#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...

Sorry, I'm a bad blogger (but here's some lovely photos to make up for it!)

Well my 30 posts in 30 days challenge seems to have fizzled out somewhat embarrassingly.

I really thought I could do it.

I had a plan and everything!

But what I don't have is enough hours in the day...

I didn't even manage a Veg Box post last week - it was a lovely one too. We had a half a watermelon and some gorgeous cherries along with the more usual carrots, lettuce, chard, potatoes, a couple of leeks, tomatoes, green beans and some plums.

watermelon 

cherry anyone?

Would you believe I actually *forgot* to photograph the veg box before I put it all away? I know! Call myself a blogger? Tsk....

In my defence I was cleaning out the fridge when it arrived and I just automatically put the veg away as I was putting stuff back. But clearly it shows that last week at least I just wasn't in blogging mode!

I have been busy too! Last week I spent catching up on the housework and paperwork that had been ignored for the previous couple of weeks due to prepping for the Tintern craft fair and over the weekend I have mostly been making these...

 

A variation on the embellished lavender hearts - these are lavender free but embroidered with 'Best Teacher' and added button cuteness. They make perfect gifts for teachers (summer hols are only a few weeks away now!) These four are listed on my facebook page right now at a special price until 9pm Wednesday evening. Another four will be added tomorrow night until 9pm Thursday. Any left will then be added to my folksy shop.  

*end of sales pitch*

On Friday we rescued a bird that flew into our window. The poor thing was a bit dazed and confused so we made it a little nest with some moss and brought it inside - away from the cat! - to give it some time to recover. It's not often you get so close to a bird so obviously the camera came out...

Thankfully, after about 15 mins rest it recovered and flew off.  The cat was a bit miffed though!

I'll try and be a better blogger this week - I have at least one tutorial to share with you, this one is for knitty peeps, specially for those fairly new to knitting who want to have a go at something pretty, practical and not too time consuming.  And don't forget there is still time to enter my giveaway and win a lovely bundle of fabric, buttons, ribbons and lace!

And as for 30 posts in 30 days... well, technically there's still time, if I post twice daily for the next week but you won't hold it against me if I don't manage it will you?

#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!

#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...  

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!)

 

Veggie Box - 9th April 2013

Four Seasons Foods took a little (well-earned) break over Easter - hence no veggie box post last week. This week's box is oh so colourful and inspired me to rustle up one of my favourite quick suppers!






This week we had...

• broccoli
• carrots
• broad beans
• potatoes
• red onions
• cherry tomatoes
• mange tout
• bag of rocket/salad leaves
• yellow pepper
• grapes
• bananas

I was not a huge fan of broad beans until someone showed me how to remove them from their pale jackets and reveal the beautiful tender bright green beans hiding inside!

Once you have discarded the tough outer skin the tender sweetness of the bean within is so much improved - now they are ready to eat as they are, add to salads,  mash into a paste/dip/pate or stir into a warm pasta salad like this...

Broad Bean, Pesto & Goats Cheese Pasta

First you need to prepare your broad beans

Pod them and add to a pan of boiling water. Allow them to simmer for a couple of minutes before draining and rinsing them in cold water. Then take each bean and pinch out the skin at the bottom and gently squeeze the beans out of their skin.

Cook your pasta according to instructions on the packet while you quarter a handful of cherry tomatoes and crumble some goats cheese.




When the pasta has cooked, drain it and stir in a good dollop of pesto (homemade or from a jar), add the beans, cherry tomatoes and a handful of rocket and give it another stir. Finally add the goats cheese which will melt slightly in your still warm pasta...

Serve. Eat. Enjoy!

Veggie Box - 26th March 2013

 In our box this week we have:

• Bag of new potatoes
• Bag of mange tout
• carrots
• spring onions
• some runner beans
• bag of salad leaves
• tomatoes
• plums
• pears
• white grapes
• the teeniest, tiniest little Romanesco you ever did see!

Our veggie box is looking a bit sparse this week. Very colourful, but not as full as previous weeks. I put this down in part to the bad weather and in part due to the presence of some very lovely (but, I expect, pretty pricey) white grapes.
It's not a problem as I still have the mushrooms and broccoli left from last week! ( I know, I know - they really should have been eaten by now...)

I may have to buy some cooking onions and more spuds though - this cold weather means comfort food all the way and the ultimate comfort food as far as I am concerned is mashed potato!

Here's the teeny, tiny romanesco (it's a type of cauliflower in case you were wondering) It's sitting next to some normal sized tomatoes and that's a bunch of spring onions behind it, just to give you an idea of the scale.
I just love them. In fact I am almost loath to cook and eat this one, it is a work of art! Isn't nature amazing?

