#VegBoxChallenge :: Sweetcorn and salad veg

This week saw my first veg box delivery since the beginning of the summer holidays. Four Seasons Foods are a small family run firm who also run a mobile food wagon Nomad Kitchen and they like to take some time out in the summer with the kids. Deliveries resumed this week once the kids were back at school and I must admit I was really looking forward to receiving my fortnightly box of delights again.

I wasn't disappointed.

Here's what I got this week:

Lettuce
Cucumber
bunch of spring onions
red pepper
kale
french beans
patty pan squash
4 cobs of sweetcorn
half a melon
apples
oranges
bananas




mmmmmmmm.....

Lots of salad and fruit - it is still kind of summer after all! - and lovely lovely sweetcorn.

I'm a big fan of corn on the cob. My mum used to have a set of thoroughly modern (in 1978) metal trays with little forks specially designed for serving corn on the cob (I must ask her if she still has them) but I confess I actually like smothering them in butter and picking them up to eat with my fingers, hot melted butter dripping down my chin - and probably my tshirt! - and then licking my fingers afterwards.

omnomnom

I'll show you what I did with the rest of my veggie box in the next veg box post but in the meantime here's some gratuitous sweetcorn piccies...

ps - don't forget you can find loads of ideas and recipes to make sure nothing in your veggie box goes to waste on my Veggie Box Recipes Pinterest board...

#VegBoxChallenge - Grilled Mediterranean Veg

I haven't done a veg box post for a while - not because I haven't had lovely veg boxes but more because it's been so hot I have had to get the contents in the fridge asap and have completely forgotten to photograph the contents!

Dinners the last couple of weeks have consisted mostly of salad, of the leafy, potato or grated/chopped veg variety. There are very few veggies that really cannot be eaten raw in a salad. Grated carrot, courgettes and beetroot, finely chopped (very fresh) mushrooms, small florets of broccoli, fennel, chicory, all manner of  leaves, tomatoes, peppers, slivers of onion, fresh chopped herbs and dressings of olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar or mayonnaise mixed with a little plain yoghurt and chives from the garden have graced my plate.

(The Other Half, however,  is still resolutely clinging to his beans on toast and bacon sarnies... )

One dish I love in the summer is roasted Mediterranean veg - aubergine, courgette, peppers, onions, garlic and cherry tomatoes, chopped into chunks, tossed in olive oil, seasoned and roasted in a hot oven for about half an hour. I love how the onion caramelises and the individual cloves of garlic taste so sweet cooked this way!

Look what was in my box this week! There was a large courgette too but I couldn't fit it in the piccie... plus I still had a bulb of garlic left from last week's box! All the ingredients I need for my favourite summer food.

Except we still don't have an oven that works...

So I decided I would grill it instead!  I prepared the veg just as I would normally and placed the roasting tin lower down in the oven than I would when grilling, say, fishfingers, then turned the grill up to full heat. I had to give the veggies a good stir every five minutes or so but they were done in about 15 minutes!  Less than half the time they would take 'roasting' normally!

I tossed them into some pasta that already had a little red pesto stirred through it and served with some torn mozzarella.  I would have loved to have added some fresh basil too but unfortunately I don't have any right now.

Doesn't it look tasty? It was gorgeous. Who needs an oven?*

*well me, actually. I really don't think you can grill cake and cookies and boy do I miss home baked cake and cookies...

#VegBoxChallenge 4th June 2013

It's been a while since my last Veg Box post - I've gone for fortnightly deliveries and as Four Seasons Foods are a small family run business they took a well deserved break for the half term week, so it's been three weeks since I had my last box!

This week's delivery more than made up for that though!

What I got in my box this week

• baby new potatoes
• bunch of carrots
• 2 small leeks
• spring greens
• pak choi
• mange tout
• lemon
• lime
• chilli
• red pepper
• apples
• pears
• bananas
• half a melon

Well I don't know about you but I feel a distinctly oriental flavour in this box - pak choi, lemon, lime, garlic, chilli, red pepper and mange tout? Sounds like a delicious stir fry in the making.  I'm sure I have some coconut milk in the cupboard so may go a bit Thai...

sunshine veg :-)

pak choi leaf appreciation...

As ever I will update the pinterest board and don't forget to check out the other bloggers taking part in #VegBoxChallenge by clicking on the badge to the right!

