end of December. And although pumpkins are inextricably associated with Hallowe’en (which is why we’re featuring them now), if they’re stored properly they will last for a few months. They can be cooked in savoury or sweet dishes, and are great in spicy dishes as well as with more traditionally English seasonings. Here’s your guide to storing plus a collection of six pumpkin recipes including, of course, pumpkin pie!!
not shakespeare's globe
Not to be confused with Jerusalem artichokes (they are in no way related!) this high effort veggie is definitely delicious and worth the effort. Here is your essential guide on exactly how to prepare a globe artichoke, plus brand new recipes for you for “Globe Artichoke with Vinaigrette” and “Tuscan Fried Artichokes“. Have you ever cooked with fresh artichoke?
go for a leek!
With a little help from our friends at the Leek Growers Association, here are some pointers on buying, preparing, freezing and cooking leeks, now coming into their prime here in the UK. And of course, we have some brand new recipes for you including an up-to-date take on a lunch time classic – Leek and Goats Cheese Rarebit. Read on…
clean up those arteries!
Last Friday the British Heart Foundation shared the findings of research it had funded at Imperial College London. The research shows that treating high risk parts of arteries with the natural compound “sulforaphane” reduced inflammation by ‘switching on’ a protein essential to protecting arteries from clogging.
Guess where this compound naturally occurs! Click here for the details, and for these recipes:
sweet swedes
I can’t quite believe that it’s been almost two years since we wrote about swede!
Well, as they are arriving in our kitchens soon, I thought we ought to put that straight.
Here are the usual buying, storing, preparing and cooking guidelines, plus three recipes courtesy of you lovely lot, two more recipes from us and a factoid about Second World War Swede Syndrome!
back-to-school blackberries
Hello and happy September from VegBox Recipes.
Click through for the full list of what’s in season, and for the special features we’ve written and recipes we’ve posted for you on beetroot, blackberries, Bramley apples, carrots, celeriac and sweetcorn.
What are you looking foward to cooking and eating this month?
keep 'em muddy
Carrots are one of the veggies that most people like.
Even those into their “meat & 2 veg” would often find carrots on their plates.
So here’s a bit on the history of carrots, why they’re so good for you, how to store them and of course, some traditional and some more surprising carrot recipes.
soups, gratins and CAKES!
There’s so much more to beetroot than the sliced, pickled variety you can get in supermarkets. Whether you’re a lover or a loather of the beetroot-in-jars, it’s worth trying fresh beetroot. The flavour is delicate and they’re both easy to cook and grow. Read on for tips on how to avoid staining, how best to cook beetroot and for three scrumptious beetroot recipes, including one for raisin, chocolate and beetroot muffins.
sweet dinner dreams
Sweetcorn is real a summer treat.
In-season, it’s plentiful and affordable. But, alas, the season is short – from the end of August to the end of September. The rest of the year if you see it in the shops it will have been imported, and because sweetcorn loses its flavour so quickly, imported produce is normally air freighted, so best avoided if you’re conscious of your carbon footprint.
Read on to find out how to choose sweetcorn cobs that will be tasty, how to grow your own, how to freeze fresh corn for later in the hear, and to find our 20 minute recipe that you can use for for a tasty lunch, as part of a dinner or even as a party treat.
fruity jewel in the british crown
No, we haven’t become forgetful. We know we shone the VegBox spotlight on apples already. But we think it’s fair to say that Bramleys are such a gem in their own right (quite possibly the jewel in the British fruit crown), and that they deserve a solo-curtain call.
So we contacted the British Bramley Apple Information Service for the low-down, and we marshalled together classic and modern Bramley recipes to tantalise you with. Think crumble, sauce and a savoury bake…
looks can be deceiving!
This month’s first veggie spotlight features a character actor of the veggie world, rather than a handsome leading man.
Celeriac.
Celeriac comes into season in September and is with us until March or April. Unfortunately, because of its less-than-glamorous features, it often sits in vegboxes and fridges uneaten. Fortunately for us, celeriac is one of the crops grown and sold by the delightful James Davies at Crown Hill Vegbox.
In this blog I hand over to James to tell us some more about this sadly-much-composted root, and to provide us all with a brand new celeriac recipe to boot.
Blackberries are in season from late August into October. They are best used as soon as possible after picking. Luckily they freeze well, so you can enjoy them for longer. Click through for blackberry cake and blackberry iced tea recipes, for picking and freezing guidelines and to find out how blackberries and romance are inextricably linked, at least for me!
little green beauties
Earlier in the week we mentioned that there was a greengage tree in our neighbourhood (which used to be an old orchard, apparently), and that we had no idea about greengages. Thanks to you, radiant readers, we weren’t left in the dark for long. Find out what happened when we scrumped and stewed.
sunday night monday morning
Left over Sunday-night pizza and a dislike of food waste bumps up against a Monday-lunch-time craving for greenery and some much needed seed thinning activity. Can you guess what happened?! Read on …
finally - muffins!
Since we’ve added blueberries to the VegBox ingredients database, and given our August feature on blueberries, it would be most remiss of us not to include a recipe for blueberry muffins! Let us know if you try it and what you think, and we’ll reply as soon as we’ve washed the crumbs off our own fingers 
the red, the white and the green ...
OK I have a confession to make.
I started learning about British seasonal veg two years ago, and I STILL hadn’t figured out what cabbages are in season when.
I found the whole cabbage debate very confusing.
And despite trawling all my seasonal growing and eating books and online resources, I have never been able to find a definitive guide.
I expect I’ve become slightly obsessed now, but I was determined to get to the bottom of it, and so I contacted the Brassica Growers’ Association with a plea for information.
Within three hours they had sent me a DEFINITIVE guide to brassica seasons in the UK, including a breakdown on types of cabbage. Thank you, Jayne Dyas at the BGA!
So here’s the low down from the folks who should know.
TWELVE ways to cook kale
An earlier article on kale has proved to be by far and away our most popular piece of veggie information over the years, confirming that it’s still one of the vegbox ingredients that few folk feel confident to cook. Since our first feature on kale, we’ve had so many suggestions from our wonderful readers that we wanted to bring them all into one article for everyone else to benefit from. Thanks to everyone who has submitted kale ideas over the years.
how'd you like them apples?
This month we asked a VegBox Regular to be our “Appointed August Apple Afficionado”. Read on to discover what Denise Tolson had to say to us about her love of apples, to find out what kinds of apples are in season in the UK when, and to find recipes for Grilled Apple Sandwiches, Apple Sauce and Smoked Haddock with Apples and Spinach.
winner: sebastien durieu!
Thanks to all the wonderful folks that submitted their recipes for the “Grown in Britain” Prize Draw.
The recipe lucky enough to be pulled from the bag was submitted by Sebastien Durieu from Glasgow. Thanks so much, Sebastien – we really hope you enjoy the book!
If you weren’t lucky this time round, don’t despair, you can still buy a discounted (20% off) copy of this book at www.dk.com. Simply enter the code VIPbonus at the checkout to receive your 20% discount. Offer ends 31st December 2009, while stocks last.
Click through for the recipe for Sebastien Durieu’s Courgette Cake, and for a chocolate variation too!
yours in 15 minutes!
Last night’s dilemma:
We have 30 minutes before we have to leave the house.
We’re starving.
Cue “Flight of the Bumble-Bee” and chopping for my life…
It was stir fry time!
a "new" veggie?
We were recently contacted by the marketers of Tenderstem® broccoli. And I have to confess that I had never heard of it!
It turns out that Tenderstem® broccoli has its origins in Japan where it was developed using classical plant breeding techniques. The idea was to breed a more flavoursome Brassica by crossing Broccoli and Chinese Kale.
I’m told that British crops of this veggie are mostly grown in Kent and Jersey, and its season runs from June through to December.
Read on to find out how to buy, store and prepare this “new” veggie on the chopping block, and to access the brand new recipe for Barbecued Tenderstem with Melting Goats Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing, created by TV chef and food writer Jo Pratt and provided for us to use by the UK marketers of Tenderstem broccoli.
The final veggie we’re featuring ready for June is Samphire – specifically Marsh Samphire.
Marsh Samphire
And the main reason we wanted to feature it is because we didn’t know anything about it!
To our rescue … The utterly encyclopaedic Lee Hamilton of Hertfordshire BuyLocal.net. Read on, over on our sister site www.ooffoo.com for more information on this mysterious veggie, a simple recipe, and for more about BuyLocal.net to boot!
Photograph of Salicornia europaea, near Southhampton, UK, by Marco Schmidt.
some like it hot ...
Traditionally, after washing, there is little left to do other than savour this healthy, tasty leaf. It is said that if you want to enjoy rocket in its most natural Italian way, simply wash and dress with a good quality olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon.
But of late, a certain contingent of trendy people have been using rocket in HOT FOOD!!! Are you among them? Will you be joining them? To help you along, here are some rocket facts and a recipe for Rocket and Gruyere Omelette.
are you relishing raspberries?
This week, and to make sure we keep VegBox newsletter reader “Diana J” happy, the fruity spotlight is on raspberries, in readiness for their big entrance in June.
Click through to find out:
Are you looking forward to raspberry season?
you could nab a free copy!
