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In Season

SPRING VEGETABLES

Spring vegetables like purple sprouting broccoli, watercress and asparagus are so welcome at this time of year. At last the long hard days of winter are drawing to an end, although the weather can still be very unpredictable. But after months with little choice of seasonal produce, root crops are starting to dwindle, and some of the leafier vegetables are making an appearance. You'll have to wait a little longer, though, until there are fresh varieties of fruit on offer. Rhubarb is the only newcomer this season - and even that, although usually thought of as a fruit, is actually a vegetable.

Spinach A fantastic vegetable, and a super food crammed full of vitamins. Wash well, and cook it with no additional water. Spinach cooks right down, so buy plenty. You can steam or boil it, or cook, covered in a large bowl in a microwave, until the spinach collapses. When tender, put the spinach into a colander or sieve, and press out excess liquid. Then chop it finely, season with nutmeg, and serve as an accompaniment to chicken or fish. You can also use it salads, soups, quiches, curries and pasta sauces.

Summer Fruit and Vegetables

Enjoy the season of abundance with summer fruit and vegetables.
Keep your eyes open, though. Some summer fruit and vegetables are around for only a very short span, so make the most of them when you do spot them. Some freeze well, so if you have a particular passion - mine's blackcurrants - it's worth freezing a few so that you can enjoy that particular burst of flavour again, when the days are darker. But in the main, eat for the day, and always enjoy the seasonal offerings at their freshest and youngest.
As a way of having five a day, summer fruit and vegetables are unbeatable.
SERVING IDEAS FOR SUMMER FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
Think simple. Many are at their most delicious served with little adornment, so that the flavour isn't masked.
Vegetables are good lightly cooked or raw, in light dressings. Fruit are good raw, or cooked just long enough to let the juices run, with a sprinkling of caster sugar and a spoonful of cream – low fat is fine, or try yogurt.
Buy summer fruit and vegetables fresh, every day, and never think you can have too much. We eat strawberries for dessert almost every night in the season, and so far, no one's complained! It's a great way to make sure everyone gets enough fresh fruit and vegetables into their daily diet.
For other ways to use summer fruit and vegetables think about cold soups, salads – you can use fruit in these too – quiches and tarts, in sauces for pasta, risottos, as crudités with dips, in wine cups, ice creams, sorbets or mousses. There are dozens of delicious ways to use seasonal fruit and vegetables.
SUMMER FRUIT IN SEASON JUNE TO AUGUST
These fruits come into season gradually over the summer months. Some, like strawberries, start to disappear from mid-July, while others, like the currants, don't come into their own until later on in the summer.
Apricots Eat on their own; halve, stuff and bake; cook and puree to use in ice cream, mousse or soufflé.
Blackberries Pick from the hedgerows at the end of summer, rinse thoroughly before use. Perfect stewed with apples, alone or in crumbles and pies.
Blackcurrants Their intense flavour is best mixed with other fruits like strawberries, raspberries or apples. Puree and use in fools and ice creams.
Blueberries Sweet enough to eat raw without sugar. Also good with pancakes, in cakes, lightly stewed and spooned over ice cream, or baked into healthy blueberry muffins.
Cherries Sweet varieties are good raw and can be added to salads and fruit salads. Sharper varieties need cooking, to use in tarts, compotes, pancake fillings or as a tart sauce to serve with meat.
Gooseberries are very versatile. Click here for gooseberry recipes.
Loganberries A cross between a raspberry and a blackberry, these are quite hard to come by. They’re good raw with sugar and cream, pureed as a sauce, or to make a mousse or fool.
Plums Lots of different varieties, available right through the summer. Most are sweet enough to eat raw, or you can bake them, or make them into crumbles, pies or tarts. Try slices added to green or fruit salads, or bake them alongside meat.
Raspberries Eat raw, mix with other summer fruit in red fruit salads or compotes, use to fill flans or scones, puree to make sorbet, ice cream or a tangy sweet sauce.
Redcurrants Very pretty, but very tart. Add to blackcurrants and stew with sugar for pies, crumbles or summer pudding.
Strawberries, favourite of all the summer fruit. Click here for strawberry recipes.
Whitecurrants See redcurrants.
SUMMER VEGETABLES IN SEASON JUNE TO AUGUST
Like the summer fruit, the fresh young vegetables come into season gradually.

