Sponsored by
Ask Sarah
Q. I recently signed up for a vegetable box scheme. The trouble is, I'm often at a loss what to do with the more 'exotic' vegetables that have been included. Jane Thompson
A. I'm a big fan of vegetable box schemes and one of the highlights of my week is delving into a newly delivered box to see what seasonal goodies I've been sent.
There's always something surprising and half the fun is working out what to do with it all. Before I signed up for a scheme I'd never heard of Jerusalem artichoke, kale or celeriac, let alone tasted any of them, but nothing much phases me now. It's certainly helped expand my cooking skills and made me appreciate the range and diversity of vegetables grown in this country.
If you're looking for some much-needed inspiration, I'd recommend you get hold of a copy of The Abel & Cole Cookbook. It's been written especially for people who want to make the most of their weekly veg box and is packed with hundreds of ideas on how to prepare, store and cook all sorts of weird and wonderful-looking vegetables.
More importantly, it's all about having fun in the kitchen, experimenting with different flavours and textures and creating your own unique recipes and menus from scratch.
Written by Keith Abel, the founder of Abel & Cole, one of the UK's leading organic home delivery services, the book's 224 pages are crammed with seasonal and unfussy recipes that are as enjoyable to read as they are to taste.
In Keith's own words: "If you think cooking is a chore, you must be doing something wrong…"
The paperback version of the Abel & Cole Cookbook is available from all good bookshops for 12.99, but you can also order a copy direct from the Abel & Cole website (www.abelandcole.co.uk).
Of course, if you don't have the money to splash out on a copy of the book you can always order it from your local library. There's also a wealth of veggie box recipes on the web. The best of these is www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk, a veritable smorgasbord of tasty recipes and hints and tips for getting the most from your veggie box.
Q. I often feel like I'm walking into an ethical minefield when I visit my local supermarket. How on earth am I supposed to know which brands have the best environmental record or policies?
D. Gleeson
A. You need to call in the product police. The Ethical Consumer Research Association has been investigating the contents of our shopping baskets for the last 20 years and advising its members on the most ethical and environmental products to buy.
It researches the companies behind the brands you buy, rating them out of 20 and producing a huge number of reports covering everything from the best (and worst) cola, cornflakes and washing up liquid to more expensive items such as television sets, trainers and mobile phones.
A little like Which?, its Ethiscore website (www.ethiscore.org) is the place to go to read its latest reports and you'll be left in no doubt which products to buy and which ones to avoid.
While it's a subscription based website – with annual fees of 19.50 – there are plenty of free reports to download too, including ones on desktop computers, coffee, soft drinks, toys and even toilet cleaners.
Subscriber benefits include access to the latest reports, updated on a daily basis, and the ability to add any number of products from any number of reports to a virtual shopping list which users can then print out and take shopping with them.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Bakewell
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -3 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 2 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: West