Courgettes are in their main season in the UK in June, July, August and September, and we’re celebrating their arrival on the Summer scene with:
Find out more over on our sister site, www.ooffoo.com.
Stay tuned for the next Fruit Feature … Raspberries!
what's your favourite?
This week (10th – 16th May) is British Sandwich Week, and not that long ago, we asked you to let us know what your fave sandwiches are. We had so many delicious responses, we just had to compile them for you.
So here are the highlights for you to savour … And oh look, it’s lunch time!
in season in may
Here’s a refresher for you:
On their way in:
Apricot, Aubergine, Courgette, Fennel, Globe Artichoke, Gooseberry, Raspberry, Strawberry, Tomato and Watermelon.
Going strong:
Asparagus, Lambs Lettuce, Lettuce, New potatoes, Peas, Pepper (capsicum), Radish, Sorrel, Spring greens, and Watercress.
Goodbye for a while:
Cauliflower, Leek, and Purple sprouting broccoli.
And here are the fruits and veggies that we’ve featured especially for this month:
Enjoy, and do let us know what’s arriving in your box and what you’re doing with it!
The VegBox Team
all about apricots
When they’re in season, how to store them and a brand new summer sorbet recipe…
Plus why not to chew on the kernels, what on earth they’ve got to do with Henry VIII, and the (possibly!) secret to a long life!
Read on for an All-About-Apricots kind of an article!
brand new recipe just for you!
Broad beans are also known as fava beans (eek, memories of Hannibal Lecter!).
In the UK, we usually use them fresh, but they can also be dried and then used as pulses. They are one of the most common garden vegetables in the UK. You can eat them whole, podded or skinned, depending on their age and size, and they are SO easy to grow, yielding beautiful purplish and white flowers into the bargain!
However, often there are gluts of them, and “our survey said” that lots of folks feel a bit stumped by how to use them.
Read on for a little un-stump-ing, and for the brand new broad bean recipe we’ve been given by our lovely friends over at Octopus Books, who recently published “The Seasoned Vegetarian” by Simon Rimmer.
honey sauce stir-fry
Did you know that May 4th – May 10th is the UK’s National Honey Week? Used in beauty treatments, as an antiseptic, and by the Romans to pay their taxes (!) it is also delicious on bread, in yogurt, in cakes as a sugar substitute, and in sauces for savoury dishes, like this delicious pak choi, tofu and honey stir fry.
How do you like your honey?
Any apiarists out there?
And have you seen many bees yet this year?
“If your association with fennel is soggy, aniseed-tasting ratatouille, you’re in the right place.
Fennel will always been something of an acquired taste, admittedly, but there are a lot of alternatives to sogginess…”
Read the full article over on our sister-site, ooffoo.com, to find out what to look for when you’re buying fennel, how to store and prepare it, some of the medicinal qualities associated with it, and a brand new recipe that is a world away from soggy aniseed ratatouille : )
what's your favourite?
I have no idea whether there really is a collective noun for sandwiches, but in my case, I think it would be a “snarf” (thanks to PVH for introducing me to this word!).
As in, if I see a plate full of sandwiches, I usually end up “snarfing” most of them myself.
May 10th-16th will be British Sandwich Week. In honour and in preparation, we’re using our sister-site, ooffoo.com, to host an “ooffoo round of sandwiches“.
We’ve contributed three seasonally scrumptious sandwich recipes to the round-up, and are inviting everyone we know to submit their own favourites to the list. Really special recipes will be added to the VegBox Recipes database, with your names on them of course, and also to the ooffoo recipes listings.
So read on to check out our sarnie recipes and to share yours : )
something the kids can help with
The long Easter weekend is almost upon us. If you haven’t already made plans, here are some ideas:
For something to do with the kids on Friday or Saturday, how about having a go with this Easter Simnel Cake recipe, published over on ooffoo?
Making the almond paste balls and creating other decorations is a particularly fun and easy bit. You could use food colouring to dye the balls (which represent the Apostles, I’m told!) different colours.
Also, do check out this lovely article by our friends over at Small Homestead for step by step guidelines on painting Easter eggs.
Finally, if you decide to blow rather than hard boil the eggs, how about using the egg-y-ness to try Warborne Organic Farm’s Sorrel Omelette? It’s their Easter Open Day this Sunday, so if you’re in or near Boldre in Hampshire, that promises to be a great day out.
And if you have made plans, we’d love to hear what you’re looking forward to doing / cooking.
The VegBox Recipes Team
submit yours!
Since we posted the list of what will be in season in May, we’ve had lots of suggestions of what May ingredients to feature:
Apricot
Aubergine, and
Raspberries
And in response, our factoid and recipe engines have whirred into action. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! What about you, lovely reader? If you have a recipe or story or fact about one of these ingredients, drop us a line (info [@] vegbox-recipes.co.uk].
Here at VegBox Recipes we’re fond of saying that the “veggies are the stars”. But there’s no reason you all can’t have a squinch of limelight once in a while ; )
We’ve already got the lovely Berni B lined up for an article about Fennel and a farm… Who’s next? Could it be YOOOOO?!
spinach
When is Spinach in Season?
Spinach is best from April to September.
How to Buy
Look for bright leaves and a fresh smell. Avoid anything even slightly yellow or slimy.
How to Store
Keep spinach in the salad drawer, but NEVER wash before storing it – it will get very soggy!
Nutrition
Spinach leaves are a rich source of vitamins and minerals, particularly vitamin K, calcium, folic acid and antioxidants. It is a good source of iron, but not as good as Pop-Eye would have us believe! 1 cup of lightly cooked spinach contains 1/3 of a woman’s recommended daily intake of iron, but a cup of cooked spinach is a lot of spinach!
Spinach Secrets
Spinach originated in Iran and didn’t arrive in Europe until the 11th Century. It was imported to Spain and when it arrived in Britain, it was known as the “Spanish Vegetable”.
Like tomatoes, lightly cooking spinach makes it easier for the body to absorb the nutrients it contains. For example, 1 cup of cooked spinach contains 10 times your daily requirement of Vitamin K, 6 times the amount of raw spinach.
How to Prepare Spinach
The absolute key with spinach is to wash it well. It tends to pick up grit and soil and nothing spoils a dish as easily as lumps of gravel in your lasagne!
If you’re going to eat spinach raw in a salad, or if you’re going to saute it, then once it’s washed you need to pat it dry again.
How to Cook Spinach
new recipe
Check out this brand new recipe:
Tom’s Breakfast Spinach Special
Let us know how you feel about spinach using the comments box down there, and if you try the new recipe, perhaps you’d send us a photo? We were so hungry we ate it before we remembered to take its picture!
We absentmindedly missed not only St. David’s Day and St. Piran’s Day but we also missed celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with you. BAD VBR.
To make up for it, we thought we’d have a St. George’s Day recipe challenge, in preparation for April 23rd.
Fancy having your name in lights not only here on the blog, but also on the VegBox Recipes main site AND over on our sister site, ooffoo?
Then all you need to do is submit a recipe for something scrumptiously traditional that uses seasonal ingredients … And we’ll announce the winner at the beginning of April.
Now then … cabbage, spinach, spring onions, watercress … which ingredients will they choose to use?
what did st george eat (other than dragon, that is) ?
new potatoes
The last of the stored potatoes were probably finished off in February, and we won’t be seeing the “big boys” of the potato world again now until late June. So it’s just as well that the newbies are starting to arrive and will be with us until the end of July : )
Shopping
Best to get the mucky ones rather than the washed ones as the mud helps keep them fresh and blemish free.
Cooking
If you eat organic, you probably don’t peel your taters anyway, but newbies are even lower maintenance, because you don’t even need to chop them before cooking. Just a quick wash and a plunge into boiling water and you’re cooking (groan).
Storing
If you keep them cool and shaded, they should last a few days after buying them. If you can resist them, that is!
Recipes
And now it’s over to you…
What do you most like to do with new potatoes? Share your recipes here and we’ll get them added to the main database with your name on them. And do send us your photos … Always good for getting a lunch time tummy rumbling.
The VegBox Team
out of hibernation
Although called “spring” onions, these veggies are in their main season from April to October.
So why are we writing about them in March?
Because there are certain types of spring onions that can be “over-wintered“, the Japanese variety being a common favourite. By making late sowings in August, September and October, veg growers are able to harvest an early crop from around now.
On the farm that provides the delicious produce for Home Organics in Dublin, there are some over-wintered spring onions (also sometimes called scallions) that will be ready to come up from the soil any time now. And in preparation, Margaret, Mary and Sarah have passed on one of their favourite spring onion recipes to share with you. Thanks folks!
Spotlight One: The Recipe
spring onion recipe
This is a simple yet elegant lunch time recipe that will serve 2, or one really hungry bunny!
Ingredients
1 large bunch spring onions
1 tablespoon pine nuts
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (red wine vinegar will also work well)
1 thin slice of sourdough bread
1 round of chevre goat’s cheese about 1/2 inch thick
Method
1. Wash and trim the spring onions cutting away most of the green part which can be saved for something else.
2. Heat a dash of olive oil in a pan and when it starts to get hot throw on the onions and toss for about 3 or 4 minutes until they have turned golden brown.