Romanesco - Roman Cauliflower - originates as the name suggests, from Italy so it's hardly surprising that most of the recipes I found seem to be based around pasta.  I might even dig out my old pasta machine and rustle up some fresh linguine in honour of this miniature masterpiece :-)

Lots of romanesco recipes have been added to the pinboard - please do go take a look! (I'll let you know how the homemade pasta goes - it's been a while since I attempted it!)

Veggie Box - 19th March 2013

Here's what I got in yesterday's fruit and veg box from Four Seasons Foods...



we have

• potatoes
• carrots
• one HUGE white onion
• a leek
• head of broccoli
• big bag of salad leaves
• cherry tomatoes
• some pak choi leaves
• some lovely brown mushrooms
• a bag of beautiful sugar snap peas
• oranges, apples and kiwi fruit for the fruit bowl

Some nice basics this week - Little Man loves broccoli and so do I! We usually had the nice dark green 'flower' as a veggie side dish and keep the stalk to chop up and add to soup (goes particularly well in leek and potato soup).  The sugar snap peas barely made it to the end of the day - they were so sweet I was just eating them out of the bag like sweeties!

Two ingredients I will be concentrating on this week are mushrooms and the pak choi.

Pak Choi - aka Chinese cabbage - is a staple green used in many Asian dishes so I am thinking simple stir fry with ginger and sesame like this tasty looking side dish (may add some chicken for a more substantial 'supper' dish)

Source: wishfulchef.com via Anthea on Pinterest

Mushrooms are a bit trickier for me - I am not a huge fan of the texture of them when cooked so I generally cut 'em really small or make them into cream of mushroom soup.
Many years ago an Australian housemate of mine introduced me to the idea slicing really fresh ones raw into salad which I love to do. Maybe we'll try something different this week...

Lots of new recipes being added to the Veggie Box pinboard but do let me know if you have any tried and tested favourites!

Veggie Box Recipes :: Apple and Cinnamon Crunch Muffins

I love putting fruit and veg into cakes and the moistness of muffins means they lend themselves particularly well to these additions. I've done it before with the Courgette and Cocoa Muffins and the Scrummy Spicey Carrot Muffins . A cake that contains one of my five-a-day must be considered a health food surely?

I had 2 medium sized bramley apples in my veg box this week - not really enough for apple crumble or pie but more than enough for this tasty muffin recipe!!







Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 120ml milk
• 60ml sunflower oil
• 2 medium cooking apples peeled, cored and grated
• 200g flour
• 100g caster sugar
• 2tsp baking powder
• 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

for the crunchy topping:

• 60g light soft brown sugar
• 25g chopped hazelnuts (or nut of your choice)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Set oven to 180c / gas 4

First make your topping by mixing the sugar, nuts and cinnamon together. I use a herb chopper attachment to my Braun stick blender but you could whizz it in food mixer. You need a grainy finish, with a few nutty chunks - not too fine! Set to one side for a moment.

Next combine the egg, milk, oil and grated apple in a bowl.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarb, salt and cinnamon in another bowl.

Pour the 'wet' ingredients into the 'dry' ingredients and mix to a lumpy batter.

Spoon the batter into muffin cases then add a spoonful of the topping. Try and sprinkle it evenly on each muffin.

Pop in the oven for about 20mins until tops are brown and crispy.

We ate these warm from the oven with custard as pudding and cold the next morning for breakfast with some Greek yoghurt and honey. Lets face it, who doesn't like the idea of cake for breakfast? The Little Man even took one to school in his lunch box so they MUST be good!!

If you want you can add some sultanas to the wet mix too - a good handful should be enough and will earn you extra fruity Brownie points ;-)

Enjoy!

Veggie Box - 12th March 2013

A couple of months back I promised I would share the contents of my weekly veggie box with you (metaphorically speaking) and also share a a recipe or two. I really want to inspire more of you to sign up to local veggie box schemes - I believe that they really are an excellent way to support your local economy, eat seasonally, become more creative in the kitchen and get more of that foodie goodness inside you!

It's always a challenge when you get your box and have to come up with ideas for what to make with the contents before it becomes inedible - I have found myself chopping and freezing leeks, french and runner beans over the past few weeks when I just didn't feel like cooking with them. And am I glad I did - leek and potato soup was just what we needed after a particularly chilly school run on Monday. All I had to do was peel a spud, chop it up and tip it, with the frozen chopped leeks into the pan with a bit of butter and some stock - half an hour later we were well and truly warming our cockles!

