It’s worth mentioning the mixture of produce we are seeing this summer. It’s a bit of a contrast to the last three years, where we had very sunny dry summers that favoured fruit crops like tomatoes, aubergines, peppers and courgettes. You may well have felt the change yourself if you have a growing space like a garden or allotment. The cold wet spring and the late start to warmer, sunnier conditions have seriously delayed those classic Mediterranean veg.
On the other hand, the farms have not been short of rain and the moist soil and mild conditions has been great for salad leaves and fresh greens. Hopefully we’ll still see lots of courgettes, tomatoes and the like by the end of the month. It is quite a contrast to last summer though, when we seemed to have aubergines every week at one point.
One of seasonal favourites is back this week: corn on the cob! You can take the husk off and boil them in salted water for 3-6 minutes, or leave the husks on and roast them in the oven for 8-15 minutes. I think it’s best boiled in water, as it keeps the kernels moister.
Watch out, some of our nonhuman companions like sweetcorn too!
Sarah Green writes: “We have fenced in all the rows of sweetcorn to prevent the badgers enjoying the crop before us! Badgers only like the cobs when they are super sweet and ready for us to pick. The badgers are so powerful they can destroy our crop overnight if we don’t fence it in to protect the young cobs.”
Don’t forget to return your re-usable Vegbox bags and packaging.
When you want to take a holiday from Vegbox, please let us know by Tuesday of the week before, i.e. today!
Tom Steele
What’s in the bag this week?
Small bag:
Green onions – Ripple Farm, Kent
Carrots – Bagthorpe Farm, Norfolk
Summer cabbage – Sarah Green’s, Essex
Fennel – Newfields Organics, Yorkshire
Standard bag:
Red potatoes – Ripple Farm, Kent
Chard – Ripple Farm, Kent
Chioggia beetroot – Sarah Green’s, Essex
Sweetcorn – Foskett’s, Sussex
Kohlrabi – Sarah Green’s, Essex
Small/Standard fruit supplement:
Red plums – Peach & Pippin, Kent
Family bag:
Green onions – Ripple Farm, Kent
Carrots – Bagthorpe Farm, Norfolk
Cherry tomatoes – Forty Hall, London
Summer cabbage – Sarah Green’s, Essex
Fennel – Newfields Organics, Yorkshire
Mixed salad bag – Forty Hall, London
Mega bag:
Red potatoes – Ripple Farm, Kent
Chard – Ripple Farm, Kent
Chioggia beetroot – Sarah Green’s, Essex
Cherry tomatoes – Forty Hall, London
Sweetcorn – Foskett’s, Sussex
Kohlrabi – Sarah Green’s, Essex
Mixed salad bag – Forty Hall, London
| Family/Mega fruit supplement: Peaches – Peach & Pippin, Kent
|
Wash all veg and fruit before eating. Store carrots, fennel, cabbage, salad leaves, beetroot and kohlrabi in the fridge. Protect potatoes from light to avoid sprouting.
Recipe: chioggia beetroot salad
1-2 chioggia beetroot 2 tbsp flaked almonds
a few chard leaves, thinly sliced 25g goat’s cheese
1 tbsp olive oil ½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp maple syrup
- Peel the beetroot, then slice them as thinly as possible into discs. A mandolin is useful if you have one.
- Toast the almond flakes till lightly golden.
- Mix together the olive oil, vinegar and maple syrup in a mug to make a dressing.
- Toss together all the ingredients with the dressing and serve.
Recipe: carrot soup
1 clove of garlic 350g carrots
2 tbsp olive oil 200g dried red lentils
- Peel and finely chop the garlic, then peel and dice the carrots.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan on a medium heat, and sautee the carrots and garlic gently for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Season well with salt and pepper.
- Add the lentils, then pour in 1 litre of water (or stock) and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Puree the soup, then reheat to serve.
Recipe: fennel dumplings in tomato sauce
Serves 2.
for the dumplings:
200g fennel, cut into 0.5cm dice 15g currants
15g pine nuts, roughly chopped ½ tsp fennel seeds, toasted and crushed
⅛ tsp ground nutmeg 40g breadcrumbs
25g parmesan, finely grated finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 egg, beaten 15g dill, finely chopped
for the sauce:
1 tbsp oil 1 garlic clove, chopped
1 green onion, chopped 200g tomato passata
2 tsp sugar 5g basil leaves
- Bring a small pan of water to a boil, add the fennel and cook on medium-high heat for 15 minutes.
- Add the currants, cook for five minutes more, then strain through a fine sieve and leave to cool.
- Put fennel and currants in muslin, squeeze out as much liquid as you can, then put in the fridge until cold.
- Put remaining dumpling ingredients in a bowl with a pinch of salt and some black pepper. Mix well, then refrigerate.
- For the sauce, heat 1 tbsp oil and sautee the onion and garlic with a little salt till soft and golden.
- Add the tomato passata, sugar, basil and 90ml water. Cook for five minutes, then take off heat.
- Puree the tomato sauce till smooth, then return to the pan.
- For the dumplings, put the fennel and currants in a bowl with the bread and egg mixture and form into four round dumplings with your hands.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan on a medium heat.
- Once hot, add the dumplings and fry for 7-8 minutes, turning them occasionally, so they colour all over.
- Next lower the dumplings into the tomato sauce pan and coat them with the sauce.
- Simmer the dumplings in the sauce for 15 minutes, then serve.
