I don’t mind cooking after a long day at work but I do find it difficult to plan in advance and come up with menu ideas. My usual weekday suppers tended to revolve around pasta and other carb-laden meals which are quick to prepare from cupboard ingredients but not very waistline-friendly. A publicity e-mail about the Riverford Organics Recipe boxes caught my eye recently and in an effort to trim down for the summer I ordered a box. I had used Riverford for their veg boxes for several years so I knew the product quality could be relied upon. The produce in the box was beautifully packed in special protective layers, the cool bag keeping the fridge items cold for several hours. You won’t need anything else for your cooking apart from a little oil, salt and pepper which you would normally have in your storecupboard. Ingredients such as cider vinegar, star anise, garlic, nutmeg and other herbs and spices are carefully packed in tiny little plastic pots and each week’s recipe box is collected when your next one is delivered, so recycling is not a problem.

Boxes are called Quick, Vegetarian and Original and contain either two or three recipes, ranging in price from £29.95 to £39.95 for the two-person boxes. You can also buy boxes that feed four people. We find the two person box feeds three of us easily (we add extra meat as necessary). The 24 recipes we have tried so far have been fun and easy to cook and we have not had a dud yet. One of our favourite recipes was crispy tofu and noodle salad with sugar snaps, sesame and miso dressing.

I now look forward to cooking every weekend knowing that I don’t have to think of what to buy and cook and I’m adding to my culinary skills too.

Find out more about Riverford here.