Some nice Batavia lettuces all the way down from Yorkshire in many of the bags this week. I love this lettuce, the nice wavy but crisp leaves, the earthy but not too powerful taste. They are the most popular lettuce in France, and often known as French lettuce, or laitue batavia if you will.
These lettuces are grown at Newfields Organics, a really interesting farm. They are one of the largest and most successful organic farms we work with, based up on the North York Moors on relatively marginal agricultural land. Rosemary Wass runs the farm. She and her husband, who died 16 years ago, were organic pioneers in the 1980s, driven by their strong Christian faith to farm in a way that is ecologically, economically, and socially just. They have always supported international development causes alongside their work in Yorkshire, as well as being committed Labour Party members.
On we go into autumn, with its mix of rainy days, sunny spells, gusty wind and occasional foggy mornings. It’s the season that keeps you on your toes! Lots of nice veg though. I like the squash at this time of year. Sweet and versatile. Good for roasting, and often you can eat the skin as well as the flesh. We often roast it and then incorporate the chunks of skin and flesh into a hearty autumnal salad.
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:
Onions – Bagthorpe Farm, Norfolk
Carrots – Bagthorpe Farm, Norfolk
Crown Prince squash – Nash Nursery, Kent
Red Batavia lettuce – Newfields Organics, Yorkshire
Standard bag:
Red Alouette potatoes – Nash Nursery, Kent
French beans – James Foskett Farms, Suffolk
Fennel – Bedlam Farms, Cambridgeshire
Rainbow chard – Ripple Farm, Kent
Red Batavia lettuce – Newfields Organics, Yorkshire
| Family bag: Onions – Bagthorpe Farm, Norfolk Carrots – Bagthorpe Farm, Norfolk Futsu Black squash – Laines Organic, Sussex Beetroot – Ripple Farm, Kent Aubergine – Wye Orchard Farm, Kent Spinach – Ripple Farm, Kent
Mega bag: Red Alouette potatoes – Nash Nursery, Kent French beans – James Foskett Farms, Suffolk Tomatoes – Sarah Green’s, Essex Rainbow chard – Ripple Farm, Kent Aubergine – Wye Orchard Farm, Kent Spinach – Ripple Farm, Kent Cape broccoli – Sarah Green’s, Essex
|
Fruit supplement:
Windsor apples – Mole End Farms, Kent
Wash all veg and fruit before eating. Store carrots, chard, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, fennel, beans, beetroot and cut squash in the fridge. Protect potatoes from light to avoid sprouting.
Recipe: fennel and potato soup
1 tbsp oil 1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped 1 fennel bulb, trimmed, tough core removed and sliced
300g potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped 400ml stock
50ml cream / crème fraîche (Oatly is good)
- Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onion, garlic and fennel, plus a good pinch of salt.
- Cover and cook over a medium-low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the potatoes and stock, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
- Purée the soup, but not too much, as the potato will thicken dramatically if you over-purée.
- Add more stock or water if it seems too thick.
- Stir in the cream or crème fraîche, and season to taste.
- Reheat gently, and serve sprinkled with some fennel fronds.
Recipe: roasted squash and coconut soup
500g roasted squash 2 tbsp oil
4 cloves garlic 1 leek, sliced
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger 2 tbsp tomato paste
1 dried red chilli or 1 tsp chilli powder 1 tin coconut milk
1 tsp curry powder (or mix turmeric, ground coriander and ground cumin)
900ml stock juice of 1 lime, about 2 tbsp
- Roast the squash whole for about 15 minutes, let them cool, then peel them and cut the flesh into chunks.
- Heat oil gently in a large pot. Add the leek, ginger and garlic and fry for about 5 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add the curry powder and the chilli. Fry for another minute.
- Add the squash chunks and cook with the aromatics for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the coconut milk and stock, lower the heat, and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and puree the soup once it’s cooled down a bit.
- Season if needed. Stir in the juice of the lime.
- Reheat to serve.
Recipe: orzo with beetroot
An Anna Jones recipe.
500g beetroot, peeled and grated 300g orzo pasta
a small bunch of thyme, leaves picked 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for finishing
1⁄2 vegetable stock cube / 2 tsp stock powder handful nuts (e.g. walnuts, almonds)
zest of an orange or clementine
- Put the grated beetroot, orzo pasta, thyme leaves, garlic and vinegar into a medium lidded pan with 1 tsp of sea salt, 2 tbsp of oil and 850ml water.
- Crumble in the stock cube or add the powder.
- Place the pan over a high heat, cover with a lid and bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes until the pasta is cooked and all the water has been absorbed.
- Stir it every minute or so to make sure that the pasta doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan.
- If the orzo looks a little thick (you want it to be the consistency of risotto) add a little more hot water.
- Serve with toasted nuts, orange zest, and a drizzle of olive oil on top.