3. Just before taking them off the heat add a pinch of sea salt, give them a final toss then cover to allow them to wilt a little more.
4. Toast the pine nuts until they start to change colour.
5. Roughly chop the spring onions and mix with the pine nuts.
6. Dress with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
7. Toast the bread then place the goat’s cheese on top and grill until golden.
8. Serve alongside the spring onions and pine nuts and eat immediately.
Time From Cupboard-To-Table
20 minutes
Notes & Variations
Why not try bulking out this salad by serving everything on a bed of dressed salad leaves.
Spotlight Two: Key Facts
also available in red!
Full season: March to October. Those available now in March will be overwintered Japanese varieties. Look out for red as well as white varieties.
Buy: Firm green leaves not wilted or yellowed and definitely not slimy!
Store: In the fridge preferably unwashed . Use within a few days.
Freeze: The white parts, if cooked.
Cook: Normally eaten raw, they can also be roasted, grilled, griddled or fried. To prepare wash and trim root and snip tops of leaves. The green parts are great as a garnish or in stir-fry. Milder and more delicate than an onion they can be used in many ways – try stirring them into Asian noodles, creamy mash, on top of soups and stir-fries, in omelettes, sambos and of course in all kinds of salads.
fast growers
Spotlight Three: Other Interesting Facts
It only takes two to three months to grow a spring onion, so they are sown all through the spring and summer to extend the availability.
If you want to get children interested in salad vegetables, spring onions are a great way to start because the seeds germinate quickly and you can harvest them after just a few weeks, if you want mild-flavoured, teeny weenie baby ones! It’s quite interesting watching the seedlings, which are initially folded in half, straighten out and grow so fast.
sprouts away!
We just had to do it.
Like the roots we’re also saying goodbye to in March, it’s their last month with us before they pack their cases (like the picture?!) and migrate to cooler climes, not to return until December. And a little like this month’s other Veggie-in-the-Spotlight, they’re still misunderstood and they still haven’t made it to the sunglasses-sporting veggie A-list.
So, here’s some stuff that you may not have known about Brussels Sprouts:
1. They were cultivated in Belgium from cabbages. Hence the name.
2. They’re an excellent source of Vitamin C, with just 6 lightly cooked sprouts containing an adult’s recommended daily allowance. They’re also packed with Vitamin D and folic acid, which are both common deficiencies in our modern diet.
3. If cooked right, they should have a pleasant, nutty flavour.
4. Like cauliflower, it’s the sulphur released during cooking that gives Brussels Sprouts their infamous smell. So the less time you cook them for, the less they’ll stink!
5. They’re migratory*.
*OK, no they’re not. But it’s a funny thought.
How To Choose
How To Store
Our Favourite Brussels Recipes
Remember the annual “sprout peddling” competition?
Here are the winning recipes, past and present:
three sprouty winners
Sauteed Brussels and Apple – still our favourite, thanks to Nadja.
Garlic & Almond Sprouts - a creamy dish that has converted several friends…
Brussels Sprout & Pine Nut Salad – no chance of stink with this one, and the balsamic works perfectly!
So be honest, folks – will you be giving Brussels a sumptuous send off? Or are you determined to hand them their hats?
ready to go in the lunch-box
March has arrived. And March is an important month in the seasonal food calendar. Because it’s the last month of the winter root vegetables. For many of you lovely folks, this isn’t coming a day too soon!
After all, how many swedes can one girl eat?
Just when we thought we couldn’t find any more ways of making root veg interesting for you, reader Paula J presented her trump card.
Paula says “I had the most enormous swede delivered in my veg box last week and was immediately returned to my childhood when mashed carrots and turnip was the standard accompaniment to all roast meats. This came along with boiled potatoes. Now I have not eaten boiled potatoes (except new!) since then, so you can imagine my trauma when faced with the prospect of swede!
Anyway a quick trawl through a recipe book left me inspired to adapt an Italian Style Turnip Soup with what I thought was a great result. And the end of my childhood swede trauma!”
Ingredients
Serves 4
1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
1 tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
3 rashers streaky bacon (optional)
1 large swede, diced
1 handful quinoa
stock
chopped parsley
Method
1. Heat 1tbs olive / rapeseed oil and 1tbs butter in a large pot
2. Gently fry a chopped onion and 3 rashers of chopped streaky bacon (optional) for about 5 mins.
3. Add the chopped swede and continue to fry for 5 – 10 mins until the swede begins to soften.
4. Add a handful of quinoa, cook for a couple of mins until coated with oils.
5. Add enough stock to cover and cook until the quinoa is tender. I added a little thickener at the end and also some chopped parsley.
Time From Cupboard-To-Table
30 minutes
When Can I Cook This?
Swede is in season in the UK in October, November, December, January, February and March
Over to you. Use the comments box below to tell us what tricks you have up your sleeves for getting through the last month of root vegetables for this year.
sorrel leaves
April means no more root veggies, and a big hello to sorrel (amongst many other things). We haven’t featured sorrel before, so it seemed about time, and who better to help us out than our friends over at the award-winning Warborne Organic Farm in Hampshire.
The lovely Sophie sent us the deliciously simple recipe below for Sorrel Omelette, straight from the kitchen of one of their own box scheme customers, a self declared avid fan of sorrel.
And while Sophie was chatting with us over the virtual farm-fence, we were excited to learn that the family at Warborne are once again holding an Open Day, this time an Easter-themed one.
Still reeling slightly from the resounding success of the TV series about them (“Farm Life” on Animal Planet), the Heathcotes will be swinging the gate open from midday till 4pm on Sunday 12th April. There’s no charge for entry, and visitors can look foward to:
Address: Warborne Organic Farm, Warborne Lane, Boldre, Hants SO41 5QD
Tel: 01590 688488
sorrel omelette recipe
Ingredients
(Serves one hungry person)
1 good handful of sorrel
40 ml milk
3 organic eggs
Salt and pepper
Veg oil or butter
Method
1. Whisk 3 eggs in a large bowl, along with seasoning and milk.
2. Rinse the sorrel in clean water, and drain. Roll the leaves and roughly chop or tear the leaves.
3. Heat butter or oil in a small frying pan on a medium heat.
4. Pour the mixed eggs into the frying pan.
5. Let the bottom of the omelette cook slightly before adding the sliced sorrel.
6. Using a spatula mix the leaves slightly in to the eggy mixture.
7. Finish cooking the omelette until done as preferred.
8. Serve alongside a good crusty roll.
Time From Cupboard-To-Table
20 minutes
When Can I Cook This?
Sorrel is in its prime in the UK in April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December
Sorrel is a green leaf (very easy to grow in pots if you have limited space) that can be used raw or cooked. It is usually the young leaves, that are lemon-y and have a little kick to them, that are best in salads. Later on in the season, sorrel is better cooked, and is traditionally used in sauces for fish or in soups.
As with all other leaves, the best flavour and nutrition comes from leaves that are crisp and bright in colour. Sorrel should only be stored for a few days in the salad drawer in the fridge.
So that’s all from us on sorrel… Let us know whether you’ve used it yet, whether you try out this recipe, and, if you do head over to the Warborne Farm Open Day, let us know all about it using the comments box.
The VegBox Team
Two weeks ago we wrote about the Brassica Growers Association’s campaign to Save Our Cauliflowers. The campaign was launched following the alarming reports that sales, and subsequently production, of British cauliflowers have gone into decline.
We invited you to remind us how good cauliflower can taste, and as always, you came up with the goods!
frugal cooking
We particularly love this recipe for Cauliflower Bhaji, which has come from VegBox-regular, “Steve in KL“. Steve is passionate about green and frugal living, and this includes cooking his veggies on top of his cast iron wood-burning fire.
Now I used to think that a Bhaji was a little ball of veggies, but Steve’s put me straight. While a lot of people use it that way like me, it’s actually a more generic Indian word for a vegetable dish. Thanks Steve!
When Can I Cook This?
Cauliflower is at its best in the UK in mid-December, January, February, March and mid-April
How Do I Choose a Cauliflower?
Choose cauliflower that’s still white, rather than browning. If it’s going brown, just slice these bits off before using – but it’s a sign that you need to use it, fast! The leaves on a cauliflower should be green and not wilting. If the stalks don’t “snap” as you remove them, then your cauliflower has been hanging around for a while…
Does it Always Smell?
The stinky smell often associated with cauliflower is from the sulphur released during cooking. Want less stink? Cook it less!
How Do I Store the Cauliflower?
Store in a paper bag in the fridge for up to a week. In plastic bags, they tend to sweat, which can make the florets go mouldy.
Can I Eat the Leaves?
Traditionally only the white part (called the curd) of the cauliflower is eaten. However, the leaves and stalk can be added to stock, to improve flavour.
