It’s early January and the overnight frosts have been harsh, so I was pleased to see plenty of comfort food in our veg box this week.
I’ve just started with a new provider (don’t you love moving house?!) and went straight for their mega box. It really is as big as it sounds. I wanted to set myself the challenge of moving our diet over to being mainly vegetable based (more alkalising), so decided to start big!
And here’s what was in our box this week:
Potatoes, onions, beetroot, Swiss chard, Savoy cabbage, red cabbage, parsnips, salad leaves, cauliflower, swede, sprout tops, mushrooms, parsley – all grown within a 10 mile radius of the farm – truly seasonal and local 
. It was missing the turnip, carrots and coriander, but that’s probably a good thing, as I’m away this weekend.
Once I had unloaded it all, I realised just how much veg you get in a mega box. I have never seen so many potatoes – 3kg! And 400g chard is a lot, lot, lot.
So how am I going to make sure we get through it all?
- I’ve started by accepting that I need to make life easy for myself.
So all the muddy root vegetables got a good scrub last night and were left out to dry, before going in the bottom of the fridge. If you’re anything like me, the thought of de-mudding them, when you’re already in a hurry, is enough to make you reach for pasta again.
- Then everything got listed on the fridge door.
That way I don’t have to think about what’s left. The idea is that stuff gets crossed off when it has been used.
- The next thing I did was to be honest with myself about things I don’t really like eating…
and decide to use those first.
So cabbages and chard will be eaten early in the week (along with the salad leaves, which would otherwise go off).
- Next? Get hunting on the Veg Box Recipes website for some tasty ideas.
And there are plenty of them.
And I thought it might be interesting to do a week’s diary of how we use the veg box, in case it inspires anyone else out there who might be feeling overwhelmed?
Day One
Veg box arrived at lunch time.
Half the swede and some of the spuds became swede mash (I always “dilute” the flavour of the swede with potatoes, but that’s mainly to get it past my fussy eaters). I ate my portion with a sprout top (picture to follow), sliced and sauted with pine nuts.
Evening: 1/2 a red cabbage, finely shredded with a mandolin, served with toasted, ground sesame seeds and tamari sauce.
A long way to go, but we’ve made a start!
More soon in a week in the life of a veg box.
What are you doing with your veg box this week?
Clare