National Vegetarian Week - Chunky Veg and Nut Loaf recipe

Did you know it's National Vegetarian Week? No? Well you do now!

I was a vegetarian for most of my teens and twenties, partly out of protest against the treatment of animals kept for food and partly because I just wasn't that fond of the taste of meat (these days I am more relaxed about what I eat but, more often than not, I still go for the veggie option). In that time I learnt a good many great veggie recipes, many of which I still cook on a regular basis for my non-vegetarian family.

One particular favourite is this fab nut roast recipe. Originally from Rose Elliot's Complete Vegetarian Cookbook, sadly now out of print but replaced by Rose Elliot's NEW Complete Vegetarian - an updated edition taking into account current healthy eating advice.
The recipe has been tweaked and adjusted over the years to suit what I had in the cupboard. The original recipe contains onion, carrot and celery but I substitute celery (which I hate) with any other veg I have. It's a great way to use up those lone courgettes, half a pepper or handful of mushrooms that lurk at the back of the fridge! It's cheap to make, filling and nutritious with a chewy texture that even a die hard meat eater can enjoy.
Although not my Other Half. Way to much veggie presence for his tastes... *sigh*

Chunky Veg & Nut Loaf

Ingredients

1 large carrot
1 onion
A portion or two of any other veg you may have around - celery, pepper, courgette or mushrooms all work well
200g chopped mixed nuts - Brazil nuts, almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts (sometimes I use pre-packed chopped nuts found in baking isle at around £1 for 100g or you can chop and mix your own)
2 tsp yeast extract
2tsp Marigold Vegetable Bouillon (optional but tasty!)
2 eggs
1-2tsp dried mixed herbs or a handful of chopped fresh herbs
A knob of butter and a handful of breadcrumbs to line tin

Chop your veggies into chunks then throw them all in food processor and pulse until they are all chopped up. If you don't have a food processor then you can grate or finely chop all the veg by hand.

Tip the chopped veg into a large bowl. Add all the other ingredients and mix thoroughly - it will be quite a wet mix - like a very lumpy fruit cake batter!




Line the bottom of a 1lb loaf tin with a long strip of greaseproof paper so it comes up and over the 2 short sides then grease the tin with butter and sprinkle with some breadcrumbs (I blitz any slightly stale bread in the processor and freeze breadcrumbs so I always have a supply at hand. So much better than the bright orange ones you can buy in tubs!)







Pour the veg mix into the tin, making sure you tap the tin to eliminate air bubbles.

Bake in a preheated oven GAS5/190C/375F, uncovered for about 45mins - slide a sharp knife into the loaf to make sure the centre is set (just like a cake). Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before sliding a knife all the way round the edge and turning onto a serving plate.

Lovely served warm with roast potatoes, greens and onion gravy or cold with a salad and new potatoes. I have even shallow fried slices of cold loaf for a couple of minutes on each side and served them in a roll with some grated cheese and ketchup for a veggie burger alternative.

Chunky veg and nut loaf with salad... omnomnom!

If you want to find out more about National Vegetarian Week please visit their website - there are a loads of hints and tips for those thinking of taking up a meat free lifestyle and scrummy simple recipes to get you started!

#VegBoxChallenge - salad days and rhubarb fool

Well I HAVE been slacking a bit on the Veg Box Challenge. Not in that I'm not using up my veg, I hasten to add, just not really finding time to pin and blog recipes! Which is daft coz I've had 2 whole weeks to sort it out!!

But hey....

The weather improved for a bit which meant I actually felt like eating all the fab salad stuff that was in the last box - the lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, chicory and carrots all got tossed up with some olive oil and balsamic dressing at some point during the week (sorry, no pics, I was too busy enjoying eating :-) )   Even the baby new potatoes got boiled up, cooled down then mixed with mayonnaise and chives from the garden.

The rhubarb was made into a fabulous fool - chopped up rhubarb was cooked with a couple of spoonfuls of soft brown sugar, the juice of an orange and a teaspoonful of ground ginger (I told you there was a twist!) for ten minutes or so then mixed into a small carton of whipped double cream and a small carton of creme fraiche, spooned into dishes and left to chill for a bit in the fridge. It was delicious!!

Here's a little selection of the other lovely meals we've had from our veg box in the past fortnight...

clockwise from top left: veg box curry; tucking in!; cheesy spud boats; roasted veg pizza; broccoli and cauliflower soup; rhubarb, orange and ginger fool

So I guess you'd like to see what delights we got this week?