Asparagus Trim off ‘scales’ and tough root end, poach, steam, or roast with a little olive oil. Dress with vinaigrette, a little melted butter, or oil and lemon juice.

Aubergine (Eggplant) There’s no need to salt and drain aubergine. Rather than frying aubergines, which soak up huge amounts of oil, slice them, brush with oil and bake in oven until tender, then use in casseroles and bakes. Ideal with tomatoes and spices.
Broad beans If you grow your own, you can enjoy the beans whilst tiny and tender. Shops usually carry larger pods, and the beans are less digestible. Cook these in a little water until tender, then remove the skins before serving. Use in salads, serve pureed, or add to soups.
Broccoli Cut into florets and steam or stir-fry briefly to preserve nutrients. Makes excellent soup.
Carrots The smaller, the sweeter. Remove feathery green leaves before storing. Use raw, steam, stir-fry or roast. A dash of orange juice brings out the flavour.
Cauliflower Can be used raw in salads, steamed or stir-fried. Cook lightly for best flavour. Mild flavour marries well with spices or vinaigrette dressing.
Celery Cut into sticks for snacking, chop into salads, use to add flavour to soups and stocks, braise as an accompaniment.
Courgettes (Zucchini) Young, small ones have best flavour, and are less watery. Slice, grate or cut into ribbons to cook, or scoop out seeds, stuff and bake. They can be steamed, sautéed, stir-fried, roast in chunks.
Cucumbers Peel and cut into fingers for snacks, slice or chop into salads, add to bulgar or cous cous salads, mix with yoghurt for a refreshing tzatziki dip.
Fennel Aniseed flavour is most pronounced when raw. Chop finely into salads, cook on barbecue, or bring out the sweet flavour by braising gently in a little olive oil until lightly browned.
French beans Top and tail, then steam lightly. Eat hot, or leave to cool and use in salads.
Globe artichoke Remove stalks, then sit artichokes in a pan of boiling water and cook for 30-40 mins, until a leaf can be easily pulled away. Cool, pick off leaves and dip bases in dressing to eat. The central heart is the best bit.
Herbs Buy tender varieties, like dill, basil, coriander, in bunches and chop them generously into salads, stuffings, omelettes, rice and grain dishes, or use to make pesto.
Leeks Look out for baby leeks, to steam and serve whole. To clean leeks, remove root and tough green leaves, then slash vertically from the top and wash under running water, separating the layers to remove all traces of dirt. Shred or slice to cook, by steaming or stir-frying. Great in soups.
Lettuce Dozens of different types, so you can try them all over the summer. Wash and spin dry, shred or tear. Most usually eaten raw, but can also be added to stir-fries or soups.
Mange-tout (snow peas)
Peas (in pod) Best when young and small. Pop them out of the pods, use raw in salads, or lightly steamed. Add to risottos, use in soups, stew gently with a couple of lettuce leaves for added sweetness.
Peppers Red, yellow, orange, green, even purple. Flavour is enhanced with chargrilling, either under the grill, or by baking in hot oven for 20 mins until blistered. Put in a plastic bag so that the steam loosens skins. Peel and slice. Peppers are delicious raw in salads, or can be stuffed and baked.
Potatoes Tiny new potatoes are excellent in salads, or can be steamed or roast in their skins in a hot oven for 20 mins. Click here for potato recipes.
Radishes Longer, white-tipped varieties are less fiery than the round red ones. Good in salads and chopped into stir fries.
Runner beans Smaller beans are more tender. Top and tail and remove strings, then slice or cut into chunks and steam lightly. For an interesting change, try this fragrant green bean recipe.
Samphire A real uncultivated delicacy, sold at the roadside near the East Anglian salt marshes, samphire grows in bright green fronds. Good fishmongers should stock it. The flavour is delicate, the texture succulent. Wash thoroughly, trim off the roots, steam or boil for a couple of minutes and eat with a little butter, perhaps some lemon juice or vinaigrette. Never add salt. You can add it to pasta or savoury tart fillings, or puree it into soup or sauce.
Snow peas (mange-tout)
Spinach Choose young, tender leaves. Wash thoroughly and remove tough stalks. Use raw in salads or steam and chop. Good in curries with other vegetables, as part of a filling for savoury tarts, pancakes or omelettes, or in soup.
Swiss chard Dark green leaves and red stems. Use as for spinach. Stems can also be cooked on their own.
Tomatoes At their sweetest and best in the summer.
Watercress Peppery flavour is good in a mixture of other leaves. Good in egg sandwiches and omelettes, or in soup.

