I was thinking about veg box delivery the other night. Since I went (mostly) vegetarian a few months ago, I’ve learned a lot about my tastes in food and my dependence on fossil fuels. This time around with vegetarianism, I’m learning to enjoy vegetables rather than just trying to replace meat.
Local vegetable box services like Riverford Organic or Abel and Cole, offer a fantastic way for busy modern people to get local and sometimes even organic produce delivered right to their doors. It cuts down on food miles, and thus carbon footprint, of your produce and gives you a chance to eat more seasonally, since your food is coming from reasonably local producers.
But everyone has horror stories about boxes of mid-winter vegetables that lurk behind sexier foods in the cupboard and threaten a February uprising of kale and turnips. Roots and greens lack a certain foodie sexiness, but I like this sort of constraint. Unfamiliar greens provide an opportunity for me to sharpen cooking skills and break my habit for exotic fruit and veg that so often has horrible consequences for water resources in far-flung parts of the world.
Walking home yesterday, I passed our local market garden, run by some elderly local gardeners. I was reminded of my promise to subscribe to a veg box service, when I realised that I had the ultimate veg box just 200 metres from my front door. All the most seasonal, locally grown produce, minutes from my kitchen and all of it payable by an honour system money box.
On this occasion, the cauliflower I was seeking for a curry was gone, but I was talked into a towering stalk of brussel sprouts by the wily gardener. I’d never be tempted to buy these in a shop, but they were cheap, fresh and the twinkly eyes of the old lady told me I was on to a winner. Steamed, with a herby butter (recipe below) they made a delicious, healthy lunch and a warm reminder that if you can ignore the siren call of online veg delivery, you can find most of what you want, right under your nose.
Recipe - Brussel Sprouts with Sage Butter
Ingredients
- 1 kg fresh brussel sprouts
- generous knob of butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh sage
- 1 spring onion or a random corner of a shallot
- salt & fresh ground pepper
Trim the brussel sprouts from their stalk and trim away any hard stems. Give them a good scrub in cold water and cut them in half, lengthwise to reveal their curly, cabbagey centres. Steam until just tender to pierce with a fork, but don’t overcook them. Mushy sprouts are the cause of worldwide sprout-phobia.
While the sprouts are steaming, melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the chopped sage and spring onion or shallot. Let the butter bubble up, but don’t let it brown. You should end up with crispy sage bits and a rich flavour.
Pour the butter over the steamed sprouts and season with sea salt and lots of fresh pepper. Serve immediately.
