An Organic Fruit and Veg Box from Abel & Cole + A New Cookbook

Anyone who lives near a farmers market, grows their own vegetables or receives a weekly (or monthly) veg box will get excited about a brand new cookbook full of veg-centric recipes. While I love living near Borough Market it can get expensive, and while it is great my parents grow their own fruit and veg it is more than a little bit annoying carrying it with me on the train, then the tube. So, when Abel & Cole, the king of organic veggies offered to send me one of their boxes and their new cookbook to my door in honour of Organic September obviously I jumped at the luxury of having quality produce delivered to me for a change.

I went for the Extra Small Magnificent Mixed Box, as I was just going to be cooking for me. It comes with two fruits and five different seasonal veggies a week, and I was sent some new season British apples, some bananas, potatoes, tomatoes, tenderstem broccoli, green beans and some carrots. While I did cook a lot from the book I also needed to put meals together with what else I had at home. Some of the beautiful, flavourful carrots went into a one pan chicken roast, and I made a delicious pasta bowl with a few leftover shapes from the Italian deli, some hard cheese to make a melty sauce, and some cherry tomatoes and olive oil tossed tenderstem pieces roasted in the oven while the pasta was cooking. The box is great to get some seasonal variety if there is just one of you, and while the box comes under their usual delivery threshold, as I’ve mentioned many times before I’m a big advocate of organic meat, and they offer a great selection online.

I love any cookbook divided by seasons to encourage seasonal eating, and Abel & Cole How To Eat Brilliantly is full of imaginative ways and methods with seasonal veg, sometimes with meat and dairy, sometimes without. I’ve loved cooking from it, and I’ve still got bookmarked Sweet & Sour Rhubarb Pork with Egg Fried Rice, No-churn Cherry & Amaretto Ripple Ice Cream, Elderflower & Strawberry Power Presse, Gooseberry Lemonade, Pulled Pumpkin Rolls, Southern-fried Cauliflower Steaks with Buttermilk Dressing, Hazelnut & Thyme Potato Gratin, and Cardamom, Walnut & Pear Chicken. I know, right? Some inspiration below, but Lottie, a marketing manager at Ebury (who publishes both my book and this one) has been baking up a storm from the book too, and you can see her pictures and read her recommendations here.

So far I’ve made four dishes from the book: Bananas about Macarons, which were so easy to make and with only five ingredients. They’re slightly addictive, but I think I’m going to try making them with dark chocolate drizzled over for added treat value. For our Sunday roast I made the Majestic Kale with Pomegranate which was lovely to go on the side, and the Golden Maple & Walnut Parsnips, switching out the clementine for an easy peeler as they’re not in season yet. I’ve tried for years to make the most golden, crisp, sweet glazed parsnips and always failed: these were perfect, some of the best parsnips I’d ever tasted and it is worth buying the book for these alone. These are going to become a regular roast fixture. Something else I’m going to be making again is these adorable baked caramel apples, as the homemade caramel really making it a special end to a meal. Expect to see them soon!

You can get your hands on a copy of Abel & Cole How To Eat Brilliantly Everyday here, and you can find a few more of my ideas to celebrate the end of Organic September here: Roast Chicken with Black Bean & Strawberry Salsa, A Simple & Delicious Bolognese Salsa, and my Late Summer Soft Cheeseboard.

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