Competition | win a foodie hamper from Abel & Cole

A basketful of delicious treats, thoughtfully sourced, to cheer dark evenings

Abel & Cole have been delivering delicious organic food for 30 years now. With award-winning animal welfare credentials, top-rated treats, and plenty of plant-powered options, all the delicious goodies in Abel & Cole’s catalogue taste as good as the eco glow they’ll give you. From moreish pies, pastries and tarts to savoury charcuterie, interesting cheeses and wines and fizzes, you’ll find something to bring a little cheer to any winter evening.

Our favourite part? It’s all wrapped up in recyclable, reusable packaging and dropped to your door by their own cheery drivers. Each delivery is carefully planned to be as efficient and carbon-friendly as possible, always putting the planet first. All of which means you can feel completely happy with what you put on the table, whether you’re enjoying a cosy dinner in for two or are planning to be feeding a crowd.

WIN ONE OF THREE FOODIE HAMPERS

Abel & Cole have put together a foodie hamper to appeal to gourmands, worth £120 each, and we have three to give away. To be in with a chance of winning one just click the button below and answer the following question:

Q: For how long has Abel & Cole been delivering organic food?

Terms and conditions

Entrants must live within an Abel & Cole delivery area – please check your postcode at: abelandcole.co.uk/help/faq. Three prize winners will be picked at random from all valid entries and notified via their entry email address. The winner must claim the prize within three days of notification, after which time an alternative winner will be selected. For full terms and conditions, visit abelandcole.co.uk/terms-conditions. You’ll find Iceberg’s full terms and conditions on page 127 and online at icebergpress.co.uk/comprules Entry closes at 10pm on 27 December 2019.

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More festive food to get you in the mood…

More from our December issue…

Sponsored post | The Only Way Is Ethics

Abel & Cole is committed to food sourced from organic farms. Ed Ayton from its Green Team explains

How did it all start?

It was 30 years ago (aah, the 80s!) that Keith Abel ditched law for veg and never looked back. He started with a bag of spuds, selling door to door. Before long, a chap called Bernard Gauvier, who we still work with today, offered him some organic potatoes. Organic spuds became spuds and eggs, and then spuds, eggs and vegetables, and so Abel & Cole’s organic veg box was born.

What are the biggest changes that have happened since then?

Going digital in the early 00s. We went from going door to door to selling online. It’s meant we can share our love of organic food more easily.

What are you most passionate about?

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention what started it all – a love of organic. It’s at the heart of everything we do. We’re about food as it should be, free from artificial fertilisers, herbicides and GM feeds – food that meets UK certified organic standards. Real commitment is needed to go organic, and you can taste the difference.

Tell us about the eco credentials you’re most proud of.

We have a lot to be proud of! For starters, the packaging innovations we’ve made. We avoid it altogether where possible, and invest a lot into reusing, recycling and reducing what we do use – we’ve calculated that our fruit and veg deliveries use 71% less plastic than the major supermarkets. Instead of polystyrene boxes we use wool to insulate the cold items in our deliveries, and we’ve also developed alternatives such as our compostable carrot bags. If any of our customers aren’t able to recycle or compost something we’ve sent, we’ll pick it up the next week and do it for them.

Celebrating seasonal food and prioritising UK farmers reduces our energy costs. Working closely with our suppliers to plan their harvests together, being flexible and seasonal with what goes into our boxes, and inspiring our customers with delicious leftover recipes, are some of our strategies for reducing food waste. In our pursuit of offering the most sustainable service we can, everything is considered: even our paper newsletters are FSC-certified, carbon-balanced and printed using vegetable ink.

How do you keep ahead of the competition?

By sticking to our values and always asking what we can do better. Through working directly with our growers, makers and bakers, we can continue to bring our customers new and exciting organic food. We can offer technical and financial assistance to support their innovation (like unheated polytunnel growing, to achieve what could be the first commercial, organic sweet potato crop in the UK), or help them through their organic certification process.

What’s next for the company?

