A few weeks back I contacted Able and Cole asking if I could feature a recipe of theirs (no longer on their website though) on my blog. I have tried a few recipes from their site and enjoyed them all. If you haven't seen their recipe page you should definitely take a look. It is easy to navigate and incredibly useful when you are looking for recipes using a particular item (fruit, veg, meat or fish). For example click on courgettes and you are transported to a list of tasty ideas all using courgettes. They were more than happy for me to feature one of their recipes and I was also offered a veg box to try. I of course accept happy to review one of their veg boxes on my blog for them. It also feels like a bit of a challenge deciding what to do with all the fruit and veg in the box.
Due to living in a mid-terraced house with no where for them to leave my box whilst we're out at work we had to ask if my boyfriends parents would accept it at their house for us. Luckily they deliver in their town on a Friday meaning we could pick it up from them at the weekend (they live an hour away from us). I like the idea of getting a box with different fruit/veg each week, forcing you to eat a wide variety of different types, getting creative with what to do with it and possibly increasing how much veg I eat. However in other ways I like sitting down planning my meals for the week ahead and then choosing what veg I need to buy. As much as I like the concept of having a box of fruit and veg delivered to my door weekly, currently it just isn't practical for us. The box arrived in good condition early Friday morning.
This weeks box contained:
- Apples
- oranges
- Bananas
- Spring greens
- White onions
- Potatoes
- Beetroots
- Cauliflower
- 3 Courgettes
- Aubergine
The fruit is being munched through already. The rest I'm not sure what I will do with yet. 2 courgettes could be used for balsamic courgettes but not sure what to do with the third. The aubergine may be used in a Parmigiana di melanzane (possibly with the final courgette as the aubergine is quiet small). The cauliflower was left with my boyfriends parents as neither of us like it. That just leaves spring greens (never eaten or cooked so no idea what to do with them) and the beetroots (again never cooked or eaten beetroot that hasn't been bought cooked, usually in vinegar). I have in the past seen recipes I've wanted to try using raw beetroot but I can't find any now. I might bake them in foil but that's as far as my ideas have got. I have Monday to Friday this week to use them for after work meals so has anyone any ideas? I could just cook the potatoes, spring greens and beetroot and serve them with some meat or fish but I tend to like to cook things that are more of a complete dish.
Update: just separated the beets from the potatoes (which look quiet similar when coated in mud!) and there are a lot more than I thought. Maybe I need two meals out of them.
Update: What I did with all this veg!
- Rosemary and garlic potato wedges
- Balsamic courgettes
- Parmigiana di melanzane (but I added in 1 courgette and the aubergine was a little small, not traditional but still delicious)
- Beetroot and spring greens risotto
- Used some bits in my first daring cooks challenge (but you'll have to wait until June 14th to find out what and how)
4 comments:
The spring green you can use like cabbage or spinach - think of it as a cross between the two - not as delicate as spinach bit not a crunchy as cabbage.
Beetroots - yum! You can roast them with other root veg in oil and a little balsamic - the beets take quite a long time plus you'll get red all over your hands so wear rubber gloves. Or if you have the Moro cookbook then I've just seen there's a nice looking beetroot and cumin soup you could try. Beetroot soup is lovely. In fact using fresh beets is a revelation they are so nice.
and i forgot to say you could make a salad with raw beets by shredding/chopping them finely and tossing with some yoghurt and spices (eg cumin again) or hebs - a kind of remoulade. Mmmmm.
Thanks for the ideas. Time is a little short this week so don't have time to make soup. If I roast all the beetroot tonight - will they keep overnight in fridge to be used in a risotto tomorrow night? and can I freeze some of them roasted for another week?
I use spring greens with spaghetti. Fry finely shredded spring greens quickly in a little olive oil with two finely sliced garlic cloves and one finely sliced chilli. Cook pasta and add to pan and combine. Grate a little parmesan and black peppar and you're there!
We think this is delicious! Hope you like it if you try it.
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