Having subscribed to an Abel & Cole vegetable box a few months back I decided to keep a food diary for one week – to show where and how my produce got used. Read my Abel & Cole 5 A Day post first to get the veg box background and then come back here to read my dining diary.

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Beef Stir Fry

Stir Fry has to be the easiest meal on earth to create and a veg box makes it easy. Chop stuff that was in the box. Fry it. Stir lots. My top tip is to sprinkle with sesame seeds.

  • Carrots
  • Broccoli
  • Onions
  • Steak
  • Noodles
  • Sesame Seeds
  • Ginger & Garlic Sauce

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Salmon & Courgette

Super quick. Strip the courgette into tagliatelle shaped pieces using a veg peeler… Chuck them into a pan and season – tip in the creme fraiche – place a salmon fillet on the top and then cover so that the courgette cooks in the creamy sauce and simultaneously steams the fish. Quick, clever, tasty.

  • Courgette
  • Salmon
  • Creme Fraiche

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Spaghetti & Greens

This is a recipe from the Abel & Cole book – it’s a great quick meal with loads of strong flavour. You make an oil from anchovies garlic and chilli to coat the pasta and bulk it up with greens. That way you use less pasta per portion so it’s healthy too.

  • Chard
  • Anchovies
  • Pasta
  • Garlic
  • Crushed Chilli

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Fruit

Don’t forget that fruit can be consumed in a multitude of ways! Juicing was a long forgotten art for me but since the veg box came into my life juicing is back. And it’s fruity. A few years back I had a fangled (and very expensive) juicer that did all kinds of fruit but soon enough it was relegated to the back of the cupboard because it was stupidly hard to clean.

These days I’m exclusively citrusy but it’s a great feeling to drink freshly squeezed OJ with breakfast. The oranges in my veg box were enough for two glasses.

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Sunday Roast

It’s not much fun cooking a Sunday roast for one! Seems like a lot of effort to go to so instead of getting all the pans out I just roast the vegetables… Adding them as I go along depending on how much roasting they need! (potatoes in first, Broccoli in ten minutes from the end).

  • Steak or small Rib joint
  • Potatoes
  • Onions
  • Carrots
  • Broccoli

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Vegetable Curry

Curry got me through Uni… I’ve got it down to fine fragrant art! Use a paste as a base – much better than a pre-made sauce. Add a tin of tomatoes to your left overs from Sunday. That’s the secret to Monday curry!

  • Carrots
  • Broccoli
  • Onions
  • Potato
  • tomatoes
  • Curry Paste
  • Coriander Seeds

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About The Pears…

You may have noticed the pears in my 5 A Day post and you may have noticed their absence from the food diary. I’m not going to lie… They ended up in the bin. They aren’t my favourite and they do just sit there for about a week – hard as a rock and then you turn your back for 5 minutes and they turn to mush. I’m paraphrasing an old Eddie Izzard sketch here but it’s a valid point. Catching a pear at the optimum ripeness just doesn’t happen. I’ve since put them on my “don’t likes” list so I won’t be getting them again.

Everything else got used and stayed fresh for 7 days.