Autumn Fruit and Vegetables

Roast onions and aubergines Succulent apples and pears Beautiful black damsons Carrot and lentil soup

There’s plenty of fresh produce to enjoy.

Autumn fruit and vegetables start appearing from the end of the summer. It’s always good to see beautiful piles of plums in all shades from blue-black, through purple and red to green and yellow, plus the plump ears of sweetcorn, golden squash and all the rest. We all look forward to the soups, stews and fruit crumbles and crisps that are such a part of autumn. So, when the weather turns chilly, enjoy making the most of glorious autumn fruit and vegetables.

SERVING AUTUMN FRUIT AND VEGETABLESDon’t neglect raw fruit and vegetables just because the weather’s on the turn. Winter salads can be full of crispness and flavour. Most vegetables can be used for soup-making, and you can also use mixtures of veg in stews and sauces to serve with pasta or potatoes. Warming risottos are good with autumn vegetables like mushrooms or grated squash stirred through, or try topping polenta with a well-flavoured sauce of tomatoes and vegetables. Or serve vegetables lightly cooked with simple grilled meats and fish. Serve plenty, every day, to stay on top of your FIVEADAY!

AUTUMN FRUIT IN SEASON SEPT TO NOV

  • Blueberry
    Damsons Small, black plums, with a beautiful blue bloom on the skin. If you’re lucky, damsons are sweet enough to eat raw, but usually they’re better stewed with sugar to taste. They have tiny stones, far too fiddly to try and remove when raw, but they don’t interfere with the pleasure of eating. Eat stewed with yogurt, or use as you would blackberries, in crumbles or pies.
  • Fresh figs The skin of fresh figs can vary from purple to pink or light brown, but the flesh inside is always succulent crimson. Unlike many fruit, figs contain protein and are also rich in calcium and iron. Look for firm, smooth skins and avoid figs which feel sticky. They bruise easily so handle with care. Figs are a real delicacy and delicious eaten raw. They make a pretty addition to salads, or slice them and use to decorate other desserts. To serve warm, poach figs in fruit juice flavoured with cinnamon for 15 minutes.
  • Grapes Although they are now available all year round, autumn is the best season for grapes. Wash before eating and keep refrigerated. Choose firm grapes, and check they aren’t turning brown near the stem. Grapes are perfect as dessert or in lunchboxes. Use them in fruit or savoury salads, or add to breakfast cereals.
  • Pears Conference are available most of the year as they store so much better than other varieties. Other types, like yellow, bulbous Packhams, or sweet Williams only come into the shops in autumn as they are harvested. Handle carefully as they bruise easily. Buy firm pears and ripen at home. They keep for about three days. Eat raw, add to fruit salads, poach in fruit juice or wine, juice them with other fruits.
  • Plums Lots of different varieties, available well into the autumn. Buy when firm, and store refrigerated for up to four days. To stone plums, run a small sharp knife around the natural groove, gently twist the halves apart and prise out the stone. Most are sweet enough to eat raw, or you can bake them, or make them into crumbles, pies or tarts. Try slices added to green or fruit salads, or bake them alongside meat.
  • Raspberries Late fruiting varieties are at their best in the early autumn. They’re often larger and darker than the summer varieties. Eat raw, mix with other fruit in red fruit salads or compotes, use to fill flans or scones, puree to make sorbet, ice cream or a tangy sweet sauce.

