I had a lovely lot of vegetables in my second veg box. A lot of the veg was different to my usual supermarket fare and I had varying degrees of success in rendering it acceptable to the rest of the family.
There was a squash with a name like a martial art - red hokkaido. This went in a "winter squash and feta gratin". The recipe for this is available here. DD and I liked this, but the menfolk were less enamoured. I always have difficulty with squash and would appreciate any suggestions.
The spring greens went into a beef stirfry with some of the mushrooms (recipe here). This also had mixed reactions, mostly because the meat was too chewy.
The cauliflower went into a cauliflower cheese with breadcrumb topping. This was seriously nice. It's just a shame it is seriously calorific as well!
The box included baby courgettes, which had me stumped. I still had a courgette loaf in the freezer from last week's offerings. I decided to try courgette crisps, or zucchini chips for any non-British readers. There are recipes in British English here, and in non-British English here! These really didn't work very well. I think I sliced them too thickly and then drowned them in olive oil so they didn't dry out properly. They were tasty, and the kids ate them within five minutes, but they weren't crisps. Nor chips!
Fortunately the carrots, onions and lettuce were much easier to deal with! At the moment I have kept my wastage fairly low; one small carrot went mouldy and I still have a surfeit of onions. The next box has been delivered. I went for a mini version this time with extra salad. I am happy to keep posting my round ups if anyone is interested, or if you are getting bored with "fifty ways with cabbage" then let me know!
Hi Lesley I am finding your veg posts really interesting as am seriously thinking of one myself. The box seems to be encouraging you to really explore loads of food combinations which has to be good. Some will be a success, others won't but from it you will develop a much bigger box of recipes. Thanks for a great post Lesley I always enjoy your blog, thanks so much
ReplyDeleteLots of love
Dorothy
:-)xxxxxxx
I tried to reply and my post went awry. So if you end up with a half witted post you'll know where it came from.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of that squash before. I'm going to have to look it up.
The stir fry recipe looks great. Sometimes meat is just tough. If I have the opportunity, I'll marinate it in the sauce for an hour first. Sometimes that helps.
I've not tried zucchini chips, but it makes great noodles in a lasagna type dish. I've also shred it for longer thin pasta.
On the onion front, if you find you can't use them all. Dice them into the size you cook most often and freeze them. I do a quart bag full at a time and then use them for dishes where I am going to cook the onion. Soups, sauces, etc.
Like Dorothy I am really enjoying these posts. I've ordered some new to us varieties of beans to start incorporating into our diet. I'll let you know what I come up with.
Keep them coming. I'm really enjoying them. Like Shara I cut courgettes into thin strips, plunge them into boiling water for a sparse minute and use them instead of spaghetti Add chopped chillis or garlic or scallions etc etc and a tiny drop of oil. There are much fewer calories than pasta!
ReplyDeleteIf you freeze the onions as Shara suggests it is great to just get them out when you are short of time.
Gill
Just about any veg can be diced finely or put through the processor together and turned into "veg hash". Frozen in handy sided plastic containers you can use it straight from the freezer or defrost. I make up a big batch and use for bolognaise, curry, pasta sauce and even pizza topping.
ReplyDeleteCourgettes are delicious raw - use your peeler to make them into thin ribbons, add to salads, good with any sort of dressing. We use raw carrots in the same way but the courgettes are the best.
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone for your helpful suggestions! I shall keep up with the vegetable-related posts and let you know how I get on. Lesley x
ReplyDelete