That’s right - your favourite Veg Box Recipes tips and techniques are now arriving on You Tube.

I’ll be showing you how to prepare seasonal vegetables, to make it even easier.

So if you end up with kohlrabi, celeriac or even enoki mushrooms in your box, soon there will be a mini video on You Tube for you to check out exactly what to do with them!

I’ll also be doing quick vids on basic techniques, so you’ll know the difference between chopping, slicing and dicing - to name just a few!

Check out today’s new video: how to peel and dice butternut squash. Look out for the top tips, to make the job easier and safer.

Let me know what you think!

If you’ve got any ideas for stuff we could stick up on You Tube from the website, please let me know. I’d love to hear from you!

Thanks,

Clare x

Try Something New?

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

I’ve had quite a few people asking me about Pak Choi (bok choy) lately, so here are some quick ideas on what it is and what to do with it!

Pak Choi (also known as bok choi or Peking cabbage) is a Chinese cabbage.

It’s commonly used in stir fry and spring rolls.

Being in season from October to March makes it a common autumn and winter veg box ingredient.

Did you know…?
1 cup of cooked pak choi contains 15% of your recommended daily allowance of calcium - the equivalent of 1/4 pint of full fat milk.

Here are some quick ideas, if you end up with it in your vegetable box or find it at the farm shop:

• The green leaf takes longer to cook than the thicker, white stalks, so they’re often cooked separately
• Baby leaves (very fine stalks) are great in salads - just like winter spinach.
• More mature leaves also work well, shredded, in salads. Chop off the stalks and save them for a stir fry or soup.
• In a stir fry, cut off the stalks and slice. Cook for a couple of minutes before adding the leaves for 2 minutes.
• Use them braised, roasted or add to a soup for the last few minutes of cooking.
• For a quick recipe, chop the pak choi and steam for 3-4 minutes. Serve with soy sauce.

Here are some pak choi recipes:

Ginger & Garlic Pak Choi

Winter Stir Fry

Pak Choi & Tofu Stir Fry

Do you have a favourite way of cooking pak choi? Why not share it via the comments?

Thanks!

Clare x

I’m confused…

It doesn’t take much these days.

But I was wondering whether any of you could help me on this one???

I have a pressure cooker. Got it for Christmas in 2006 and have since used it for a myriad of soups and for cooking slow-to-cook veggies like beetroot. I love it. Despite the fact I can’t stir the contents, nothing ever burns in it and it halves the traditional time taken to cook most of the recipes I use it for. I have to be a bit careful if I’m using lentils, but otherwise it’s just bung in the ingredients (with an optional saute stage), add some stock and go for it.

I also have a slow cooker - since Christmas 2007 - and I’m discovering lots of great recipes for that, too. Just saute stuff, bung it in and pretty much leave it for anywhere from 4 to 10 hours. Really useful in our house because the boys are usually in their “sweetest mood” around breakfast time, which gives me time to prepare the meals ready for dinner. Ask anyone with little ones whether it’s worth trying to chop vegetables during the pre-bedtime “witching hour” and they’ll tell you to cook toast instead…

So far so good. So why am I confused?

Because the proponents of both pressure cookers and slow cookers claim their method is the best way of cooking food. Both claim that their method preserves the highest number of nutrients and gives maximum flavour.

Can they both be right? I can see that cooking food in its own juices means you’re getting all the water soluble vitamins, which we normally throw away if we boil stuff. But is there a difference in taste / nutrition between cooking quickly, in a small amount of liquid, at high pressure, versus cooking slowly at low heat?

Though I’m an engineer by training, my logical brain is stumped on this one! Is there anybody out there who can help me?

Thank you!

Love,

Clare x

Purple sprouting broccoli is in peak season at the moment and it’s best eaten as soon as possible after picking - so veg boxes, farm shops and farmers’ markets are a great way of getting hold of it. And it’s not just purple; you can get it in green, too.

Purple sprouting broccoli is packed with vitamins and minerals and is really good for you, particularly when it’s fresh. You eat it whole - leaves, stems, heads and all. The heads are actually immature flowers. (Useless fact for the day!).

I have to confess I had never tried sprouting broccoli until 18 months ago. My next door neighbour had a surplus on his allotment and said I could pick it any time. I politely thanked him, because until then, my only experience of this spring vegetable had been slightly limp and soggy, and it tended to gently compost itself at the back of the fridge.

When picking from Pete’s allotment, I happened to munch a bit, just as it was, and I discovered that it’s absolutely delicious! The problem previously had been that I had been keeping it for too long, before using it.