What I got in my box this week...

• 2 LARGE baking potatoes
• big bunch carrots
• radishes
• green beans
• peas
• large leek
• chard
• more rhubarb :-)
• 2 bananas
• 2 oranges
• 2 apples
• 2 peaches

I mentioned in the last post that I had changed my delivery to a larger box but delivered fortnightly instead of weekly and buying some back up basics (onions and potatoes) and this seems to work well for us. I have been toying with switching from the fruit and veg box to just a veg box but there is no way I'd be enjoying a peach in my conservatory right now if it hadn't come in my delivery (wouldn't even think about buying a whole punnet from supermarket at silly prices) so I am still undecided...

perfect peach

and just look how shiny this apple is!

Now I am off to find interesting recipes for swiss chard...  

#VegBoxChallenge - a taste of summer...

Tomorrow is Roo's 5th birthday (where did THAT time go!) so it's all go here on Mount Pleasant.
We are planning a picnic with family and a few of his friends from school at a local 'tourist' spot - Beechenhurst. It's a lovely place in the heart of the Forest - a large picnic area with a fab playground and lots of room for kids to run around and play.
It's all a bit last minute as we weren't sure what the weather was going to be like (fingers crossed it stays as lovely as it has been all week!) so I'm super busy prepping food and games which doesn't leave much time for anything else!

So, just a quick post showing you the super fruit and veg box I got from Four Seasons Food this week...

What I got in my box this week...

• potatoes
• carrots
• purple sprouting
• cauliflower
• chicory
• lettuce
• cherry tomatoes
• cucumber
• rhubarb
• apples
• pears
• a large orange
• a punnet of strawberries!

first taste of summer...

Don't they look gorgeous? I left them warm up in the sun then me and Roo gobbled the lot :-) 

There are 4 lovely bulbs of chicory which is something I have eaten in salad - the boat shaped leaves make great little receptacles for dips or cottage cheese - but never actually cooked with so this weeks pinboard additions will mostly be chicory recipes. I am looking forward to trying something new! 

We also got the first thin pink sticks of rhubarb. Not quite enough for a crumble but I am thinking of making one of my all time favourite puddings - Rhubarb fool - with a little extra twist. Don't worry I'll share next week...

I have made a slight change to my veg box delivery - upgrading to a medium box at £13.50 but only have a delivery every two weeks. Money is tight and I often end up buying extra  basics anyway (there's never enough potatoes to keep the Other Half happy!) so I thought save a few quid and minimise waste this way. 

This means my veg box posts will be fortnightly too but I may still squeeze an extra recipe in alternate weeks!

I'll leave you with a few of the dishes we enjoyed with the contents of last week's box...

stir fried purple sprouting with mange tout and red onion - went lovely with a basic omelette

chunky veg and nut loaf with salad - a recipe I have been making for years and I WILL share shortly...

carrot cake muffins - the most sensible thing to do when you have a surplus of carrots! I blogged this recipe here if you have lots of carrots to use up too...

In case you were wondering what I did with the avocado that I was so excited about last week - it ended up sliced on ryvita which is still my favourite way to eat them :-)

Avocado appreciation

This week's box contained one of my favourite fruits in the whole world - the avocado pear.

I have fond memories of my mum and dad having 'date nights' at home when we would all be ushered up to our room early with strict instructions not to come downstairs unless it was an absolute emergency.  Dad would cook a nice meal that invariably started with Mum's favourite - prawn salad served in half an avocado. This was the 70's after all!

As a child I couldn't understand the fuss about avocado's but as I got older my tastes changed. One of my favourite snacks during pregnancy was sliced avocado on Ryvita and Pinterest has opened up a whole new chapter of my avocado appreciation - I never realised you could do so much with them!

Things have been a bit busy here this week (stock take at my Other Half's shop, which is always fun) so I haven't had time to rustle up AND photograph a recipe for this post but I have added loads of avocado treats - including some gorgeous looking chocolate avocado puddings which I MUST try - to my Veggie Box Recipes pinboard. Do go take a look if you are wanting some avocado inspiration!

