The Organic Collective and my resulting lentil curry 9
The Organic Collective
Fitzy's been talking up The Organic Collective in recent times so this week we decided to give them a try. We've used online shopping sites before to get our groceries but found that it was just as time consuming. Some of the limitations in choice were annoying and we've since abandoned the idea.
The Organic Collective works differently though in that each week they'll send you a box of whatever they have. My understanding is that a whole bunch of farmers rock up with whatever ever they've got and throw it into a massive pile and then little elves sort the fruit and vegetables into boxes of different sizes for different customers with different requirements. You can make recommendations and they'll take your preferences into account, but the real magic comes when you let them run the show.
We ordered a single-person's box of fruit and vegetables (on advice from Emma) and whilst it was good value, there's no way it'll last us for the week. I think we'll need a small family box, which normally services 3 or 4 people.
The box had been left at our doorstep for a few hours which meant we were greeted with some muddy water. The ice had melted and the potatoes were unwashed which is why the water was brown. For a second I thought "ohh great, dirty vegetables" but then common sense kicked in... they spent their whole life covered in dirt!
We got a great range including Red and Golden Delicious apples, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, heaps of squash, pears, tomatoes, onion, garlic, broccoli, avocado and cauliflower. We spread them out on some tea-towels to clean them and a few things were noticeable.
Firstly, as Adam's noted, the vegetables are quite small. They're not pumped with massive amounts of pesticides, herbicides and grow-big-to-make-more-money-cides. Also, the colours are legitimate. I say that because sometimes I think fresh produce can look like it's fake. These tomatoes are really red, and the apples were really golden.
I love knowing that it was picked only a few hours (maybe days) beforehand and not 18 months ago, which is how old some of our produce is. The food all looked really fresh - the pears had leaves stuck to them and the tomatoes had some of the bush with it too.
As for taste - they're unbeatable. The apple I devoured straight away was crisp and full of flavour.
Maggie wanted me to make something for dinner that used a lot of vegetables so we could give them a go. She had bought some lentils with shopping a few weeks back and suggested I try and make a pasta that used them. Checking the cupboard was not very motivational because it was the day before I was meant to do the shopping and as such a little bare. No pasta for Mags. I did however remember Adam knocking out a vegetable curry that was pretty good when he and Kirstie had us over for dinner a few weeks back. What's that saying? "Imitation is the highest form of flattery."
Matt's Lentil Curry
Follow this simple recipe to create a vegetarian curry delight.
Ingredients
- 1 large carrot
- 1 onion
- 3 medium potatoes
- half a clove of garlic
- 1 cup brown lentils
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup stock (vegetable recommended)
- squirt of oil - vegetable, canola or Castrol GTX are all fine choices
- a few grinds of salt
- a few grinds of pepper
- 1 tsp curry powder (2 tsp if you're feeling tougher)
- generous dash of caraway seeds
- chili flakes as required
Steps
- We can have lots of fun.
- There's so much we can do.
- It's just you and me.
- I can give you more.
- Rinse the lentils thoroughly and place them in a covered pot.
- Add two cups of water, the salt and oil and bring them to a slow boil.
- Peel and dice the potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Boil the potatoes in a separate pot for 6-8 minutes.
- Slice or dice the onion according to preference. I like to slice. Peel and slice the carrot into discs. Drop them both into the lentil pot.
- Crush the garlic, all the time exclaiming "I will crush you!" Add it directly to the lentils along with the caraway seeds and pepper.
- When the potatoes are partly cooked drain them and add them to the lentil pot.
- Add the curry powder and chili flakes to the stock and mix well. Add your super-broth to the lentil pot.
- Simmer on a low heat for 10-12 minutes whilst taking a warm, relaxing bath. Stir occasionally.
We had the curry on its own but it would have been better with rice (see the part about us having a bare cupboard). As an alternative you could add tomatoes or a dash of cinnamon to alter the flavours. Squash would also work but I think it's a filler vegetable that doesn't add any flavours, so I don't like them much. The meal was a hit with Maggie proclaiming it was one of my finest creations to date. Simple yet delicious.
After Thoughts
The interesting thing was that whilst we were both filled with the meal, in the morning we were ravenous. It wasn't a lasting fullness. I don't know enough about nutrition but I'd suspect it's either because we digest the vegetables quicker, they don't contain the same levels of "energy" as meat, or both. I don't know how you vegetarians manage to live on just vegetables, unless you eat them by the ton? It might be something your body adapts to, and I certainly liked the change, but as Sam Neill will tell you: we were meant to eat red meat. Personally, I couldn't handle the increased illness that my vegetarian/vegan friends appear to suffer from.
I like cooking without a recipe book and following my own instincts, though it might be restrictive in itself if I continue to rely on the same ingredients, though that thought is probably for another post.
What's your recommendations for my next exploration into unguided cooking? Vegetarian or otherwise: what should I have a crack at next?
... and low and behold, the dots were connected and we now have Pandora's Battery available to PSP enthusiasts around the world. You can make your own by cracking open a standard battery and lifting a pin off the board but that ruins the battery and there's potential for tears, so I 
