Make Do for veg boxes
Veg box or CSA share? How to use every vegetable
The box arrives full of good intentions and a lot of chard. How to get through all of it before the next one lands.
A veg box or CSA share is one of the best ways to eat well: seasonal, fresh, often local, and full of things you would never have picked yourself. It is also a weekly deadline. The next box is coming whether or not you have got through the chard, and nothing feels worse than composting good vegetables you paid for in advance.
Unpack it the day it arrives
Ten minutes when the box lands saves most of the waste later. Take everything out, see what you have, and store each thing where it lasts:
| Vegetable | Store | Cook |
|---|---|---|
| Salad leaves, spinach, chard | Fridge drawer, wrapped in a damp towel | First, within 2–4 days |
| Soft herbs | Stems in a glass of water | First |
| Mushrooms, soft fruit, sweetcorn | Fridge; mushrooms in paper | First |
| Broccoli, beans, courgettes (zucchini), peppers | Fridge drawer | Within the week |
| Leeks, fennel, kohlrabi | Fridge drawer | Within the week |
| Carrots, beetroot, celeriac, turnips | Fridge, tops removed | Any time in 2–3 weeks |
| Cabbage, squash, onions, potatoes | Cabbage in the fridge; the rest somewhere cool and dark | Last; they will wait |
Cut the leafy tops off roots before storing them, because they draw moisture out of the root. Beetroot and turnip tops are good to eat too: cook them like chard.
Cook in the right order
The trick with a box is to reverse the usual question. Do not ask what you fancy; ask what will not last. Cook the leaves, herbs and soft things in the first few days and leave the roots, squash and cabbages for the end of the week. By the time the next box comes, you are down to the long keepers, which roll over happily.
Dishes that eat a lot of vegetables
- Soup: the universal answer. Almost any combination works with an onion, stock and a potato.
- Traybakes: roast roots, squash, fennel, onions and brassicas together with oil and a spice mix.
- Frittata: takes greens, leeks, peppers and courgettes, plus whatever cheese is in the fridge.
- Curry or dal: absorbs chard, spinach, squash and cauliflower by the kilo.
- Slaw: kohlrabi, cabbage, carrot, beetroot and fennel, shredded raw with a sharp dressing.
- Fritters: grated courgette, carrot, sweetcorn or beetroot, bound with egg and flour.
The mystery vegetable
Every box eventually brings something you do not recognise. Most unfamiliar vegetables can be:
- roasted in oil and salt at about 400°F (200°C) until browned,
- added to soup, or
- shredded raw into a salad or slaw.
Or photograph the box with Make Do. It names what it can see, and you can correct anything it gets wrong. Then it suggests recipes that use it alongside everything else in your fridge.
What to do when you fall behind
- Blanch and freeze greens. Two minutes in boiling water, cool, squeeze and freeze in balls. Ready for soups and curries.
- Make a big batch of soup or sauce and freeze it in portions.
- Roast everything left on the last night and keep it for lunches.
- Skip or pause a delivery. Most box schemes let you, and it is better than composting a week's worth.
Let Make Do plan the box
Photograph the fridge when the box arrives and Make Do reads everything in it, with how quickly each thing needs using. Its five recipes put the fragile vegetables first, and it can plan your next three dinners around what is left, in the order that wastes least. Scan again mid-week and it remembers what has been waiting longest.
See also ten dinners from odds and ends for the night before the next delivery.
Questions
What should I cook first from a veg box?
Leafy greens, herbs, soft fruit, mushrooms and anything already cut. Roots, squash, cabbages and onions keep for weeks and can wait.
What can I do with vegetables I don't recognise?
Most unfamiliar vegetables can be roasted with oil and salt, added to soup, or shredded raw into a salad or slaw. Photograph the box with Make Do and it will name them and suggest recipes.
How do I stop my veg box going to waste?
Unpack it the day it arrives, store each item where it keeps best, cook the fragile things first and blanch and freeze greens you cannot get to.