AUTUMN VEGETABLES IN SEASON SEPT TO NOV

Many of the roots are available all year round, but are at their best in autumn.
  • Aubergine (Eggplant) Still good through September. There’s no need to salt and drain aubergine. Rather than frying aubergines, which soak up huge amounts of oil, slice them, brush with oil and bake in oven until tender, then use in casseroles and bakes. Ideal with tomatoes and spices. Classic component of Ratatouille.
  • Beetroot This is one time when you can save yourself a lot of messing about and buying beetroot that have already been cooked. Avoid those soused in strong vinegar, which completely masks their delicate flavour. If you do buy them raw, rinse off any earth gently and simmer in plenty of water for 1-2 hours. Or bake them, covered with foil, at 180C/gas 4 for about an hour. Don’t poke beetroot to see if they’re done, as the juice will start to bleed out. If the skin wrinkles away from the root, they’re ready. Use them in soup, in salads, where they blend well with potatoes or, surprisingly, oranges, serve with rollmop herrings, or slice, dress with a little vinaigrette and serve warm with grilled chicken.
  • Broccoli Cut into florets and steam or stir-fry briefly to preserve nutrients. Makes excellent soup. Use in pasta sauces or gratin dishes, or add lightly cooked florets to salads.
  • Brussels sprouts To prepare, cut away the outside leaves and rinse. There’s no need to cut a cross in the bottom. Tiny ones are good steamed, then tossed in garlic butter. They’re good in soups made with other vegetables – their flavour can be quite dominating. Brussels sprouts aren’t pleasant to eat raw, and I don’t like them in salads, either. Definitely one to have warm, when the colder weather sets in.
  • Cabbage With us all year round, but I always think of it as an autumn/winter veg. Savoys are lovely, with their wrinkly outer leaves, but you can also do good things with tight, round white cabbage. Shred them into salads and coleslaw. Add a handful to soup. Cook cabbage lightly, by steaming or simmering in the minimum of water until just tender. It responds well to slow cooking, too. Try tossing shredded cabbage softening an onion in walnut oil, add a crushed garlic clove and a handful of chopped walnuts, then add shredded cabbage, put the lid on and let it cook slowly until the cabbage is meltingly tender.
  • Carrots In autumn and winter, carrots have a more robust flavour than in spring. Delicious in soup with orange,or soup with lentils juiced, or shredded into salads and sandwiches, they’re also good steamed, stir-fried or roast. A dash of orange juice brings out the flavour. Or add them to long-cooking meat stews for a touch of sweetness. They also make very good, moist cakes.
  • Cauliflower Can be used raw in salads, steamed or stir-fried. Cook lightly. Mild flavour marries well with spices or vinaigrette dressing.
  • Celeriac These big knobbly brown roots don’t look very promising, but they have a wonderful celery-like flavour which is great in soups. Cut them into chunks and boil until tender, then puree them alone, or with potato for a comforting side dish. which start to come in during October. Celeriac discolours when cut, so use it immediately, or put the cut pieces into a bowl of water acidulated with vinegar of lemon juice.
  • Celery Wash celery well, cut off the root end, and ‘unzip’ the long strings. Celery adds its distinctive flavour to stocks and soups, is good as a crudite (children like it), and chopped into salads.
  • Chicory White edged with greenish yellow, these torpedo-shaped vegetables have a pleasingly bitter flavour which is a good antidote to some of the sweeter vegetables. Shred into salads, steam, or braise with a little olive oil until tender. Good with fish.
  • Courgettes (Zucchini) They get bigger and bigger at the end of summer, until they turn into marrows. Small ones have best flavour, and are less watery. Slice, grate or cut into ribbons to cook, or scoop out seeds, stuff and bake. They can be steamed, sautéed, stir-fried, roast in chunks. Use to make Ratatouille.
  • Cucumbers Peel and cut into fingers for snacks, slice or chop into salads, add to bulgar or cous cous salads, mix with yoghurt for a refreshing tzatziki dip.
  • Fennel Aniseed flavour is most pronounced when raw. Chop finely into salads, cook on barbecue, or bring out the sweet flavour by braising gently in a little olive oil until lightly browned.
  • French beans Still around until the end of September. Top and tail, then steam lightly. Eat hot, or leave to cool and use in salads.
  • Herbs Sadly the real stars of the summer are gone by now. Dill is just a cluster of seeds, and the rocket has bolted, who knows where. In a sheltered, frost-free spot, a pot of parsley will keep going during the winter, and you might manage to keep basil going for a while indoors as well. Otherwise, turn to the woody, hardy herbs – thyme, sage and rosemary – for winter savour.