Bhaji Ingredients
Serves 4
1 very large or 2 medium potatoes
1 medium size cauliflower
2 tbsps oil
quarter teaspoon of mustard seeds
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 or 2 green chillies, according to taste
half tsp ground cumin
quarter tsp ground coriander
quarter tsp turmeric
three quarter tsp garam masala
125ml warm water
fresh coriander leaves to garnish
Method
1. Cut the cauliflower into florets and dice the potatoes
2. Heat up the oil then throw in the mustard seeds. Pop the lid straight on and listen to them leaping up against it. Once they stop “trying to escape”, take the pan from the heat
3. Take the lid from the pan and add the potatoes
4. Saute for 3-4 minutes
5. Add the cauliflower and all other ingredients than the water, and fry for around 5 minutes, stirring
6. Add the water and simmer for roughly 15 minutes until the cauliflower and the potatoes are cooked (but not mushy)
7. Serve, garnished with fresh coriander.
Time From Cupboard-To-Table
30 minutes
Your Views…
Let us know if you use this recipe and how it comes out for you. And we’d love it if you took a photo of it to share with us here.
Any more cauliflower inspiration, anyone?
Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday aka Pancake Day – did you think we would leave you unseasonal?
Course not!
We want to hear from those of you who already know what you’ll be putting on your pancakes.
Cinnamon sugar mix is my hands-down favourite, bringing back memories of my South African grannie, who I seem to remember used to invite her whole tribe (13 of us!) round and then spend the entire evening in the kitchen churning out “pannekoek” to pass through the hatch into the front room.
savoury pancakes
These days I’m making my own pannekoek, and I’m just as likely to use pancakes for a savoury dish. They make a great substitute for canneloni tubes or you can use them as wraps.
Here are links to our two favourite savoury pancake recipes:
Pancakes with blue cheese sauce
Do share what you plan to have, and let us know whether you’ll be observing lent and how.
Now, have we got enough eggs …?
The VegBox Recipes Team
salsify plant
Salsify is on its way out until October, but we didn’t want our newest addition to the VegBox Recipes tribe to disappear without a send off.
A member of the dandelion family, Salsify is really quite a versatile plant. As well as being pretty good-looking in the garden, you can eat the sprouting seeds, the young shoots and the flowers as well as the roots. The roots, once matured, have an oyster-y taste, earning Salsify its nickname of “Oyster Plant”.
Spotlight One – How to Choose Salsify
Salsify roots look a bit like a bundle of grubby black candles! Look for firm smooth ones when you’re shopping.
Spotlight Two – How to Store Salsify
Best kept in the fridge in a sealed container.
Spotlight Three – How to Prepare Salsify
Salsify discolours very quickly once peeled, so it’s best to peel and chop it quickly, dropping the chunks into water that has either lemon juice or vinegar in it.
Spotlight Four – Salsify Recipes
We’re delighted to have finally been able to add two brand new Salsify recipes to the VegBox Recipes database.
salsify recipes
Salsify Gratin – This recipe is the first we’ve added for this unusual root vegetable and has been generously provided to us from the lovely book “Veg: The Cookbook” by Greg Wallace.
Simple Salsify Fritters – This simple recipe, generously provided for us by Abel & Cole, makes a brilliant lunch or a special side for a bigger meal.
We’d love to hear from you if you’ve cooked Salsify recently.
The VegBox Team
We suspect that you, dear reader, are NOT a statistic on a Government chart when it comes to cauliflowers.
Because apparently sales are declining, forcing production to fall. Which in turn has prompted the Brassica Growers’ Association to launch a campaign to Save Our Cauliflowers.
S0, to shamelessly steal a slogan, have YOU forgotten how good cauliflowers taste?
We can’t believe you have, but just in case … Let’s get recipe swapping.
Here’s our contribution for an early Spring lunch-box filler:
our recipe
Cauliflower and Chickpea Pitta Pockets
This is a lovely way of enjoying cauliflower. The chickpeas give the meal a nutty flavour and the watercress means it’s packed with nutrients. If you can get hold of tahini (sesame seed butter), it adds to the flavour and is also full of calcium and essential fatty acids.
What have you been doing with your cauliflowers then, cauliflower-eating comrades?
have you seen any this year?
The main season for rhubarb is from April through to July. Unless you buy forced rhubarb, which may be around as early as this month.
“Forcing” rhubarb isn’t quite as cruel as it sounds – it simply means that it’s grown in the dark, which means it sprouts earlier, is more vibrantly pink and has a less intense flavour.
What to look for when you buy rhubarb – Make sure it’s nice and red or green or pink and free from brown mushy bits or obvious bangs and bruises. Go for straight, firm stalks rather than curling or limp ones. Avoid rhubarb with black or brown leaves.
How to store it - In a bag in the fridge for up to a week. Cut the leaves off first. Or freeze it. First cut it to a length that will fit into your container, and then boil it for one minute only before freezing, to help it retain its flavour. It can also be frozen raw or completely cooked.
How to cook rhubarb - Rhubarb isn’t eaten raw. It’s traditionally baked with something to sweeten it, and can be cooked either peeled or with the skin still on. It’s better to cook in non-aluminium pans because of its highly acidic nature. The easiest and healthiest way to sweeten it is with orange juice or apple juice. For really sour rhubarb, you’ll want to add sugar or honey.
beware!
Never eat the leaves – they’re poisonous! We’re not sure how poisonous, but we’re also not about to try it to find out!
Little Known Rhubarb Facts
rhubarb chutney recipe
TV Chef and proprietor of The Foxhunter in Nantyderry, Matt Tebbutt, has very generously provided us with this new recipe for rhubarb chutney to share with you. Unlike all the other recipes we currently list, this is for serving with savoury dishes. Just click the picture to the left.
You can find this recipe in Matt’s new book “Matt Tebbutt Cooks Country“, and we’ve included it in our database courtesy of Mitchell Beazley and Octopus Books. Thanks folks!
If you’ve already had some rhubarb this year, we’d love to hear from you. Just use the comments box below.
The VegBox Team
red chicory is common in italy
This month we interviewed Denise Tolson, who discovered chicory at the tender age of 18 whilst doing a grand tour of Europe. Years on, she’s still a fan with a rather tasty chicory recipe up her sleeve.
VBR: Hi Denise – thanks for spending some time with us talking about Chicory. Not everyone has eaten this veggie. When did you discover it?
Denise: I discovered chicory when I went to Italy aged 18 with my sister aged 17. We were doing one of those ‘take a flight and see what happens’ holidays with hardly any money and no sense to speak of. Anyway, we tended to eat in very cheap places where you ate what you were given. One day we got chicory in some sort of salad. It was a bit of a shock as it was quite bitter but we definitely developed a taste for it. In Italy you can get glorious red chicory as well as the beautiful pale green version you more commonly see in this country. I think Waitrose do it sometimes.
VBR: What was the first meal you ever cooked using it?
Denise: I started off just mixing in in with other salad stuff and putting french dressing on it which was very nice. I grew up on those round floppy lettuces with cucumber and tomato and plenty of salad cream when salad was on offer at home but after Italy I got a lot more adventurous.
VBR: What does Chicory taste like to you?
Denise: Chicory tastes quite bitter but much less so than it used to. I wonder whether English growers have bred some of the bitterness out to make it more palatable to the British market. Either that or my tastebuds are jiggered! I think it is a really pretty vegetable and it also has a good texture, especially at the white end so it gives a bit of crunch to your salad.
VBR: Do you know any strange facts about chicory?
Denise: I know that it is sometimes called Belgian endive which can be a bit muddling as to me that is a different type of lettuce.
VBR: Care to share your favourite Chicory recipe with us?
Denise: Sometimes I make a caesar salad with half little gem and half chicory and that is nice. I have two sorts of dressings that I use just with chicory and they are both Nigella Lawson ones: Mustard dressing and Anchovy dressing.
Here’s a full recipe for any fish eaters out there – it also uses beetroot, another veggie that’s currently in season.
use any white fish
Cod with Chicory and Baby Beetroot
VBR: So are you a vegetarian, Denise?
Denise: I am not a vegetarian myself although I was for about 20 years. I have eaten fish for about the last 10 years and I have managed to end up in a family of carnivores, don’t know how that happened, punishment for sins in a previous life probably.
I studied nutrition at university in the early 80′s and I think that made me very thoughtful and curious about the food I was putting in my mouth. One of the reasons I stopped eating meat was that at that time it was factory farmed meat or nothing and I couldn’t see that those intensive farming methods could be good for either us or the animals involved in the process. People used to laugh at me for that but they went surprisingly quiet after BSE.
VBR: Do you get a vegbox?
squash
Denise: I used to grow my own veg before organic became available. Now I am a mother and work full time I’ve become very lazy and use a box scheme. We grow tomatoes and squash in the summer for fun and because I am a food bore and want the sprogs to know where there food comes from. I will probably go back to grow your own at some point. I’m hoping to buy some chickens for my son’s birthday in the spring (really an indulgence for me thinly disguised as generosity).
I do use the supermarket for most of my shopping but I also like the local farmer’s market (only comes once a month sadly) and the local Saturday market. I try not to buy out of season stuff like strawberries in winter and I only ever buy English asparagus because it is the best and we are really lucky to have a farm down the road so we get it really fresh.
VBR: How did you first discover VegBox Recipes?