My 'Veggie Box' pinterest board is slowly filling up with ideas too and I am slowly making my way through the list of new recipes to try.

But if I want to convince the more reluctant of you I am going to have to be a bit more pushy!

So from this week I will be posting a piccie of my veggie box every Tuesday or Wednesday and sharing a recipe made with items from that box on Friday or Saturday.  It will keep me on my toes and hopefully help some of you feel more inspired by the idea of veggie box cooking!

This weeks box...


 contents:

• new potatoes 
• carrots
• parsnips
• french beans
• spring onions
• leek
• bag salad leaves (rocket etc)
• half sweetheart cabbage
• quarter large melon
• pears
• cooking apples

I have a couple of ideas - nice to have some cooking apples. I feel a nice appley cinnamon-y  pudding coming on! The cabbage looks gorgeous too. Maybe a stir fry, a soup or left raw in a winter coleslaw?

Pop back at the weekend and see what I came up with!

My box is delivered by FourSeasonsFoods, a local organic fruit and veg box scheme. I have the smallest fruit and veg box - mainly because it's only me and the Little Man who actually eat fruit and veg and I would rather have not enough than waste too much - which costs me £9 (delivery is free).

Veggie Box Meals - Kale Pesto

Kale is one of winter's staple greens. It's packed full of nutrients and available in abundance but, well, there's only so many times you can eat steamed greens before they get a bit dull and Kale, with it's distinctive earthy flavour is not one of my favourites.

We have been getting rather a lot of kale in our veggie box lately and trying to find things to do with it has become a bit of a mission! Thankfully it freezes well - just bag it up and pop it in the freezer to use at a later date.  I have found a wealth of interesting things to do with kale on the internet and I thought it might be an idea to actually TRY some of them . . . 

Pesto is something I love to have in the fridge because you can use it so many ways. Add a spoonful to soups for extra flavour; spread it on crusty bread, add some cherry tomatoes and top with a bit of mozzarella and place under the grill for a lovely lunch. Or you could just stir it into some warm pasta for a simple supper.

There are several different versions of Kale Pesto out there, some of them more a traditional pesto than others. Here's my take using toasted walnuts instead of the usual pine nuts

KALE PESTO

bunch of kale (approx 150g)
clove of garlic, crushed
juice of 1 lemon
2 1/2 oz / 60g  walnuts
1/2tsp salt
2tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
4tbsp olive oil






First you need to toast your walnuts - spread them out on a baking tray and put them in a hot oven 200C/GAS6 for 5-10mins until they are lightly browned.

Add all the ingredients, including the toasted nuts to your blender/processor and blitz until reduced to a paste. You can add a little more oil if you want or a splash of water for a looser paste.

Stir into warm pasta or rice and enjoy!

 Kale pesto will keep in the fridge for a few days in an airtight container or freeze it in an ice cube tray for individual flavour hits for soups and stews!

There are lots more recipes with kale on my 'Veggie Box Recipes' pinterest board here. I suspect there may be a few more weeks of kale in the box to come so I hope to try out some more - although maybe NOT the kale smoothie . . .  *shudders*

Veggie Box Meals - A Friday night curry

We are starting to get into the routine of school here now, although we still haven't quite got the hang of the morning bit yet and it usually involves a bit of shouting at each other 2 minutes before we have to leave!

One big change I have noticed is that the Little Man's appetite seems to have really perked up and plates are being cleared every night instead of just when it's cheesy pasta for tea . . .  I put it down to all the extra fresh air and having opportunities to use his brain more!  I'm not complaining. It's nice to know that my cooking efforts are not wasted, and unlike his Daddy, who would happily live on beans on toast and pizza forever more, Little Man is happy to give my veggie box recipes a try.

This scrummy curry went down a treat!

Veggie Box Curry

One large onion, chopped finely
One large potato, diced
A couple of carrots, sliced
Diced flesh of small squash
One small cauliflower chopped into bite size florets
A tin of chick peas, drained
A carton of passata (sieved tomatoes) or a couple of tins of chopped tomatoes
Some curry paste (I used Balti paste but Rogan Josh works well too)
Veg stock cube or 2 tsp Marigold Vegetable Bouillon

A big pan with a lid to cook it in!


Fry the onion in a little vegetable oil until it soft and golden, then add the potato and carrot and stir in some curry paste - add as much or as little as you like. I used a generous tbsp - enough to provide some spicy flavour but not so much to put the Little Man off!

Add the passata/tomatoes. Give it a good stir then add the cauliflower florets, squash and chick peas.

