What’s in the box August 11/12

Go here for the list of contents for this week!

Spring must be just around the corner as, bit by bit, some different produce finds it’s way into our boxes!

The citrus is still just beautiful and the apples we had last week were delightfully fragrant.  Still plenty of mandarins – too many, if I listen to my kids – but once they are finished it will be a long time before we see them again!  There is still resistance to the cauli on the home front, but the broccoli is going down a treat.  I usually just steam it and squeeze a bit of lemon juice over it, but it also makes a very nice salad  – lightly steamed and chopped into florets, mixed with almond flakes and/or sunflower seeds, snipped chives and crisped fried bacon bits, dressed with a yoghurt/tahini dressing or some mayo lightened up with a dollop of light sour cream.

Rocket and zucchini are making an appearance now, as is my favourite – fennel.  The crunchy fennel bulb blends deliciously with orange slices, olives, some chopped flat leaf parsley and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil for a refreshing salad.  However, my very favourite way to serve it is by slicing it, thinly slicing peeled or unpeeled potatoes and alternating  overlapping layers of each in a shallow baking dish, drizzling generously with extra virgin olive oil (Adelaide hills, of course!) and plenty of salt and pepper.  Bake, uncovered for about 40 (ish) minutes at 180C, until the spuds are crispy and the fennel is starting to caramelise a bit – bliss!