Denise: I get a bit bored with root veg in the winter. We started looking at the recipe site to get ideas about what to do with root veg as boiling and mashing or roasting can get very dull. There is also a great vegetarian cookery writer in the weekend Guardian magazine called Yotam Ottolenghi. He recently did a two potato curry using sweet potato (which I don’t like much) and ordinary potato, it was delicious and will become a favourite. We have also used organic meat boxes and they are very good.
VBR: Do you like the vegetables available at this time of year, or is there another time of year you prefer?
Denise: I’m more of a leafy / green veg / salad kind of gal. Though I am rather fond of the old jerusalem artichokes as our friends know to their cost…
VBR: Denise, thanks so much for helping us get to know February’s first Veggie-in-the-Spotlight.
Denise: You’re very welcome. I hope the recipe goes down well. I’m off out now for a spot of snowball throwing!
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Over to you! Tell us what you love (or loathe!) about chicory by using the comments box below.
The VegBox Team
Cavolo what?
Black Nero Cabbage? CAVOLO Nero Cabbage?
“Why don’t YOU try asking [for it] at your local Tescos? Make sure you get the facial expression down on your digital.”
So protested Jackaranda Rainbow in a recent email to us.
And we have to confess, JR has a point. If you get a veg box, or you have a local organic store, you’re probably in luck. But if you shop in a supermarket …
I have heard Cavolo Nero / Black Nero Cabbage described as a ‘sexy’ member of the cabbage family. Now I accept that for many people, someone’s unavailability can kind of make them sexy … You know, forbidden fruit and all that … But does this hold for cabbage?!
I put my money where my mouth is, and checked out Tesco online. Nope. Not a whiff of a Cavolo anything. Next I checked out a local, more specialised supplier of organic veg, and yep, they had it. And yep, it was, er, slightly more expensive than a Tesco’s white cabbage. £1.99 versus £0.31 for the same amounts.
So returning to the Cavolo Nero as ‘sexy’ veg theory, maybe it’s not just its unavailability that makes it such a turn on, but also how much money it’s worth. By this reasoning, perhaps I should be leaving VegBox Husband for Simon Cowell?!
Yikes!
steamy date!
In conclusion, if you’re getting a veg box delivered, and it has some Cavolo Nero in it, brill. I can heartily recommend the Black Nero Soup (which doubles up as a deeply scrummy pasta sauce). I picked up (ha ha ha) 200g of our elusive brassica last week for a steamy dinner date and was not disappointed.
But if you’re buying your seasonal veg yourself from the supermarket, and you’re watching the pennies, the great news is that white cabbage can be just as delicious. In particular, I’d point you in the direction of our recipes for Mustard Cabbage and Spicy Cabbage Soup.
What recipes do you love to dig out for regular old white and savoy cabbages? Do share them and let us know if we can add them to our main recipes listings. Of course we’ll include a big credit to you in the text!
Broccoli is a member of the brassica family, like cabbage.
The plant produces green flower heads on thick stalks. They are picked and eaten before the flowers bloom. Broccoli and calabrese are often confused.
calabrese
sprouting broccoli
Calabrese is the large headed variety (see the picture on the left) that most of us call Broccoli (confused yet?!). The other is a sprouting variety (on the right), with individual stalks for each flower clump. It is usually purple, or sometimes white, and is often known as PSB – short for Purple Sprouting Broccoli.
“PSB” is a delicious spring vegetable that can start to appear as early as the end of January and has a long season. It cooks quickly and is packed with nutrients, with a more delicate flavour than full heads of calabrese.
We already feature one recipe on the site especially designed for sprouting broccoli – Sprouting Broccoli with Toasted Seasame Seeds.
Now we’re pleased to bring you a recipe for Spicy Purple Sprouting Broccoli Pasta, courtesy of Abel & Cole.
Ingredients
* 500 g purple sprouting broccoli
* 1 medium sized fresh red chilli
* 2 cloves garlic, peeled
* 1 small tin of anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained (optional, if you’re anything like me!)
* good quality olive oil
* 350 g pasta: fusilli, oriecchiette, penne rigate or conchiglie
* parmesan or hard pecorino cheese to grate
Method
So has PSB shown up in your box yet? If it has, we’d love to know where in the country you lucky folks are!
The VegBox Team
negative calories??
We thought it was appropriate to feature this much-maligned veggie in January, in the spirit of all those new health regimes and diets that get started at the beginning of a new year.
For those of you who, like us, are feeling a bit scales-shy after SO much cake, some celery in your veg box might be the very thing. We’re talking, of course, about that oft-cited “factoid” that celery actually contains “negative” calories. That is, we supposedly burn more calories crunching it than we gain digesting it! Now we have no idea if this is actually true, but it certainly is a pretty low calorie snacking option.
Historically, celery was also valued for its sedative powers, and it’s ability to reduce hypertension. This may be due to the “phthalide” compounds celery contains. And one last strange celery fact before we get down to business: After Top Gear’s Richard Hammond recovered from his horrific motor crash, he discovered that he liked celery, having previously hated it!
SPOTLIGHT ONE: Celery is in good condition when the sticks have a solid, rigid feel, and the leaves are at the most only slightly wilted. It can be stored in the salad drawer for up to two weeks, and it can be eaten raw or cooked in stir-frys, stews, bakes and soups.
SPOTLIGHT TWO: Here’s a new celery recipe from us.
tuna, sweetcorn and celery
Tuna, Sweetcorn and Celery Salad Mix
This recipe is brilliant for that moment when you (or the kids!) are starving and need something NOW… The texture and combination of flavours are hugely satisfying for munching at lunchtime.
And if it’s closer to dinner time, how about serving it stirred into freshly cooked pasta!
Ingredients: Serves 2 as a main course
1 can of tuna in brine or spring water, drained and broken up into chunks;
4 or 5 sticks of celery, diagonally sliced into 1cm pieces;
200g tin of sweetcorn, drained;
For the dressing:
5tbsps sunflower or grapeseed oil;
the juice & zest of half a lemon;
1 tsp Dijon mustard;
1 tsp sugar;
salt & fresh ground black pepper
Method:
Put the celery, tuna and sweetcorn in a bowl.
Mix the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad.
Mix well and serve.
Cupboard-To-Table: 10 minutes
And now over to you… Are you working to eat more healthily? And will celery be featuring in your lunches or dinners this month?
They aren’t from Jerusalem.
NOT a Jerusalem Artichoke!
They aren’t even artichokes.
And although they look like root ginger, they are actually sunflower tubers!
Now my mum used to tell me that if I ate apple pips, I’d have apple trees growing out of my belly-button / ears / nose etc etc … If that’s true, then does it follow that if I eat a sunflower tuber, then … ?
Oh I DO hope so ; )
Given the curious nature of this ingredient, we thought it should be one of our January
“Veggies-in-the-Spotlight”
SPOTLIGHT ONE: Check out how to shop for, store and prepare it on the main website.
SPOTLIGHT TWO: check out all the new Jerusalem Artichoke Recipes we’ve added just in time for their peak season. Here’s what you can look forward to:
Jerusalem Artichokes in Wine, Rosemary and Cream
Jerusalem Artichoke and Carrot Salad
This month, our new Jerusalem Artichoke recipes are kindly provided by Abel & Cole.
Let us know what you think if you try one of these, and do share your own “J.A.” recipe favourites with us, using the Comments feature at the bottom.
The VegBox Team
PS Watch this space to our other January Veg-in-the-Spotlight: Celery.
the competition
And the winner of this year’s “Sprout Peddling Contest” is…
One Ms Nadja Sumichrast from Brixton!
Nadja actually truly did it. She submitted a recipe, right before the metaphorical whistle blew, and when I tasted it my very first thought was “oh botheration, I wish I’d made more!”
That does not happen to me when it comes to Brussels!
Thanks to everyone who submitted recipes, with a special thank you to Elizabeth Smith’s dog Millie! (Dog owners, we strongly recommend you read Millie’s suggestions.)
Here is the winning recipe, which earns Nadja a copy of the very beautiful “Grow Organic” courtesy of Natural Collection.
Ingredients:
(Serves 4 as part of a Christmas lunch)
I really did make it!
24 Brussels Sprouts
1 Apple
50g butter
3 tbsps olive oil
Method:
1. Whilst gently heating the butter and olive oil together in a heavy bottomed saucepan, prepare the sprouts and chop them into quarters
2. Add to the heated oil and butter and cook for 5 minutes, tossing gently in the pan now and then, until they just start to brown
3. Grate in the apple (skin too, if the apple is organic) and stir through the Brussels, cooking for another couple of minutes
4. Serve and devour!
So, will you be trying out Nadja’s recipe this week? If not, how will you be serving up your Brussels?
The VegBox Team
PS don’t forget, you can access hundreds more seasonal recipes on the main site.
ho ho ho!
What’s in season this month has not changed much since we wrote about what you should expect in your boxes in November.
But in the kitchen at VegBox Headquarters, the recipes we’re matching our ingredients up with have more than a hint of jingle bells and deck the halls about them.
Here is our suggestion for a main course that lends a distinctively seasonal flavour to the 2008 Christmas proceedings.
Juicy Nut Loaf, served with Balsamic Roasted Parsnips, Red Cabbage and Apple, and Mystery Brussels Sprouts!
Mystery Brussels Sprouts?
