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News

Tasty treats were in abundance in Cheshire last night (November 25) with Riverford Organic doing a taste session. Not only were their vegetable boxes put to good use, there were samples of brownies, clotted cream, sloe gin, Christmas pudding, wine and much more.

However, this wasn't just an open house for greedy writers like me to come along and help themselves. The organic food box company is launching a new scheme, called Riverford Cooks, to help families come up with more inventive ideas to use up the produce in their weekly vegetable box.

Chef Martin Hart had come up with some unusual but rather tasty delights, as well as demonstrating some from the new Riverford cookbook. My favourite was the squash pesto; a really simple recipe involving roasting a squash and then squishing it up with basil, roasted pine nuts, parsley, olive oil and parmesan.

The creamy sprout dip gave a nice bite to the sometimes-soggy and unloved festive vegetable. With creme fraiche , mayo, Dijon mustard and lemon juice, you can transform a bag of mini-cabbages into a sophisticated dip that could be served as a canape.

Another dish that caught my eye was from the Riverford Farm Cookbook and was a warm red cabbage salad with toasted walnuts and blue cheese - tasty.

Riverford Organics is a network of organic farms, providing vegetable boxes, with our local farm being Stockley Farm, over near Northwich. They are now helping customers get the most out of the boxes with a few great ideas including the Chop and Chat evenings, which was showcased at the Seashell Trust last night.

Another idea is called the Riverford Lunch Chain, where a customer invites a group of people over to meet their local Riverford Cook for some great tips and advice.

The Riverford Supper Club will be held a few times a year in a local cafe or village hall and will bring together the seasonal produce, the talents of the Riverford Cook and lots of customers to enjoy the cooking.

Having a glut of a previously unknown vegetable is a common complaint for those who get organic vegetable boxes, so this is a great way of tackling it, as well as giving people some nice ideas. All too often vegetables are just a token effort - the support slot to the meat. So try making veg the star of the show and it's quite surprising what you can come up with.

www.riverford.co.uk

For Christmas offers and events, visit Taste of Manchester's Taste of Christmas mini-website.