I have never been very good at deciding what to cook based on what looks good (or has a good price!) in the supermarket. That requires a level of creativity, flexibility, and comfort with experimentation that I’m only just developing. No, I usually pick recipes and then send my husband to the store to get exactly what I’ve planned.
But I also really like buying local when I can, and I love the idea of being more in tune with the foods that are in season. Lately I’ve been feeling more and more frustrated at the unnecessary plastic packaging used by the supermarkets here, and with Brexit looming I’m more aware of how many foods in the supermarket are imported. So when I discovered Tatws Bryn, a business run by a local farmer who delivers weekly vegetable boxes, I had to set aside my cooking fears and check it out.
This week we received our first box — the smallest option, because we’re only two people and I wasn’t sure how much we could go through. I was immediately impressed by the quantity, variety, and quality of the vegetables:
I spent a couple days feeling intimidated, unsure where to start (and busy enough that I couldn’t just sit and ponder recipes). Then my husband dove in, making a lamb stew with potato, carrot, onion, and kale. I decided to make a lunch out of whatever we had on hand, cooking up some wheat noodles that had been sitting around along with the tiny leek, broccoli, and some of the red bell pepper in a stir fry. And then dinner was accompanied with a shaved brussels sprout salad that a coworker recently recommended, using both brussels sprouts and red onion. (Thanks, Catherine!)
We still have some vegetables left, but I finally believe we’ll be ready for next week’s delivery. I’m thinking about making a potato & leek soup (maybe also with roasted garlic, yum); there are a few carrots left that could go into a red cabbage coleslaw; and then it’s just finishing up the red onion and bell pepper. I’m pleased with our creative cooking, incredibly happy with the produce, and excited to try again with the next box!
Expat Linguist 