Lettuce just look into our crystal ball... We continue to innovate, whether that’s developing our packaging, being part of the Clean Van Commitment (helping the UK put more electric vans our roads) or building on our work as a socially responsible B Corp. We’ve never been ones to rest on our laurels – it’s what’s kept us going since the 80s

More from our June issue…

Sponsored post: Abel & Cole's Crab Spaghetti

Bring coastal cheer to a midweek supper with help from our friends at Abel & Cole

You'll know all about wild, foraged foods if you've leafed through the latest edition of The Simple Things. In fact, if you hold your ear close to Abel & Cole’s wild coastal mix, you just might hear the lapping of the waves. This seasonal selection of freshly-foraged greens are the perfect accompaniment to a crab spaghetti, rustled up in double-quick time.

Quick Crab Spaghetti with Wild Sea Vegetables

This supper is like the seaside on a plate, starring a mix of wild foraged sea veg – including samphire, all gathered specially for us – which go swimmingly with sweet Cornish crab, stirred into a buttery pasta sauce with a pinch of chilli heat.

Ingredients

• 80g wild coastal mix from Abel & Cole

• 2 garlic cloves

• 1 lemon

• A handful of flat leaf parsley, leaves only

• 200g spaghetti

• 45g butter

• A pinch or 2 of dried chilli flakes

• 100g white crab meat

• Freshly ground pepper

• 50g watercress

• 1 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar

Method

1. Put a large pan of water on to boil. Give the sea veg a good wash. Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Finely grate the zest from the lemon. Pick the parsley leaves from their stalk and roughly chop them (discard the stalks or keep them to go in your stockpot).

2. When the water in the pan is boiling, add the sea veg. Simmer for 3 mins, then scoop them out of the water and pop them aside in a colander to cool for a min. (See our tip for what to do with each type of veg, once it’s cool enough to handle.) Set the prepped sea veg to one side.

3. Bring the water back to the boil and add the spaghetti. Simmer for 8 mins till the spaghetti is tender but still with some bite.

4. While the spaghetti simmers, put a deep frying pan on a medium heat for 2 mins, then add the butter and swirl it round the pan till it’s melted. Add the garlic and a pinch or 2 of the chilli flakes (they’re hot, so use as large or little a pinch as you like). Fry, stirring, for 30 secs till the garlic is golden.

5. Flake the crab meat into the pan. Crack in a little black pepper and fry, stirring, for 3 mins. Then add the sea veg and the lemon zest to the pan. Fry, stirring for another 2 mins.

6. The spaghetti should be ready by now. Scoop 1 cup of water out of the pan (mind your fingers). Drain the spaghetti, then add it to the frying pan with the crab. Add around 50ml of the pasta water then toss to mix everything together.

7. Divide the crab spaghetti between 2 warm plates. Serve with handfuls of the watercress on the side, drizzled with 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar.

Recipe: Easiest strawberry ice cream ever!

No fancy ice cream machine? Fear not, for this frozen berry beauty from our friends at Abel and Cole you only need a freezer. And by using coconut milk instead of cream, is good for vegans too. Everyone's a winner!

Ingredients

1 punnet strawberries
2 tablespoons icing sugar
A splash of cream, coconut milk or orange juice

1. Trim the tops off the berries and roughly chop. Freeze until frozen solid, at least 2 hours but preferably overnight.

2. Break the frozen berries up and place in a food processor with the sugar and 50ml cream. Start the motor going on your food processor and trickle in more cream until the mix comes together.

3. Take it slowly, though, and don't go mad with the cream as the berries will warm up as they churn, gently softening the mix to the most stunningly fresh homemade ice cream you'll ever dip your spoon into. 

Abel and Cole have even made a video showing just how simple this is.

July is National Ice Cream month so give our Peppermint Chocolate Chip recipe a try as well!

Two seasonal salad recipes from Abel & Cole for National Vegetarian Week

It's National Vegetarian Week and we're going bright and shiny with two beautifully colourful salad recipes from our friends at Abel & Cole. 