Well, this year’s Christmas Day Brussels Sprouts recipe is still waiting in the wings like a little green Ms (Veggie) World. The Annual VegBox Recipes Sprout Peddling Contest is still running, and until the winner is announced, our menu will have to remain incomplete.
Meantime, and turning our attention to dessert … in the last couple of years here at VegBox we have suggested these in-season puddings as alternatives to the more traditional Christmas pud…
So here’s an invitation to you to help us finish off the festive menu.
If you were going to keep your Christmas Day pudding seasonal (apples, pears, pumpkin from storage, or pomegranate if you’re lucky…) – what would you make?
Answers on a postcard (OK, in the comments box below then). Not that there’s a prize, but if we test drive your suggestion and it’s yummy, we’ll post it (with your permission and a credit to you) as an official recipe on the main site.
Looking forward to hearing your suggestions!
The VegBox Team
The clock is running on the Annual Sprout Peddling Competition.
In just over a week’s time, the “lines will close”, as they say, and we will have to decide which recipe will receive the Brussels Sprout Crown for 2008. The success of the nation’s Christmas dinners is practically hanging in the balance. Will there be puckered mouths around the table when the tureen is passed, or will ours be a land of little Olivers, begging for more green loveliness on their plates?
So far, I’m delighted (that’s through clenched teeth!) to say that we’ve been receiving and testing your entries, and I (as the VegBox resident Sprout Loather) have even mustered one actual “yum” already. Bah humbug ; )
But there is still time for more entries. So, with your sprouts-on-a-stalk in one hand, as though it were a culinary wand, make your way to the kitchen and do some conjuring.
If you need inspiration, you might want to have a look at some of the recipes we already feature:
Brussels Sprouts Salad – Fresh, young sprouts work well in this raw salad. The sweetness of Balsamic vinegar gives it a delicious twist and the pumpkin seeds and pine nuts give it a nutty crunch.
Brussels Sprouts with Garlic and Almonds – If eating them raw doesn’t tempt you, try frying them with a little garlic and then dressing them with cream an almonds puts a whole new slant on this veggie.
Stir-fried Brussels Sprouts – This recipe is quick, easy and delicious and has been known to receive nods of approval from even seasoned Sprout Naysayers.
Submit your entries using the comments box below. Remember, there’s just over one week to go, the nation is counting on you, and the winner will receive a copy of the very beautiful “Grow Organic” courtesy of Natural Collection.
The VegBox Team
This month has already seen snow storms and Arctic weather in the UK, so it’s just as well we’re well-stocked with winter warming vegetables in season in December.
Here’s a low-down of what you can expect to find in your veg box or local farm shop this month:
Do you love parsnips?
And here is a great December seasonal recipe to get you started:
Beetroot & Celeriac Gratin
Beetroot & Celeriac Gratin
http://www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk/recipes/celeriac-recipe-5.php
This delicious recipe was sent in by Paul – thank you! And it makes great use of celeriac, beetroot, orange juice and thyme.
It’s had rave reviews and apparently even goes down well with teenagers!
Once you’ve tried it, how about telling others what you thought of it, via the recipe page ratings box?
Watch this space in the next few weeks for our favourite Christmas veg box recipes!
Got something different in your veg box this month? Please get sharing via the comments box!
Thanks,
Claire, Clare & the Veg Box Team
going back to our roots
Welcome to November’s newsletter!
Given our slightly more than passing interest in seasonal vegetable growing, we often start off our newsletters with a reference to the weather here in the United Kingdom … and yes, it has continued to be weird (snow in the UK? At the end of October?!) But this month, whilst hanging out on the VegBox sofa, we just couldn’t help shifting our focus to the climate in the US, politically speaking.
It’s been an incredible month, and from an eco perspective, I think it’s safe to say that new hopes abound. So as well as bringing you the usual round-up of what’s in season as we move firmly into the realm of the root vegetable, our feature article brings you news of two fascinating campaigns, one from each side of the pond, that capture the Zeitgeist of a renewed global focus on locally-grown seasonal produce.
As always, we’ve got recipes, this month to help you get cosy with cabbage and toasty with turnips as the nights draw in and the extra sweaters go on, plus an update on our new favourite online green community “ ooffoo”, and the launch of our traditional sprout-peddling contest.
Enjoy!
Claire, Clare and The VegBox Team x
Everyone worth their ethically-sourced salt (yep, including us here on the VBR sofa) is writing to Barack Obama, it seems.
In his open letter to the next President in last month’s New York Times, American activist Michael Pollan spoke of energy independence, climate change and the health care crisis and urged attention on the US food system. He says “You can’t deal with any of those three problems without dealing with the food system”. He’s on the same page as ecologist Satish Kumar in this month’s publication of Resurgence. “People ask, “What can we do to combat global warming, environmental degradation and social injustice?” The answer …. is, “Let us start with food: let us eat local, organic, seasonal and delicious food…”
Hear hear!
Joining in the clamour for President Obama’s attention are the US-based Eat the View campaign and the White House Organic Farm Project, both of whom are petitioning President Obama to dig up his new “back garden” appoint a Farmer in Chief, and appear with the family, come January, not for the customary stroll, but rather with sleeves up, wellies on, picking their own…
And then there’s Boris Johnson. “What?!” you cry! “Has he been writing to Barack too?”
Well, not quite. But on Tuesday November 4th, he unveiled the Capital Growth project which is encouraging the capital’s residents to plant gardens on their empty, flat roofs (and pretty much any other available space) in order to increase the amount of locally grown food available. To be precise, the aim is to create 2,012 new food growing spaces by … you guessed it – 2012!
It’s not a new idea, of course. Think Second World War and Eleanor Roosevelt’s “Victory” Home Gardens. And the corresponding surge in allotments in here in the UK. Maybe the rise and rise of Grow-Your-Own can help all of us living on what Obama describes as “a planet in peril” to reduce our dependence on fossil-fuels and help address the problems of climate change. As well as improving our own personal nutrition in the face of the obesity crisis and helping ease the current strain on our household budgets.
I’ll leave the (almost) last word to Satish Kumar. “We have to transform our [personal] relationship with food, as a first step towards transforming political, economic and social policies… Are we prepared to put our hands in the soil?”
Well, you know that here at VBR we are very up for the whole hands/soil relationship. And given that this is the perfect time to plan and prepare for next year’s crops, we are dedicating the next VegBox Recipes Club webcast to providing some practical guidance to all you would-be-home-gardeners out there to help you get started.
STOP PRESS
We can now announce that the webcast will take place in the early evening of Tuesday 2nd December, and I am DEEEEE-lighted to tell you that our special guest will be none other than the quite incredible writer/broadcaster Penney Poyzer – co-creator of the UK’s first radical eco retrofit of a Victorian house, author of “No Waste Like Home” and Matron of the Women’s Environmental Network!
The tree outside my window, which was a-flame this time last month, is now looking decidedly naked. Mother Nature has definitely shifted her focus from branch and hedgerow and is now working most of her magic underground, summoning up delicious root vegetables for us to bubble and bake and stew and roast to keep ourselves warm till spring.
So, get ready to hunker down with November’s most likely box-stars – here’s a round-up of what to expect this month:
apples, beetroot, broccoli, butternut squash and all other winter squashes, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, Jerusalem artichoke, kohlrabi (whose time is now, finally, running out), leeks (now even sweeter since we’ve had a frost), onions, parsnips, pears, sprouts (don’t miss the competition!), swede, turnip, watercress
And here are some of our current favourite recipes:
Baked Butternut Squash with Apple
Baking or roasting squash gives it a sweeter flavour. Stuffing it with apple makes a delicious variation. http://www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk/recipes/butternut-squash-recipe-5.php#notes
Spicy Cabbage Soup
Spices are a good way of boosting your metabolic rate, which can get sluggish in winter, so this soup should leave you feeling full of energy. http://www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk/recipes/cabbage-soup-recipe-2.php
Celeriac and Other Root Vegetable Crumble with Cheesy Topping
This is a delicious recipe for carrots and other roots veggies. The secret ingredient gives it a warming kick. Make the most of your celeriac, kohlrabi, turnips, Swedes and parsnips. http://www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk/recipes/carrot-recipe-2.php
Brussel Sprouts with Nutmeg
We thought we’d whet your appetite as we launch our annual “sprout peddling” contest. This recipe was rated 10/10 on the main website, but we reckon you guys can find something even more delicious. Read on! http://www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk/recipes/brussel-sprouts-recipe-5.php
Remember, you can find hundreds more recipes on the main website: http://www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk/recipes/recipes-index.php
The Annual Sprout Peddling Contest
There’s no denying it, the season has well and truly shifted … if the snow and the bare branches aren’t proof enough for you … check out the new arrival in our vegboxes. Yep. Sprrrrrrrrrrrouts!
Love ‘em or hate ‘em (perhaps sprouts are the marmite of seasonal food?), they are here for a while. So in honour of these much-maligned little greenies, we thought we would run the annual VBR “sprout peddling” competition to find arguably the most sought-after of all seasonal cooking treasures … I speak of course, in appropriately hushed tones so as not to scare my family, of The Best Brussel Sprout Recipe of 2008. This recipe will be recognizable by its magical power to convert entrenched sprout-loathers across the Northern hemisphere to “devout-sprout-touters” in time for Christmas.
