There’s always something a little bit exciting about opening a brand new box, even if there are clues on the outside. The Little Box of Veg looks enticing – and the 48 colour-coded cards inside the box present just the right amount of information for time-poor vegetable-loving cooks.
Zaslavsky is an award-winning Australian author and broadcaster who’s a huge vege enthusiast. She believes in your ability to wow your guests too. Her Little Box recipe for Dinner-party Brussels Sprouts, for example is “sure to turn even the most bullish Brassica denier into a believer”!
It took me a minute or so to crack the colour code: the beige, yellow, orange, purple, light green or dark green colour of each card matches the colour of the vege depicted. So, for example, the beige cards cover garlic, daikon and parsnip (and other beige veges), the purple cards cover veges such as eggplant, and the red cards include chilis and tomatoes. All of the veges featured are easy to find in New Zealand, although we know some of them by other names.
When you first open the box, the cards are sorted by colour although the order of the cards within each colour-coded category is random. If you want to quickly locate a particular vege you may need to first sort the cards alphabetically. I was a bit puzzled by the lack of an index card – you’ll need to flick through the whole set to check if a particular vege is represented in the box or not. Still, with only 48 veges included, that’s easy enough to do.
The smooth double-sided cards are approximately hand-sized, larger than a regular playing card, but smaller than a CD case. Side 1 has an image of a vege with a brief description of its unique features, info about “buying & storing”, “preparing & cooking”, and advice about what that vege best goes with. There are also quick ideas for using the vege – how to make garlic paste, for example, and a suggestion to tie lemongrass into a knot before adding it to broth. Some cards include mini-recipes on Side 1 – such as instructions for a fast one-pan parsnip soup.
Side 2 of each card has a full recipe with an indication of how many servings you can expect. Again, I found the lack of an index card frustrating – there’s no speedy way to locate a particular recipe. However, the recipes are appealing and there are photos of the final products on some cards. Although each recipe features the key vege, there are many other ingredients required too and some of the recipes are more complex than others. The majority are savoury, although there are several sweeter dishes such as celery and apple granita, and rhubarb crumble.
Having recently subscribed to a regular delivery box of vegetables, I can see these recipes prompting me to be a little more adventurous on nights when I need to throw dinner together in a hurry. I’d never thought about adding rocket to pasta for example, or of making rocket pesto. Forest Floor Fry-Up, the Fattoush Platter, and the Fennel Cacciatore have already caught my eye.
It’s unlikely that The Little Box of Veg will replace your favourite recipe book, although it would be a great gift for someone without much kitchen space, a friend with a plant-based lifestyle, or a student flatter needing inspiration to up their vege game.
Reviewer: Anne Kerslake Hendricks
Murdoch Books