* Offer: The Simple Things readers get a free Abel & Cole grow-your-own-garden - a box of mini plants all ready to plant out in the garden, with an RRP £35 - and 4th veg box free when signing up to a delivery.  Use the code TST15 on sign up. *

Piñata Salad

Grab your salad spoons and whack away at this zesty (thank you, limes) spring number. Blindfold optional of course.

It’ll take
15 mins (prep)
1-2 mins (cook)

It’ll feed
2 people

Ingredients
1 beetroot
2 carrots
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 lime
A punnet of alfalfa sprouts
A handful of coriander
1 avocado

Step by step

Peel and coarsely grate your beetroot and carrots.

Set a dry frying pan over high heat. Add your cumin seeds. Lower heat. Toast for 1-2 mins till just fragrant*. Scatter all (hang onto a pinch for later) in with your grated veg.

Grate the zest of your lime into the salad mix. Add a good squeeze of juice. Gloss with a little oil. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to mix.

Rinse and drain your alfalfa sprouts. Roughly chop your coriander. Set aside a pinch of coriander. Gently mix the sprouts and remaining coriander through the salad.

Halve, stone and peel your avocado. Divide the salad between two large bowls or plates. Pop the avocado halves in the centre. Season well. Add a good squeeze of lime juice and a gloss of oil. Finish with the reserved cumin seeds and chopped coriander.

* Going raw? Skip toasting your seeds. If you do toast them it’ll bring out the oils to make them more fragrant and tasty.

Golden Sunshine Salad

It takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds for light to travel from the sun to us. It takes just a few minutes more to whip up this organic sunshine salad.

It’ll take
15 mins (prep)
2 mins (cooking)

It’ll feed 
2-4 people

Ingredients 
1 lettuce
½ pineapple or 1 ripe mango*
A thumb of turmeric
A few pinches of sea salt
A drop of honey (optional)
100g mixed bean sprouts
1 carrot
1 lime
A handful of fresh coriander
2 tsp cumin seeds
A gloss of oil
2 garlic cloves
1 chilli

Step by Step

Slice the base from your lettuce. Tumble the leaves into a large bowl. Gently tear any larger leaves. Rinse well. Drain. Pat dry.

Slice the mango or pineapple into chunks. Cut the skin off. Place all the flesh from your fruit into a food processor or blender. Peel a 2cm chunk of peeled turmeric. Add it with a pinch of salt. Blend till smooth. Taste. Add a drop of honey or more turmeric, if needed, till it’s just right for you.

Gently mix your dressing through the leaves. Arrange the dressed leaves on a large platter or on individual plates.

Rinse your sprouts and carrot. Tumble the sprouts into the bowl you used for the lettuce (let them lap up any leftover dressing). Peel the carrot into thin ribbons using a veg peeler. Add them to the sprouts. 

Add the lime zest and juice. Season with a pinch of salt. Rinse, shake dry, roughly chop and add your coriander to the carrot/sprout mix.

Set a frying pan over medium heat. Add your cumin seeds. Toast till just fragrant. Scatter them over the sprout mix. Arrange this over your dressed leaves.

Pour enough oil into your pan to coat the bottom. Peel and thinly slice your garlic. Thinly slice your chilli. Fold them through the hot oil with a pinch of salt. Sizzle till just golden. Remove with a slotted spoon. Scatter over the salad. Drizzle a hint of the warm, spiced oil over and serve.

*Mango a little firm? Pop it in a paper bag with a banana and it should ripen in day or two. 

These recipes are from Abel & Cole's new Super Salad Box - available weekly for £19.50.

Recipe: Griddled Courgettes with Turmeric & Pickled Chilli

Ever thought you’d wake up craving courgettes? Well, this recipe might just make you do that. It’s a fabulous side for roast lamb, pan-fried hake or daal and rice.

Griddled Courgettes with Turmeric & Pickled Chilli

Prep: 10 mins
Cooking: 20 mins

Feeds: 2-4 people

2-3 large courgettes
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
A gloss of olive oil
1 red chilli
75ml cider vinegar
2 tsp honey
2 tsp ground turmeric
Natural yogurt, to serve (optional)

Trim off the woody top end of your courgette. Using a large knife, thinly slice lengthwise into long 1/2cm-thick panels (or, if you prefer, just slice into rounds).