Since the Going Back to my Roots (Yeah…) blogpost, we have already had one submission, and it’s sounding deeeee-lish (I will be test driving this one next week, Siobhan in London), so thinking caps on, friends. The winner will be announced in the December issue of the VBR Newsletter, and will receive a copy of the very beautiful “ Grow Organic” courtesy of Natural Collection
Last month the hot tip from VegBox was to “Get Ready to ooffoo”. And now that the community is live and kicking, it’s surely only a matter of time before the sheer volume of green souls bartering, buying and blogging there every day make “to offoo” an official verb!
Front and centre on the homepage it says that “ooffoo has been designed to bring together a community of people who share the desire to create a positive vision for our world. ooffoo is for those who really do believe that the world is what we make it and that collectively, positive actions no matter how small, can make a difference.”
And when they put it like that … well, we just had to give it another plug!
Anyway, that’s all for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s newsletter.
Until next time, may your vegboxes heave with all the root-y beauties this season has to offer : )
Claire, Clare and the VegBox Team x
P.S. If you’re involved with a Box Scheme or other eco business, please do feel free to forward this newsletter to your customers.
Well, what a night THAT was.
I couldn’t help it, I just had to stay up and watch the election results roll in.And while I watched and waited, I tried to work. I skipped back and forth between the usual array of food and eco websites and the online coverage of the votes coming in. Faster and faster I surfed, this way and that, until, mysteriously, the world of VegBox and the world of the US Presidential election had rather unexpectedly become one…
What am I talking about? I’m talking about “The White House Organic Farm Project”. In a nutshell, two major organisations (Eat the View and The White House Organic Farm Project) are running simultaneous campaigns urging the First Family to ‘be the change they want to see’ by using five acres of White House lawn for an organic fruit and vegetable garden!
Now, of all the revolutions we might expect from this particular new President, this may seem at first glance to be a frivolous one to flag on the day after US citizens voted with such passion. And yet, scratch beneath the surface, and it has substance. In his open letter to the next President in last month’s New York Times, Michael Pollen (author, columnist and activist) spoke of energy independence, climate change and the health care crisis and urged attention on the US food system. “You can’t deal with any of those three problems without dealing with the food system” was the point he was making.
And so today, Michael Pollen, the Eat the View campaign, and the White House Organic Farm Project are all hoping that President Obama will be appointing a “Farmer in Chief”, and that Barack and the family will soon enough be photographed not strolling on the lawn, but sleeves up, wellies on, picking their own… It’s not an entirely new idea, of course. According to Michael Pollen’s research, by the end of the Second World War, more than 20 million of Eleanor Roosevelt’s “Victory” Home Gardens were supplying 40 percent of produce consumed by the American people. Maybe a similar initiative today can help all of us living on what Obama describes as “a planet in peril” to reduce our dependence on fossil-fuels and help address the problems of climate change. As well as improving our own personal nutrition and helping ease the current strain on our household budgets.
So, rather unsurprisingly I’m sure, my household will be most voiciferously supporting the campaign. In fact (and yes, I know I know – but it was 4am…) I used the online petition as an opportunity to send the new Commander In Chief some very seasonal congratulations, and assure him of a constant stream of VegBox Recipes to help his farming and kitchen staff make the best use of the veg they’ll soon be growing : )
Which got me to thinking … if they were there now, ready to bring in the daily harvest, what recipe might I offer them for their first supper at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW?
After some reflection, I doubt they could do any better than a wholesome and hearty root vegetable chilli non carne, to replenish their personal energy reserves and to provide them with strength for the road ahead.
Bon appetit, Family Obama!
What seasonal recipe would YOU have sent?
green meanies?
So the clocks went back, we had the first snow (how bizarre was THAT?!), and now the leeks are even sweeter and the parsnips are arriving for the winter in droves.
There’s no denying it, the season has well and truly shifted … it is the time of mash and stews and chunky soups. And sprrrrrrrrrrrouts.
Love ‘em or hate ‘em (perhaps sprouts are the marmite of seasonal food?), they are here for a while, and likely to start making appearances in your vegbox. So in honour of these much-maligned little greenies, we thought we would run a VBR competition to find that recipe worth its weight in gold … the one that will convert sprout-loathers across the Northern hemisphere over the next few months.
We will officially launch the competition with the November newsletter and announce the winners in December in time for the festive season. Meantime, thinking caps on, friends. And if you get some in your box, start experimenting! The person who submits the most delicious suggestion (I can’t believe I am going to have to test drive all your submissions) will win a special prize and free membership to the VegBox Recipes Club.
So, going back to my roots before I sign off, I wanted to ask for your help.
The root in question was beetroot. Earlier in the week I decided that it was finally time to dust off my baking tins and try a chocolate and beetroot creation. I used gluten free flour, agave nectar instead of sugar and carotino oil instead of butter. And it was truly horrible. In fact my sister was adamant that it no longer classified as a food stuff.
I think the main problem was the carotino oil and the agave nectar, as I had struggled to find guidelines for substitution amounts.
And I’m hoping that’s where you folks come in. Where do you go when you want to make substitutions for less traditional ingredients and don’t know how much to swap in?
mind your clothes!
Meantime, I will leave you with a link to my favourite beetroot recipe:
Pink Mash – sent in by Natasha Mangion and always a winner in our house!
TOP TIP: use baked rather than boiled potatoes, remembering to rub the skins with oil and salt, then scoop the pink mash back into the skins, grate over some cheese, melt under the grill and serve.
In these post-Jamie days, we’ve finally got the message that fizzy drinks, sugary snacks and bags of crisps are a bad idea, whether lunch is for us or the kids.
But how many of us realise the real impact of our packed lunch – on our bodies and the planet?
Clare Josa of Vegbox-Recipes.co.uk spills the beans on why the humble lunch box might not be as green as it seems.
Here are her 5 steps to a greener lunch box.
I’m not talking about sneaking courgettes into pasta sauces. I’m talking hidden nasties: hydrogenated fats in tortilla wraps, aspartame in “healthy” kids’ drinks, yoghurts and puddings and good old MSG in everything from premium brand crisps to gravies, as we demand lower salt content in food.
Alternatives: either read the labels and make your choices or go organic – there are good reasons why all these ingredients are banned from certified organic foods.
They are likely to contain less nutrients than you’d expect, being picked before they’re ripe and then stored for weeks or months, and have a similar carbon footprint to more guilt-inducing delights.
But this isn’t just about air freighting. And it’s not just about local – out of season UK tomatoes can have a higher carbon footprint than imported varieties, due to heating green houses. So it’s not always an easy decision.
Alternatives: go the whole hog and get yourself a veg box from a local farm, or become a more savvy consumer, check labels, and aim to eat more of what’s naturally in season, near you.
Alternatives: refill a water bottle from home, use paper bags for sandwiches, make the most of eco-friendly tubs and pots, buy larger pots of yoghurt and decant each day into a reusable pot. Above all, it’s time for us, as consumers, to be telling the supermarkets we want less packaging on our food – and for it to be recyclable.
It turns out the pitta bread was “packaged in a protective environment”, as are most pre-packed salads and many other “fresh” products. Sounds harmless enough – maybe even a good idea.
Yet further research shows this claim means that chemicals are used in the packet to slow down the process of decay.
Your pre-packed salads will still look fresh and vibrant, long after the vitamins have gone. If the packaging actually said “has been marinating in a cocktail of chemicals for weeks”, we’d be less inclined to buy it.
Alternatives: luckily it has to be labelled, so you can do your best to avoid it. Even organic food can be subject to the “protective environment” gases. Your only option is to actively avoid it or buy products that aren’t pre-packaged.
At home, composting may be an option, but at school or in the office, your lunchtime leftovers are more likely to go into the general waste.
Alternatives: Put pressure on your local council to actively recycle food waste – and perhaps your employer could be persuaded to join in? Do we see a new trend in desk-top wormeries for the office?
Even if you implement just one of these steps, you’ll be going a long way towards a healthier packed lunch.
How about helping with the debate? What are your favourite packed lunch recipes?
What tricks and tips could you share with others to help them go greener on their lunch boxes?
I’d love to hear your views via the Comments Box!
Thanks,
Clare
I’m often asked how I find time to cook.
My little sis is famous for saying that she refused to indulge in meals that took longer to cook than to eat.
And I can see her point.
Sweetcorn & Spinach Tortilla
With two little ones and a business to run, I rarely have time for 3 course meals and a la carte menus. But somehow (most of the time) I do manage to make sure we’re eating fresh food that tastes good and is fairly healthy, too.
It got me wondering. What am I doing different?
Well, firstly, believe me, I’m not perfect! There are nights when our evening meal is porridge! But it’s usually got added ground seeds, raisins and grated apple, which is a cheat’s way of turning it into a balanced meal.
But for the times when I do cook “proper food”, what are the time saving tricks I’m using?
I’m going to share a couple of them here, but I’d also love to hear your thoughts – so please get ready to post in the comments box!
I guess the main thing I do is plan ahead.
