A veg fest

The disappearing veg act.

On Sunday, I popped into our local Waitrose to pick up something for dinner. It had been a very wet and cooler day, poor hubby had been out at an event all day and was going to be very soggy when he got home, so we thought it would be great to do a "warming pot of goodness" for dinner.
As usual, we start with the meat when we go shopping, then return to the veg section. Imagine my amazement, when there was no green veg available, no broccoli, cabbages, flat or runner beans, the section was completely empty. For a balanced diet, it's essential to have your "greens", all of the iron, vitamin C and other nutrients. You can't eat a rainbow without green in there somewhere. Apparently, on checking with friends, they have also been experiencing this in other supermarkets too. As the temperatures are back to normal, we aren't barbecuing every night, I decided that the only way to get my veggie fix resolved, was to get my Riverford box order in asap.

If you haven't ever ordered an organic box, I know it can seem a bit daunting, with lots of questions that you need to find the answers to:-

• Do you want a regular order?
• Can you choose what is in your box?
• How expensive is it going to be?
• Do you have to have a box every week?
• Where is it delivered and do you need to be home?

 I have tried a few different schemes, our first box was a weekly box, all the boxes for the area were delivered to one location about 5 miles away, we had to go and pick it up every Friday evening. It was very cost effective and a complete surprise every time you collected it, you didn't know what would be in it, but a great option, until that option stopped and I had to hunt for an alternative.
I did try an Abel and Coe box, but that needs a regular order and was more expensive.

I then tried Riverford and have been shopping with them for about 10 years. We don't have a regular delivery setup, instead, I check on their website when ordering and it gives you a full list of all the options, therefore I can select the box depending on the contents I need. Sometimes I get a bumper veg box, other times, a small box or combination veg and fruit box, but you are in control.
The first thing you notice is how fresh everything is, covered in the natural protection it grew in (yes I mean soil), but that means the veg keeps longer. You get a printed sheet with Guys latest newsletter, details of the contents of the box, tips on how to look after unusual veg and also some recipes. If you need more guidance, there's always the Riverford website, and their recipe database is phenonmenal.
Guy is reducing the amount of plastic used and looking at using greener packaging that is returnable or recyclable. 

The box contents will depend on your farm catchment, if you enter your postcode, you will then see what your contents will be and when your delivery day is. My delivery day is now a Tuesday, and therefore I need to order by 11pm on Sunday evening. That means I can plan the meals for the week.
My delivery today is as follows (remember the contents may be different in your area).

100% UK organic veg box

• Salad potatoes UK
• Carrots UK
• Golden bunched beetroot UK
• French beans UK
• Courgettes UK
• Calabrese broccoli UK
• Mixed salad leaves UK
• Cherry tomatoes UK

All for £13.95 which is much cheaper than buying the same Organic produce through any supermarket.

The great news is the bunched beetroot comes with the leaves, so I've followed the instructions and cut them off the beetroot, washed the leaves thoroughly and split into 2 bags, 1 to go with dinner tonight, the other to keep for another meal.

Tonight, I decided to make life easy, roasting the root veg while the chicken in mustard was also roasting, merely leaving the beetroot leaves needing cooking in a pan 5 minutes before serving. 

Roasted root veg

Potatoes
Carrots
Golden beetroot
Red onion (not from box)
Garlic cloves (not from box)
Fresh sprigs of rosemary (from garden)
couple of bay leaves (from garden)
Olive oil

Cut into similar sized pieces, pop on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and toss well. Put the sprigs of herbs amongst the veg and roast in a hot oven for 60 minutes.

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Tuna Salad

Tuna Salad (serves 2)

2 oz cooked and cold Seeds of Change Semi-wholewheat Tortiglioni

2 handfuls of salad leaves with beetroot shreds

Half an avocado

2 inch chunk cucumber

1 large tomato

1/3 tin tuna fish in spring water

Extra virgin olive oil

Organic cider vinegar

Freshly ground pepper

Method

While the pasta was cooking (yes I do add a little salt to the water, it is better than salting later), I started preparing the rest of the ingredients. I find that cucumber can make some people a little gassy, my solution is to peel the cucumber, then slice horizontally through the middle of the chunk and using a teaspoon, scrape out the fleshy seedy centre. Then cut the cucumber into small cubes.

Remove the avocado from the skin, again use a dessert or tablespoon to push between the skin and the flesh to remove the edible part. Again cut into small chunks.

I like to assemble the salad on each plate as I prepare, then sprinkle over a few drops of olive oil, plus a couple of drops of cider vinegar, toss on the plate.

Add the tuna to the plate and flake and fluff gently. If you like you can add 1 teaspoon of mayonnaise to the tuna and lightly mix.

When the pasta is cooked (yes, it will be a little more chewy than the normal type, but much more tasty), drain the pasta, return to the pan and immediately run cold water over the pasta for about 1 minutes, strain and you have cold pasta.

Add pasta to the plate and serve. You may like to grind some black pepper over the salad before serving, but that is personal preference.

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Recipe - Buttered Grated Beetroot

This came out on a leaflet that accompanies the box, I thought I'd give it a go and everyone loved it. Hubby knew where the recipe came from and I was very impressed that he went on the Riverford site and then cooked it for us, very resourceful.

buttered grated beetroot
Preparation Time: 5 minsCooking Time: 10 mins
Serves: 2

Ingredients
300g grated, raw beetroot
40g unsalted butter
1 tbsp water
2 tsp red wine vinegar
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
The kitchen bible of the Southern Hemisphere, Stephanie Alexander’s The Cooks Companion is full of ideas for beetroot. Try this simple recipe from the book.
Serve this beautifully shiny beetroot as a luxury vegetable with a grilled steak.
1. Put beetroot, butter, water and vinegar into a small saucepan and cook, covered for 8 minutes, stirring once or twice. Uncover and check beetroot is just tender.
2. Raise heat and boil off any extra liquid, if necessary, and season. The beetroot should be a little crisp.

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