Dust a little salt and pepper over the sliced courgettes. Gloss with a little bit of oil, but don’t saturate them.

Thinly slice your chilli into rounds. Warm the vinegar and honey in a little pan, just till the honey’s dissolved. Swirl in your chillies. Take off the heat. Let them steep while you cook your courgettes. 

Get a large frying or griddle pan smoking hot. Carefully arrange your courgette slices in a single layer. Cook till nicely charred on each side. You’ll probably have to cook them in batches. 

Once cooked, set on a cutting board and dust each layer with the ground turmeric. Repeat till all of your courgettes are used up.

Artfully arrange your turmeric-dusted courgettes on a platter or individual plates. Sprinkle a little sea salt and pepper over. Add a little gloss of oil, if needed and some drizzles of natural yogurt, too, if you fancy.

Dot the pickled chillies over the top. Save the pickling vinegar to make a salad dressing for big leafy green salad to serve alongside – simply shake the vinegar in a jam jar with an equal amount of olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Recipe: Abel & Cole 
Try a weekly box of organic, seasonal veg delivered to your door. 

 
ABEL & COLE OFFER

Order this week and get:

A FREE cookbook with your first delivery, and your 4th seasonal box FREE with a FREE bottle of organic Prosecco.

Visit Abel & Cole and enter the code TST14 at checkout.

Recipe: Harissa broth with kale and almond pesto

A potent broth full of zingy flavours and vibrant colours, Harissa broth with kale and almond pesto is a wonderful way to spring you through your day.
 

Top nutritionist Vicki from Abel & Cole says, “Almond and kale pesto is set to become the next pesto thing: the almonds are packed with magnesium for a calm 'get up and go', whilst providing a rich, creamy flavour/texture that is so much healthier than dairy cream and high in vegetarian alkaline protein, too. The Mediterranean vegetables offer the best combination of anti-oxidants to mop up the toxins in your body.” 
 

Harissa broth with kale and almond pesto

Serves: 2-3
 
1 carrot
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
500g tomatoes
A pinch of harissa (more or less, to taste)
35g flaked almonds
50g kale
1 lemon
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
 
1. Get a large pot hot. Peel or scrub your carrot. Finely dice. Finely dice your onion. Add a gloss of oil to your warmed pot. Tumble in the carrot and onion with a pinch of salt and pepper. Swirl through the oil. Lower heat. Sizzle till tender.
 
2. Finely chop your garlic. Set 1 tsp aside. Cut your tomatoes into a fine dice. Swirl them into the carrot and onion mix, along with a pinch of harissa.
 
3. Let the tomatoes cook right down till they’ve lost their shape and are almost a paste, about 10 mins.
 
4. Add 500ml water. Bring to a soft rolling boil. Cook till the broth has thickened. Taste and tweak spicing as you go.
 
5. To make the pesto, toast the almonds till just golden. Rinse and finely chop your kale. Blitz the almonds and the kale in a food processor with the reserved 1 tsp of garlic, 6 tbsp olive oil, the zest of your lemon, a squeeze of juice and a pinch of salt till it all comes together, trickling in more olive oil as needed. You want it to be a little loose, so you can swirl it through your soup. Taste and tweak as needed.
 
6. For a smoother broth, puree the soup before serving. Or keep it a little more rustic. Serve the with the pesto on the side, swirling it into the bowl as you serve.

Recipe: Abel & Cole - try a weekly box of organic, seasonal veg delivered to your door. Try the Superb Souping Box (£12.50) - 3 different recipes every week, each making 2-3 bowls per recipe.

 

ABEL & COLE OFFER

Order this week and get:

A FREE cookbook with your first delivery, and your 4th seasonal box FREE with a FREE bottle of organic Prosecco.

Visit Abel & Cole and enter the code TST14 at checkout.