TO COOK OR NOT TO COOK

I don’t know about the rest of you, but when it comes to cooking, or not cooking, it’s more about inspiration than time or inclination.

What to cook, when you are fresh out of ideas, is a tricky one, which is why we revert to the ‘old favourites’ time and time again.

It means that despite having bookshelves heaving with cookery books offering fresh and novel recipes and meals, I end up serving spaghetti bolognese, shepherds pie, meatballs, macaroni cheese and stirfrys ad nauseum at home.

Riverford Organics however have solved this problem. They send you a box packed full of food, recipe cards and all the ingredients ready and measured to your door, alleviating the meal planning crisis in one fell swoop.

It means you don’t have to think, you just have to make something new and innovative, not to mention tasty, as well as challenging, every night.

As National Vegetarian Week is approaching (May 16-22) we were sent the Riverford Veggie Box and on opening discovered we would be eating a curry with handmade pakoras, mexican tacos and an involtini (like a middle eastern lasagna) over the next three days.

Becoming veggie for a few days wasn't a problem when faced with the quality and originality of the food.

It also meant that instead of cooking alone and then yelling up the stairs when supper was ready, we all mucked in and helped cook, which was most unusual.

Some of the recipes were more advanced than others, the Mexican meal was much easier than the rest while featuring ingredients I wouldn’t usually touch with a barge pole like smoked tofu, which when fried and served with a fresh kidney beans, spicy tomato and herb sauce, pancakes and sour cream was delicious. We made our own guacamole and some black beans to go with it and had a right feast, this being very much something I would cook over and over again and a dish that everyone loved.

The involtini was a bit more complex but so yummy it was worth it, the mix of feta, herbs, sultanas, lemon juice and pine nuts being stuffed into slowly roasted aubergine slices, rolled, covered in tomato sauce and then baked in the oven. It was so good we invited some friends round for dinner to help eat it, again proving to be a recipe to add to the repertoire.

The beetroot and mushroom curry I left until last, it sounding rather too vegan for me, not daring to even give it a title when I set it down on the table. It was quite labour intensive and rather too earnest although the homemade pakoras were a big hit. As everything is organic, even the rice had that nutty bite to it.

However Mr Greedy, against all predictions, smacked his lips and said “considering I hate beetroot with a vengeance and have eaten everything on my plate, that was pretty good.”

So there we go. We were all total and utter converts. But with around 1,400 of you already signed up to the Riverford veg and recipe boxes around Oxfordshire, you already know that.

Prices range from £29.95 for two meals for two people to £39.95 for three generous meals for two people.

http://www.riverford.co.uk/pet/somgt/checkout/