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riverford vegetarian box: a review.


Founded in 1987, Riverford is passionate about organic fruit and vegetables which are both fresh and seasonal. With humble roots in Devon which have now grown to serving almost 50,000 boxes a week to the UK, Riverford works with regional farms to keep the environment happy too. With so many recipe boxes and fruit and vegetable deliveries on offer these days, it's hard to know which to go for. I tried out one of their award winning vegetarian recipe boxes (£33.95 for three recipes) to see what it was all about. 


The delivery came first thing in the morning, for me before 8am, so it was just enough time to pop the perishables in the fridge before heading to work. Not that I needed to worry anyway. My super friendly delivery driver asked where I'd usually want the delivery leaving had I not been in. With ice packs and eco-friendly packaging the parcel would have been fine on my back porch. 


This week the vegetarian recipes happened to be Squash & Tomato Dosa, Roast Cauliflower Gnocchi and Celeriac, Chickpea & Saffron with Maftoul. As you can see the organic veg was very vibrant and absolutely beautiful. Alongside I found the usual recipe box accompaniments, seasoning, veggie cheese and so on. Each recipe included the cooking time and equipment needed so there were no nasty surprises.



Day One. Roast Cauliflower Gnocchi with Sheep's Cheese, Crispy Garlic and Lemon

With a Tuesday delivery in my area, the first day brought about this delicious vegetarian gnocchi. I absolutely loved the used of crispy baked garlic (a whole bulb!) in this recipe, with mouthwatering cheese bringing together the roast cauliflower and gnocchi textures. This had the shortest prep and cook time at 40 minutes (the others were 45) although it definitely took less time than that. This was easily my favourite dish!


CeleriacChickpea & Saffron with Maftoul

Without giving too much away, for this recipe you simply needed two saucepans. Simple eh? I saved this one for the day after my Christmas party where I knew I'd feel a bit delicate and want simply but wholesome and nourishing flavours. This definitely hit the spot and I'd love to try using maftoul again. Or celeriac in curries and stews for that matter!



Squash & Tomato Dosa with a Green Coconut Relish

A divine recipe which tested my skills in making homemade dosa. This recipe called for a steamer which I was first surprised by. However it actually gave a cheeky tip on how to steam things without a steamer (hint hint: sieve over boiling water) which made it more accessible. I loved the flavours with this one, although I will say there was no warning of how spicy it would be! Then again I'm trying to build up a better spice tolerance so perhaps those hot green chillies did me good?! Overall another winning veggie recipe.



There's no doubt that what Riverford are doing is fantastic! I rustled these up in much less than 45 minutes and even on the worst of days these were some easy peasy, nourishing and inspiring meals for after a full working day. 

The ingredients were of great quality, the instructions clear and the end results was lovely. (If I say so myself!)

Have you ever tried Riverford or any other online meal boxes? I'd love to hear your experiences.

A few other bloggers who have tried the Riverford veggie boxes:

Find out more at riverford.co.uk

I was sent a complimentary box to review. All opinions are my own.

9 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great idea! :D It's nice that there is an organic vegetarian option for busy people who don't have time to plan their meals but still want to eat good quality, nutritious food. My meals are mainly vegetarian/vegan and the 3 recipes you tried sound really tasty. Who said vegetarian has to be boring! :)

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  2. I've had a few of these Riverford recipe boxes and they're fantastic! I love how they expand your repertoire of foods and techniques. We've saved some of the recipe cards and make them again and again. I love the sound of that gnocchi!

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  3. I have been buying these. Delicious on the whole. My only complaint is many are quite rich & full of full fat cream & cheese etc, so they're not so great if you're having to watch your fat intake for cholesterol etc.

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  4. You've persuaded me to give these a go! I struggle for inspiration in the kitchen when I'm busy at work etc. and these Healthy recipes and step by step guides look ideal. Great post!

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  5. I have never tried them before but the idea is great! Especially that they send you a recipe card with the box!

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  6. I tried Riverford last year and found the recipes to be ever so slightly more complicated than I might ordinarily expect from a recipe box, but their ingredients were of outstanding quality as you say!

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  7. I love Riverford. That cauliflower gnocchi sounds great too. Maybe I should make another order :) x

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  8. Riverford are fab arent they? We had 'Cheesey squash Bowls' which went down a storm. This looks so tasty.

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  9. Riverford recipe boxes are fantastic. I tried them recently and was amazed at how tasty the vegetables were and interesting selection of recipes. My favourite was the lentil and sweet potato pie.

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