The Veg Box Diaries

Project 365 photos from this week to come, I promise!

Meanwhile, I thought I'd start an occasional series about Things From My Veg Box. I had my first organic veg box delivered on Tuesday, and it was very exciting! I decided to go with Riverford, firstly because they're based in Devon, where the majority of their produce is grown, and I always like to support Westcountry farmers. And secondly, although you can't substitute items in their veg boxes like you can with some other companies, their 'Seasons' box seemed to suit me down to the ground so I didn't think that'd be a problem anyway. It doesn't include potatoes, which is good because I very rarely eat potatoes, and I loved the idea of getting seasonal produce.

In my first box, I got:

Five leeks (UK)
A large cauliflower (UK)
Two heads of purple sprouting broccoli (UK)
A bunch of spring onions (UK)
Six carrots (UK)
A large punnet of chestnut mushrooms (UK)
A bunch of asparagus (Spain)
A bag of wild garlic (UK)

I was very impressed with that! The box is £12.45 (delivery is free) and when you consider that all the veg is organic, and it all comes in larger quantities than you'd get in the supermarket, I think it's going to work out cheaper than my usual Tesco veg shop. Mushrooms, leeks and broccoli are staple veg for me anyway, I usually pick up a bunch of asparagus if it's on offer, and I quite often buy cauliflower and spring onions. And I was very excited about the wild garlic! Last night I began my veg box cooking adventures by making a pasta sauce with some of the wild garlic, some pine nuts and some light cream cheese. I had it with wholewheat spaghetti and it was gorgeous! I also included the last bit of non-organic supermarket veg in my fridge - the remains of the broccoli I'd bought at the weekend.

I think tonight's supper will be paneer and cauliflower curry - the cauliflower came with tons of leaves still attached (as they ought to!) and I think I might throw some of those into the curry as well. And I think the asparagus might form part of a Friday night treat. Possibly involving cheese. Can't wait!