Crumble in the veg stock cube and add a little water to loosen up the mixture then put on the lid and leave to simmer for half an hour (or until all the veg is tender) stirring occasionally and adding extra water if needed.

Serve with rice (a plain version of the baked Gourmet Rice recipe here works well - just use chopped onion and some pilau rice seasoning with the rice) or naan bread.  For a milder version add some natural yoghurt to the curry just before serving, or put a pot on the table for those who want to add it themselves!

Little Man tucking in to (cold) photoshoot curry... it's THAT good ;-)

As it's just the two of us eating this it went a LOOOOOONG way - a tub in the fridge for later in the week and a two servings in the freezer for those days when I just don't want to cook. It's a great way to make the most of your veggie box as you can add just about anything - sweetcorn, beans, peas and greens could all go in quite happily. You could use fresh tomatoes (skinned and chopped) , sliced courgettes, mushrooms and peppers too - just remember some vegetables don't need to cook as long as others!

I am adding this recipe along with others as I find them to my Pinterest board 'Veggie Box Recipes'. This week I got some surprise broad beans in the box so I have been searching for some 'not-too-summery' recipes to use those in - I love them double podded with pesto and pasta and a bit of Parmesan cheese, but it's always nice to find a new way of eating a favourite food!

Why not have a look, for some Veggie recipe inspiration (although not necessarily Vegetarian, I hasten to add!)? I would love it if anyone wanted to join in pinning their own veggie box recipes - just give me a shout and I will add you as a pinner for that board! 

Veggie Box Meal Planning...

Last week I took delivery of my first organic fruit and veg box from our local box scheme Four Seasons Foods.  I have used their excellent service in the past and have decided to go back after a break of over a year.

Why? Mainly because I am feeling it is more and more important to support small local businesses in these increasingly difficult times. Supermarket fruit and veg prices are only going to go up and we have no local greengrocer, only Co-op (probably one of the most expensive supermarkets) to shop from locally. Although I get my main food shop online I am reluctant to allow a 'picker' to chose my fresh fruit and veg for me and every time I have done I am invariably disappointed with the quality.
Organic produce boxes are about as fresh as fruit and veg can get (apart from harvesting them from your own back garden) and I have the satisfaction of knowing that this food didn't travel halfway around the world to reach my plate.

And besides, who could not be inspired by this box full of loveliness?

This week we had potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, red pepper, cauliflower, two cobs of sweetcorn, a Patti Pan squash, a big bag of salad leaves (including lots of my favourite peppery rocket), apples, oranges and a bunch of the sweetest black grapes I have ever tasted!  Four Seasons grow much of their produce themselves while the rest is sourced from farms and growers locally. Some of the fruit may come from a little further afield but they promise that none of the produce is air-freighted.

My challenge each week is to plan our meals around these boxes, ensuring that none of this lovely produce goes to waste! I hope to share some of these meal ideas with you on this blog and would love to hear ideas and recipes from those of you who also use a veggie box service!

So far this week we have had carrot and lentil soup, cauliflower cheese and lots of salad. I am still hunting down good stuffed squash recipes so the patti pan doesn't go to waste (although I am told it can be used as a courgette substitute). The recipe I would like to share with you this week comes from the good old BBC Good Food website - Easy Oven Frittata. It is a perfect veggie box supper! 

chopped veggies - use whatever you got!

The recipe calls for leeks, peas, pepper and sweetcorn but is easily adaptable. I added some sliced runner beans to mine and used corn sliced off a cob rather than the tinned in the recipe.
After reading the comments, I also used 100g of pasta rather than the 85g recommended, used a little more Cheddar as we have no Parmesan and mixed Italian herbs rather than lemon thyme.

Oven baked Frittata on the plate

I confess I was a bit dubious about the eggy pasta bake idea but it worked really well and tasted just as good cold for lunch the next day. Add a large salad and maybe some crusty bread and it will easily feed a family of four and get them well on their way to five a day.

This is definitely a veggie box recipe I shall be using again - you really could use any vegetables you have around. Grated carrot and courgette, broccoli, peas and spinach would all work well and the egg and cheese mix makes it a more substantial meal than just veg and pasta.

Are you a member of a veg box scheme? Most areas have their own local scheme, many of which deliver for free, but there are also a few national box schemes that deliver all over the country.
I would love to hear any recipes you may have tried. If you are on Pinterest why not check out my board 'Veggie Box Recipes' for ideas and inspiration? And if you want to add your own pins to the board give me a shout and I will add you as a pinner.



If you live in the Forest of Dean/Wye Valley area and would like to try a veggie box for yourself give Four Seasons Foods a shout. Visit their website for contact info or tweet them @4SeasonsFoods