If I know the day is going to be full-on, then I get dinner ready straight after breakfast, so it’s done.
The other thing I do is really make the most of my freezer. If I go to the effort of making lasagne, I freeze 4 or 5 portions.
Other freezer essentials include what made up my dinner tonight – frozen spinach (just wash it, wilt it, chop it, freeze in ice cube trays and it’ll keep for 3 months in freezer bags) and frozen sweetcorn or peas. They lose their flavour and nutrients so soon after picking that having them in the freezer is kind of allowed…
So tonight I munched my way through an organic tortilla (avoids the risk of hydrogenated fat that so many brands contain), plus some sweetcorn cooked with some frozen spinach, then stir in a dollop of mayo and a little grated cheese. Add a bit of black pepper. Spoon onto the tortilla and roll up like a pancake. 8 minutes from start to finish and it was scrummy.
Time saving tips are a topic we’ll be returning to regularly – so how about sharing? I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks,
Clare
Spring is here and it’s time to drag ourselves out from under our winter duvets, as we hope for sunshine and warmer weather.
If you’re anything like me, the daffodils’ sunny colour helps get you feeling more motivated about the year. I literally come out of hibernation!
So, how about trying something new? My challenge for you in March is to pop along to our “Rogues’ Gallery” section, check out what’s in season and try something you’ve not eaten before.
Maybe you don’t realy hate spinach, after all? Perhaps turnips aren’t as bad as they seem? Or could it be that shallots are actually worth the effort?
Whatever you try, please share your experiences via the comments.
Thank you!
Clare x
My sister is famous for her attitude towards cooking: “If it takes longer to cook than it does to eat, then I’m not interested!”
She has mellowed a little these days, but for many of us, we no longer have hours to spend creating culinary delights in the kitchen.
That’s why so many people resort to ready-made food – and I can understand why!
Getting a vegetable box or eating seasonal food often requires a bit more preparation than convenience diets, but the rewards in both taste and nutrition are immense.
I don’t have a huge amount of time for cooking. Being in the kitchen usually involves letting my 3 year old help out, trying to stop him from playing with sharp objects, whilst balancing the 7 month old, climbing up my leg. Sometimes Louis will play in the lounge and Theo will sit in the high chair, which frees me up to do more complex dishes, but not always.
I had a friend (no kids) to stay recently, who told me she absolutely no way has time to cook from scratch and it’s “alright for those of you who do”. (I did manage not to spit in her coffee, as I thought about my daily routine of juggling work and the boys and having just single-handedly made the spinach and mushroom quiche with home-made coleslaw that she was enjoying, whilst she had sat in my lounge reading a book and I looked after the boys!). She doesn’t get in from work until 6:30 and “can’t be bothered” to slave in the kitchen. And I do actually sympathise – having been there myself for many years.
So I thought it might be interesting to go through some of the hundreds of recipes on the Veg Box Recipes website and check how many of them are quick and easy. And I was surprised!
I figured that almost anyone can spend 20 minutes preparing food – after all, even pre-packed supermarket stuff would probably take that long. And most people would probably consider half an hour. So I’ve created a new section on the website to make it easy to find the quickest, simplest veg box recipes.
So pop along and take a look at our new search:
Delicious food in under 20 minutes
I’m still updating the database (it’s going to take a while!), so the list will grow over the next few days.
Let me know what you think – I hope it helps!
Love,
Clare x
The nature festival of Imbolc celebrates the earliest start of spring.
So whilst it might not yet feel spring-like, the signs are there.
We’ve got snow drops, cautiously peaking their heads out from under the autumn’s leaves and even the daffodils are casually announcing their imminent arrival.
When it comes to vegetables, we’re seeing the last of the autumn and winter squashes, but enjoying plentiful supplies of cauliflower, sprouting broccoli, kale, chard, winter spinach, beetroot, parsnip, celeriac, kohlrabi, swede, turnips and still quite a selection of salad leaves, grown under cover.
The Spanish orange season is in full swing – time to buy your Sevilles and get marmalade making! Plus some box schemes are even getting hold of the first broad beans from Spain – UK broad beans are still a while off, though.
Some of you might be lucky enough to get your hands on early rhubarb, which is one of my favourite fruits / vegetables and is definitely a sign that spring is on its way.
If you’re getting a bit bored of winter vegetables and need some inspiration, make sure you check out our latest recipes. If you’ve been getting creative in the kitchen, then please feel free to submit your favourite dishes!
The more delicious seasonal food recipes we can include on the Veg Box Recipes website, the more useful it will be!
Hope you’re enjoying your winter veg!
Clare x
Are you fed up with the “same old” Christmas menu each year? Only so much turkey, boiled sprouts and roast parsnip a person can eat?
Here are some suggestions to add a little variety to your Christmas dinner.
Got some suggestions of your own? Please feel free to comment!
Thanks,
Clare x
It’s that time of year again – Christmas is upon us. Where did it come from? I don’t know about you, but each year it seems to sneak up on me without me realising…
And it got me wondering – each of us has our own family traditions at Christmas – some of them sensible, others more amusing. From my childhood, there was the year that mum was so sozzled on sherry that she dropped the turkey; a fact she was reminded of for at least the following 2 decades.
With our little ones, we’re trying to create the tradition that we go for a walk Christmas morning, all help to make lunch and only open presents afterwards. That way mum (i.e. me) doesn’t get stuck in the kitchen on her own while everyone else plays with their new toys. Hopefully it means the boys will also learn that Christmas is about more than presents???
Then comes the food. How many Brussel sprouts can you force down? Do you go the whole hog with cranberry sauce and bread sauce? Roast parsnips? Turkey or goose? Christmas Pudding? (We’re doing Stilton & walnut en croute this year). Then there’s my husband’s family, who has a thing about Melton Mowberry pork pies at Christmas. And my mum cooks enough (delicious) mince pies to sink a small sleigh of elves and my secret addiction to fluffy, crunchy roast potatoes…
Do you do anything unusual each Christmas? What’s your favourite Christmas fare? What are your top Christmas survival tips? Our Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without…
Time to show and tell!
Making your own cranberry sauce is simple and delicious.
And it’s a great winter immune system booster.
Getting hold of the cranberries, on the other hand, can be more of a challenge!
If you can’t find fresh cranberries, dried will work fine – just reduce the sugar a bit, as they’re usually already sweetened. We’ve included recipes here for both options.
Just bear in mind that dried cranberries are often already sweetened, so be cautious about how much extra sugar you add, or it could be overly sweet.
The point of this sauce is that it’s sweet enough to eat, whilst still being tart.
Ingredients Serves 6
Grated rind and juice of 1 orange
5 tablespoons port (optional) – substitute more orange, if not using port
350g fresh / frozen / dried cranberries
150g – 200g caster sugar (to taste)
½ teaspoon grated cinnamon
1 apple, peeled and grated
Fresh / Frozen Cranberries
1. Put all the ingredients in a pan – only use 2/3 of the sugar at this stage.
2. Heat gently until the sugar has melted. Cover and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, until the cranberries have released their juices and the sauce has started to thicken.
Note: the cranberries will probably split. This is ok.
3. Check for sweetness and add more sugar if you need to. Only cook for long enough to dissolve the sugar and thicken the sauce.
Dried Cranberries
1. Wash the cranberries in a bowl of hot water, to remove any oil coating. Drain.
2. Put the cranberries and orange juice with 100ml water in a pan. Cover and simmer very gently for 10 minutes, until the cranberries are starting to plump up.
3. Leave, covered, for an hour. This allows the cranberries to rehydrate.
4. Then add the ¼ of the sugar, cinnamon, port and apple and simmer for 15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.
5. Check for sweetness and add more sugar, if necessary.
Curly kale is one of those ingredients that you rarely find outside of veg boxes and farm shops.
It’s not your typical supermarket veggie.
That’s why so few of us know how to cook it.
I have to admit, it took me a while to warm to it – it used to be one of those guilt-inducing ingredients that lingered at the back of the fridge until it eventually went limply yellow and trotted to the compost bin.
But now I really enjoy it. So here are some super-quick, simple ideas for cooking kale:
As with all kale recipes, serve them immediately – ideally on warmed plates (just like Grannie used to!). It goes cold really quickly and doesn’t taste so good then.
Here’s a link to all the kale recipes on the VegBox Recipes website.
Do you have a favourite way of cooking kale?
Clare x
I have to say I never thought I’d enjoy this recipe, but needs must when your vegetable drawer has spare turnips lurking in its depths.
I wanted to make soup for dinner and decided to go for a real experiment, to use up some leftover veggies.
2 turnips (I’m not a mad fan), some cooked sweet potato, a couple of onions and…. wasn’t sure what to add to make the soup tasty…. an apple.
Saute, cook with a litre of water, add half a stock cube and some black pepper… and we all went back for seconds!
It was sweet, smooth, creamy and didn’t taste of turnip at all! So this recipe for turnip soup is likely to pass the test even with fussy eaters. So if you feel like a bit of experimenting, why not give it a go?!?
Enjoy!
Clare x
P.S. In the picture, the white & brown bits are halloumi cheese, fried in chilli oil. Deelish!
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