So here are some quick ideas for enjoying purple sprouting broccoli:

• Eat it raw - just wash it and then eat it in salad or with a dip such as hummus, for a lovely snack.
• Cook it as a side vegetable - wash and steam for 3-5 minutes, until just softening. Serve immediately.
• Stir fry it - wash and dry well. Stir fry (covered) for 3-5 minutes in sesame oil. Delicious with toasted sesame seeds!
• Wash it and slice finely (the stems and the heads and leaves) to add to rice for a couple of minutes or combine with a pasta sauce, for example - it’s so quick!
• Make a feature of it - try broccoli & kale stir fry or spring vegetable quinoa
• Generally, cook it as you would whole head broccoli / calabrese, but for slightly less time. The flavour is similar but more delicate.

Try out our broccoli recipes: http://www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk/ingredients/broccoli.php#recipes

If you have a favourite way of cooking purple sprouting broccoli, please share it!

Thanks

Clare x

Broccoli Recipes

Today sees the start of Fair Trade Fortnight.

Coordinated by the Fairtrade Foundation, it’s 2 weeks of show-casing Fair Trade products and raising public awareness of the importance of fair pricing, contracts and working conditions for producers in developing countries.

The Fairtrade Foundation expects there to be over 10,000 events over the next two weeks, ranging from coffee mornings and wine tasting to film screenings and talks with farmers. Find out if there’s an event near you.

Certified Fair Trade products carry the Fairtrade Foundation mark. Many people think this also means the product is organic - but it doesn’t. The two classifications are independent, though extra income from fairly traded products allows many producers to invest in the growing of crops in a more sustainable way, often eventually moving to organic production.

The big dilemma faced when buying is if you have to choose between Fair Trade and organic. Not many products are both.

And I was wondering what you think. If it’s a choice between Fair Trade coffee / tea / cocoa / bananas / whatever takes your fancy, or organic versions, which would you pick? And why?

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

Totally off-topic, but this is soooo gorgeous, I just had to share it with you!

C x

“Feeling Good”

Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin’ on by you know how I feel

It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
For me
And I’m feeling good

Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree you know how I feel

It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
For me
And I’m feeling good

Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don’t you
know
Butterflies all havin’ fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me

Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine
And I know how I feel

It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
For me
And I’m feeling good

I was wondering…

I do that a lot… Recipe podcasts…

Lots of people have ipod / mp3 players in their kitchens, but not many have computers. To save trees (so you don’t have to print out the Veg Box Recipes), would you be interested in podcasts of recipes?

Would you want these to just be a clear reading of the recipe ingredients and stages, that you can easily pause? Or would you want them to be a recording of someone actually cooking, so you can hear the chopping of the onion and the bubbling of the pans in the background?

Would  you want the podcasts for free or would you expect to contribute for it as a premium service?

I’d love to know what you think!

And just in case you need to check out what my voice would sound like, here’s a message from me!

http://www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk/podcasts/2008-02-14-veg-box-recipes.mp3

I’d love to hear your views.

Thanks,

Clare x

No point beating around the bush. There’s not really a civilised way of asking the question.

Do cucumbers make you burp?

Surprisingly common problem, actually.

So common that there’s even a variety of cucumber called “Japanese Burpless”. And I’m happy to admit that even the tiniest slither in a sandwich has me burping for hours. So 4 o’clock cucumber sandwiches wouldn’t be a good idea for me in polite company…

Anyway, I had an interesting email from Chris today asking:

Does soaking a cucumber in water and salt for 1 hour take out the matter that makes a person burp?

And I haven’t got a clue!

I could imagine the water might make the cucumber a bit soggy for sandwiches though…

Cucumbers are 90% water, so it must be something in the remaining 10% that causes burpiness.

I have tried peeling them before using them, but I can’t remember if that helped.

Soaking aubergines and courgettes in salt (no water) does draw out the water and in aubergine it draws out the bitterness. I sometimes do the “salt soak” for grated cucumber if I’m making tzatziki (this stops it going insipid when you add the yoghurt - see How to draw water out of cucumbers). But I have no idea whether it affects the “burp factor”.

Does anyone else know? Can you help Chris? Have you tried this? Does “Japanese Burpless” really fix the issue?

I’m on a quest now to get to the bottom of this burpy business.

Please share your comments and any recipe suggestions for cucumbers would also be gratefully received!

Thanks,

Clare x

P.S.