I’m a few weeks into an Oddbox veg box delivery but I’ve had an on-off relationship with vegetable box subscriptions for years.
When I still lived in London, I had a weekly Riverford delivery for about a year or so. I loved it. Despite living in a rough part of east London where the streets were littered with yellow signs appealing for witnesses to crimes, every Thursday upon returning from work, my box of vegetables would be waiting for me, unstolen, hidden under my black recycling box.
After moving to Kent, I carried on with Riverford and that was fine until I moved house and saw the same delivery driver also covered my new area. Self-consciousness got the better of me and I didn’t want the delivery driver to know I’d moved. No, I have no idea why either.
I tried Abel & Cole but got annoyed with the number of messages they constantly bombarded my inbox and phone with, then I tried a local one but didn’t appreciate the grumpy delivery man dumping the box on my doorstep without even bothering to knock on the door, plus the box only contained about four vegetables, all bigger than the size of my head which, as a single person, is no good to me. I’d prefer a few onions, not one massive one and I also haven’t got the space for giant vegetables that don’t fit in my fridge.
Oddbox veg box
Then I gave Oddbox a go. They appeared value for money and also delivered overnight so you woke up to your vegetables waiting for you in your front garden (or porch or wherever you tell them to leave it).
But they were so shit. I appreciate Oddbox’s schtick is to sell wonky vegetables supermarkets don’t want because they’re misshapen or because they have too many of them, which is great. But I do need vegetables that are fit to eat and not battered, bruised and full of holes.
To Oddbox’s credit, each time I complained, they partially refunded me and also gave me a discount on future boxes. Which would be all well and good, except, whenever I made changes to a box, the discount disappeared.
I gave Oddbox a few chances but they got too frustrating to deal with so I dumped them too.
Then a few months ago, a friend said she’d been getting an Oddbox veg box and I told her about my woes with them. She said she hadn’t had any problems and the quality had been great, so I thought I’d give them another chance.
The improvement since I last used them is immense.
The quality is superb, the variety is great and the amount of produce you get is good value for money. Although exclusions have always been allowed, now it’s also really easy to swap anything in your box for something else (and also keep your exclusions so, if they can’t provide something you’ve asked for, you won’t get something you definitely don’t want. In my case, avocado, parsnips and beetroot. I actually love beetroot but only when it comes ready peeled and cooked.)
I’m so happy with the new, improved Oddbox. An Oddbox wonky veg box won’t be for everyone because it’s not local and organic but it works for me because, despite being vegetarian for over 30 years, I’m unlikely to actually go out and buy vegetables apart from whatever I want to make soup out of that week for lunch and so, having a box of vegetables delivered every week means they’ll get eaten, otherwise it’d be a waste.
Using ChatGPT for recipes
Along with the fruit and vegetables in the box, you get a little leaflet telling you where that week’s produce has come from and how to store it. You also get a recipe, which is nice, but my absolute favourite way to get recipes for the vegetables in my delivery box is to ask ChatGPT. AI haters, look away now.
As a food blogger, I get the irony of asking ChatGPT for a recipe instead of searching for food blogs but I’m with the majority of the public who can’t be arsed scrolling through bloggers’ life stories and wading through ads before getting to a recipe that’s probably not really what you were looking for anyway.
ChatGPT has given me, without fail, simple recipes using the items I’ve told it I’ve got and so far I haven’t had to go to the shop for anything else, which suits someone as lazy as me.
For example, after asking for a vegan recipe using sweet potatoes, spinach, red pepper and vegan yoghurt, it gave me an amazing recipe for spinach and red pepper stuffed sweet potatoes with vegan yoghurt sauce. I didn’t even know I liked sweet potatoes until I tried this recipe.
Want the recipe? Here you go:
Spinach and Red Pepper Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Vegan Yoghurt Sauce
Ingredients:
For the sweet potatoes:
• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
For the filling:
• 1 red pepper, finely chopped
• 2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 small onion or garlic clove (optional), finely chopped
• 1 tsp smoked paprika or cumin (optional)
• Olive oil for sautéing
• Salt to taste
For the vegan yoghurt sauce:
• 1/2 cup vegan yoghurt
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp finely chopped red pepper (raw or roasted)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• Optional: pinch of garlic powder or chopped fresh herbs
⸻
Instructions:
1. Bake the sweet potatoes:
Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). Prick sweet potatoes with a fork, rub with a little olive oil, salt, and roast for about 40–50 mins until tender.
2. Prepare the filling:
In a pan, heat a bit of olive oil. Sauté onion/garlic if using, then add red pepper and cook for 3–4 minutes. Add chopped spinach and sauté until wilted. Season with salt, pepper, and a bit of spice if desired.
3. Make the yogurt sauce:
Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Adjust lemon, salt, and pepper to taste.
4. Assemble:
Once sweet potatoes are soft, slice open and gently mash the insides with a fork. Pile in the spinach-pepper filling, and drizzle generously with the yogurt sauce.
How much is an Oddbox veg box?
I’d been getting the Oddbox small vegetable box which, at the time of writing costs £13.98 but then I decided I should probably eat more fruit and so I’ve switched to the extra small fruit and veg box which is currently £13.48.
The small veg box is definitely better value as you get so much more in it, but the smaller amount in the extra small fruit and veg box means less will get wasted (but if Oddbox ever do an extra small veg only box, I’d be delighted).
I haven’t been paid to review Oddbox and I buy the box out of my own money but if you’d like to sign up for an Oddbox veg box, if you use this link to do it, you’ll get £10 off your first box and I’ll also get a £10 credit.
Sign up for an Oddbox wonky veg box here and get £10 off your first purchase.