What I got in my box this week

• potatoes
• onion
• carrots
• red pepper
• purple sprouting broccoli
• green chilli
• lettuce
• mange tout
• cucumber
• apples
• satsumas
• orange
• avocado pear
• a bunch of thyme

As you can see it's another very colourful box!  I just love that Four Seasons Foods always make an effort to provide a good variety of produce in their boxes from week to week - I know not all veg boxes are so varied and that puts some people off. Sometimes it pays to shop around if you can and, as with so many other things in life, the cheapest is not always the best.  I know I am very lucky to have a local supplier who cares so much about what they send out! :-)

As promised, here's a selection of meals made with last week's veg box.

from top left - roasted new potatoes; roasted mixed veg; leisurely Sunday morning melon breakfast; pasta with pesto, cream cheese, cherry tomatoes and grated raw courgette; grated carrot, lettuce and hummus wraps; leek, pea and mushroom risotto

#VegBoxChallenge :: Leek, Pea and Mushroom Risotto

Have you spotted the new badge on my side bar?  (pauses while you scroll down a bit...)   I have linked up with Johanna at Kirschplunder and her Veg Box Challenge (yes it does deserve capitals!).
As you know I have been urging you all to give veg boxes a try by posting my veg box contents each week, along with musings and ideas - even the occasional full on recipe! - on what I plan to do with it!

Johanna's food blog takes this a step further by challenging us to show that we are using every little bit of our veg with as little waste as possible. She recommends this great resource too - LoveFoodHateWaste - it's a great website full of ideas for making the most of your food and eliminating the throw-away food culture which, with prices rising at a steady pace whilst incomes seem to be falling, can only be a positive thing. Go check it out now. I'll still be here when you get back...

So in order to fully participate in the veg box challenge I am going to change my veg box posts slightly. I will still show and tell each box but I will also try and include a montage of pictures of all the things we made to eat using the contents of the previous box plus a recipe too. I will continue to update my pinterest board - focusing on one or two items in my box each week - so if you don't fancy what I have done there is plenty of other inspiration for you!

 

What's in the box this week?

• lots of baby new potatoes
• carrots
• runner beans
• peas in pods
• mushrooms
• a HUGE leek
• courgette
• cherry tomatoes
• 2 little gem lettuce
• 2 gorgeous purple plums
• half a melon 

 Peas! I adore freshly picked peas, straight out of the pod. A rare luxury at this time of year - I can only assume that they are grown under cover along with all the lovely summer veggies - tomatoes and courgettes for example - that I have been getting recently! Not quite sure how this fits in with 'seasonal eating' but all the veggies in my box are grown locally and organically so I'm not going to quibble!

peas in a pod

who knew peas were so photogenic?

To be fair there were barely enough peas to get excited about - just a handful of pods. Not enough as a side even but enough to add a little spherical green accent to a dish. And what better way to use them than in a risotto...

Leek, Pea & Mushroom Risotto

Let me start by saying, apart from the rice (4oz) and the liquid (1 pint of water with 2 rounded teaspoons of Marigold Vegetable Bouillon or other good veg stock) I am not giving you any actual amounts for this recipe. I have used what I have which in this case was one large leek, half a dozen white mushrooms and a handful of pea pods. It seemed to be enough but, you know, if you have more peas or more mushrooms (or different mushrooms) then I'm sure it will taste just as good! 

First you need to finely chop your leek and mushrooms ( I used my little Braun herb chopper for the mushrooms but by hand is fine) and pod your peas. I may have mentioned before that I am not the worlds biggest mushroom fan - mainly I can't stand the texture of them cooked. Chopping them finely like this takes that texture thing out of the equation and allows the full mushroom flavour to infuse the dish.

ingredients

Melt a knob of butter in a large pan and add a splash of vegetable oil.  Add the leeks - allow to cook gently for a few minutes before adding the peas and mushrooms. Cook for another minute or so then add the rice. Give it a good stir so the grains are coated in butter then start adding your stock. I keep mine simmering in a small pan and add it a ladle at a time, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid before adding the next ladle full. There is no rushing a risotto - it doesn't take that long in any case, about 15 mins or so.

Keep on the simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally to stop the rice sticking to the pan.

Serve straight away with a little grated Parmesan or crumbled goats cheese if you want, although it is good just as it is!

Serves 2 as a light supper or starter

Enjoy!

Next week's post will hopefully include a montage of pictures of everything we did with the contents of our veg box (with the exception of the plums that were just eaten as they were within about an hour of said box arriving!)