Headlines

 Changes to how you’re charged

We’re switching to a new database, which will mean great things for our veg boxes. We’ll have lots more info for you soon, but right now you need to know about our switch to weekly charges. You can find more info here. 

Online Shop Closes 9am Monday

Another part of our switch to the new database means that the deadline on the Online Veg Box Shop will now be 9am Monday. This is because once we’re on the new database, all changes to your deliveries will have the same 9am Monday deadline- it’ll make more sense once it’s launched but for now please make sure your orders are in early this weekend.

Annual Survey

It’s that time of year again! Fill out our annual customer survey to have your say. We want to know how we’ve done over the past year- what veg you liked, what you had a little too much of- and what we can do better. And as a bonus, you can enter the raffle to win a week of your veg box subscription free! Fill the survey out here. 

Make Sure You Get Our Emails

Just now our emails, including these newsletters, have lots of really vital info, so please make sure you’re receiving them. If they’re being sent to your spam folder or promotions tab, please whitelist our email address, add it to your contacts, or drag the email back to the main tab. 

Vote for Locavore

We’ve been shortlisted for Food Hero Scotland award, which recognises local sustainable food heroes! Please consider supporting us by dropping us a vote here to help us keep expanding and working to build sustainable and equitable food networks for Scotland. 

COP 26 Road Closures

As Glasgow prepares for COP 26, road closures have begun with more on the way. This may cause disruptions to our service, especially if you live on or near a closed road. We’ll be in touch if your deliveries will need to be rescheduled or paused, but please keep in mind that delays may be more common for the next month or so. 

 

In the Veg Boxes This Week

Subject to last minute changes

Check out storage guidance for helpful tips and tricks on how to prolong the life of your fresh produce. If you’re wondering where your veg comes from, have a look at these maps. You can also join your fellow subscribers over in the Facebook group for lots of tips, tricks, and recipe ideas!

To contact us, ring 0141 378 1672 or email us at subscribers@glasgowlocavore.org

Click here for Veg Box Contents

The Nice Bit

It’s Halloween. The leaves are falling all gold and orange and swirling dramatically around our feet as we stamp down damp concrete streets or along muddy paths. Little ghosts and goblins roam, looking for glowing pumpkins sitting squat on doorsteps and in windows. There’s a lot to be scared of- but don’t be scared of veg.  This week, I want to talk about how we get by with veg we don’t like. Not things we’re allergic to, of course, and not even things we really don’t want to eat. Some foods just strike some of us the wrong way and no recipe will ever help (like me, with mushrooms). But I mean the veg you’re fine with but don’t get excited about. The boring or bland, the fibrous or mushy. The veg you leave til there’s nothing else in the fridge. The blah.  I think there’s a way to cook these boring vegetables in a way that will make them your new favourite- or at least something you’re happy to eat. This week, some tips towards turning those vegetables that feel like a trick into a real treat. Roast it. Especially if you don’t love the texture of the veg, roasting most veg with lots of olive oil and a good pinch of salt, plus spices, herbs, and garlic as you choose, can go a long way. Sweetness is brought to the foreground. Root veg deepens, with sticky caramelisation along the edges of each slice. Greens get light and crisp, snackable. You can go on to blend the veg into a soup with infinite depth or make it into a salad. Roast beetroot or cauliflower pairs so well with tahini, feta and crispy roasted chickpeas.   Try grating and sauteeing at the start of a dish. This works really well with risottos (as pictured), pasta sauces, stews and much more. Beetroot adds sweetness and colour, courgettes add freshness, carrots and celery round out a ragu. You’re not hiding the veg- you’re combining it with other flavours so it’s part of a choir whose song is all the more melodic.   It gets a bad rap, but sometimes cooking veg low and slow transforms them so completely that everything challenging about them disappears. As this amazing article points out, kale, peas, chard and broccoli (among many others) benefit from a long time in the oven or on the stove. They soften and mellow, the texture changes entirely and any harsh flavours melt away.    Change the flavours. Local ingredients don’t have to mean local flavours, so look beyond the obvious when picking the flavours you want to use. Carrots go well with cumin and coriander or chinese five spice, squash likes curries, swedes like ginger and tumeric.    If it’s not the flavour that’s the problem, you can try adding texture. Shred and make fritters, or slice the veg into steaks or wedges and coat in breadcrumbs before frying or baking to add crisp contrast to veg that can lean mushy.    If all else fails, make a gratin. Root veg like swede or jerusalem artichokes, and tricky things like kohlrabi can all be made tasty with milk and/or cream (dairy or non-), cheese (ditto), and a long time in the oven. Grate in nutmeg or add herbs for interest and serve alone or as a side to almost anything.