What to make with your box contents w/c 18 March
Be creative and adapt recipes to suit what you have in your fridge and store cupboard. Don’t forget to check out our last few blogs here on box contents use.
Apple, parsnip and potato soup
Prep time: 20 mins
Cooks: 40 mins
Serves 4
This apple and parsnip soup is the perfect option for a delicious supper and for freezing or portioning for easy lunches for work.
Ingredients
- 20g of butter
- 1 tbsp of oil
- 2 onions, or 1 large onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 potato, around 230g in weight
- 1 parsnip, around 230g in weight
- 1 apple, around 230g in weight
- 400ml of vegetable stock
- black pepper
Method
Parmesan broccoli
Prep: 5-10 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 900g trimmed broccoli, divided into florets
- 25g butter
- 50g parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), grated, plus extra to serve
Method
Drop the broccoli florets into a pan of boiling salted water. Bring back to the boil, cook for 3-5 mins until tender, then drain.
Melt the butter in a large frying pan and, once sizzling, add the broccoli. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle in as much of the parmesan as you want to use. Gently stir the florets in the cheese and butter. Scatter on a little more grated parmesan to serve.
Melon, cucumber and mint soda
Prep: 10 mins plus chilling for 1 hour
Serves 4
Ingredients
-
1 (2½-pound) melon, cut into 1-inch pieces
-
1 cucumber, peeled, coarsely choppedHandful mint leaves, plus more for servingPinch of kosher salt3 tablespoons fresh lime juiceClub soda (for serving)
Method
Divide melon purée among ice-filled glasses. Top off with club soda and garnish with mint sprigs.
Note – The melon purée can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.
Mushroom and courgette risotto
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Serves 4
This risotto is delicious and a great way to squeeze some more vegetables into your diet.
Ingredients
- 15ml olive oil
- 310g Arborio / risotto rice
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or pressed
- 1100ml vegetable stock
- 200g button mushrooms, halved
- 1 courgette, sliced and halves the slices
- 15g vegetarian parmesan-style cheese, grated
- Black pepper
Method
Wash and prepare the vegetables
Heat the oil in the frying pan, add the onion and garlic and cook gently
Add the mushrooms and courgettes and cook gently for a further 3-4 minutes
Add the rice and cook until the rice becomes more see-through in appearance
Make up the stock in the measuring jug
Add about 250ml of stock to the pan and stir while bringing to the boil
Bring the pan down to a simmer and slowly add more stock, while stirring until the rice is cooked
Add the parmesan and black pepper, stir well and serve
Pepper Pissaladiere
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 1 hour – 1 hour 15 mins
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 onions, finely sliced
- 3 fat garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 2 mixed colour peppers, sliced
- 2 ramiro peppers sliced
- 4 tbsp olive oil, plus a little more for drizzling if you want
- 2 handfuls pitted green or black olives, quartered
- 2 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
- 145g pack pizza base mix
- 6 anchovies, each cut into 4 long strips (optional, remove to make it veggie)
Method
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Tip the onions, garlic, peppers and olive oil into a roasting tin and cook for 40-45 mins, stirring occasionally, until the onions and peppers are soft and tinged brown. Stir in the olives and capers, and season well.
While the onions are cooking, make up the pizza dough following pack instructions. Roll and press the dough out to fit a baking tray, about 40 x 30cm. Leave to rise in the tray for 10 mins, then spoon over the topping mix. Press gently into the dough and leave for another 10 mins. Scatter over the anchovies, if using.
Bake for 25-30 mins or until the dough has risen and cooked through. Drizzle with more olive oil to serve if you like.
Rainbow veggie salad
Prep time: 25 mins
Serves 4
Every salad should be colourful and crunchy like this one with its bright tomatoes, carrots, peppers and sassy spring mix. Toss with your best dressing. A perfect accompaniment to your meal.
Ingredients
-
1/4 cucumber, cut lengthwise in half and sliced
-
1 medium carrots, thinly sliced
-
1 pack of cherry plum tomatoes halved
-
20-30 pitted ripe olives, halved (or add to taste)
- 1 Ramiro pepper sliced
-
1/2 thinly sliced onion
-
Pinch garlic salt
-
Dash coarsely ground pepper
-
1 pack mixed baby leaf salad or 2 little gems sliced
-
Your favourite salad dressing – drizzle to taste
Method
Place cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, olives, sweet peppers, onion, garlic salt and pepper in a large bowl; toss to combine.
Just before serving, add salad greens. Drizzle with dressing and toss gently to combine.
Lemon drizzle traybake
Prep time: 25 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Makes 12 slices
A classic cake, this zingy lemon drizzle slice is a simple traybake, made extra special with feather icing
Ingredients
For the cake
- 70g softened unsalted butter
- 120g caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs
- 140g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- finely grated zest 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp lemon curd
- 2 tbsp full-fat milk
For the drizzle topping
- 30g granulated sugar
- juice 1 lemon
- For the feather icing
- 250g icing sugar
- 3 tbsp water
- splash of yellow food colouring
Method
Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Line a 20 x 20cm square baking tin with baking parchment.
Using an electric whisk, beat the butter and sugar together until pale, light and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix again. Add the flour, baking powder, lemon zest, lemon curd and milk, and mix with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 25-30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.
Mix the sugar and lemon juice together and pour over the hot cake. Leave to cool in the tin. You can eat the cake as it is, or for a fancy finish, try making this feather icing.
Mix the icing sugar with just enough water to give a runny, but not watery, icing. Put a small amount of icing in a separate bowl. Add a few drops of the food colouring to the icing until pale yellow. Spoon into a disposable icing bag.
Remove the cake from the tin and peel off the baking parchment. Sit the cake on a wire rack over a baking tray. Spread the white icing over the top. Pipe thin lines of the coloured icing across the width of the cake. Use a cocktail stick to drag through the lines in opposite directions to create a feathered effect. Leave to set before cutting into slices.