  • Jerusalem artichoke Arrives by November, as a pile of rather muddy, knobbly tubers. They need lots of washing and are a bit of a devil to peel, but worth the effort for their lovely flavour. They discolour quickly, so drop them into acidulated water as you go. Make fantastic Jerusalem artichoke soup, or roast them in the oven and serve with chicken. One drawback – they create, ahem, rather a lot of gut disturbance… Don’t cook them for your lover.
  • Leeks To clean leeks, remove root and tough green leaves, then slash vertically from the top and wash under running water, separating the layers to remove all traces of dirt. Shred or slice to cook, by steaming or stir-frying. Great in soups or in gratin-style dishes.
  • Mangetout (snow peas) finish in September, what a shame. Click here for snow pea recipes.
  • Mushrooms This is the time of year to look out for wild mushrooms. If you can only get the cultivated variety, try making this Stuffed Mushroom recipe.
  • Onions Absolute staple of any kitchen, they add flavour to virtually every sauce, soup or stew you’ll ever make. For a totally simple supper, have them roast, or even boiled, just by themselves, with just a little grated cheese sprinkled over, and enjoy the sweet intensity.
  • Parsnips Pick out small to medium parsnips. If you have with larger ones, cut out the woody centre before cooking. They are lovely in soups, pureed with swede or potato, cut into chunks and roast with other veg, added to beef stews.
  • Peppers Red, yellow, orange, green, even purple. Flavour is enhanced with chargrilling, either under the grill, or by baking in hot oven for 20 mins until blistered. Put in a plastic bag so that the steam loosens skins. Peel and slice. Peppers are delicious raw in salads, or can be stuffed and baked.
  • Potatoes Once autumn arrives we can start enjoying jacket potatoes again. You can do them in the microwave I suppose, but the flavour is a shadow of what it becomes if you simply scrub them, dry them, prick them, rub with a little olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt and bake slowly in the oven for up to 2 hours until tender. Now that’s what I call taste. There’s lots more you can do with the humble spud - click here for healthy potato recipes.
  • Pumpkin Looks glorious, in all it’s golden tubbiness, but lacks the flavour of butternut squash. That said, pumpkin works extremely well in soups, and is also great made into spicy cakes. See Fresh Pumpkin Recipes for ideas.
  • Radishes Carry on until October. Longer, white-tipped varieties are less fiery than the round red ones. Good in salads and chopped into stir-fries.
  • Red cabbage Appears in October, and very welcome it is. I only ever cook it one way, shredded, washed, then stewed long and slow with just a smidgin more water, a knob of butter and some seasoning. When tender, add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar, bring it to the boil, and let it simmer for a few minutes. Serve with ham or pork. Lovely stuff, shame it turns the pan blue.
  • Romanesco cauliflower is best in October and November. If you find small heads of Romanesco, simply boil them for a few minutes until tender, and serve whole. For salads, cut into florets, blanch, then drop into iced water to fix the bright green colour, and serve mixed with shredded red onion and olives, and dressed with oil and lemon juice. You can also make it into a good sauce for pasta, by cooking until soft, and mashing with garlic and chilli, or adding to tomato sauce, then stirring through hot pasta.
  • Runner beans Available through September. Avoid big, bulgy beans which are very tough. Top and tail and remove strings, then slice or cut into chunks and steam lightly. Try them in this green bean recipe
  • Squash Butternut’s our favourite, because of its sweet, full flavour. Roast chunks in the oven, brushed with oil, until tinged brown. Makes a lovely golden soup, and is also good in risotto.
  • Swede is actually a rather pleasant vegetable. Cut it into chunks, boil until tender, then puree and season well. It’s maybe better mixed with mashed potato, to avoid any hint of wateriness.
  • Sweetcorn (corn on the cob) The fresh cobs are sheathed in pale green leaves, with fronds of silk showing at the end. Inside, the kernels should be tightly packed and firm. Remove leaves and silk, and boil them for about 10 minutes. Alternatively, brush with oil and roast in a medium oven for about 25 minutes until tinged brown. Either way, eat them straight from the cob, but mind your lips – let them cool a little. Tradition says you should slather them with melted butter, but I actually find the flavour is better on its own, so it’s no hardship to serve them unadorned.
  • Turnip Seek out the smallest, cut them into chunks and steam, braise gently in a little olive oil, or roast in the oven. Larger ones need to be peeled quite thickly, to remove all the woody rind. Also good in soups, and added to winter stews.
  • Watercress Peppery flavour is good in a mixture of other leaves. Good in egg sandwiches and omelettes, or in soup. easy healthy apple recipes, in salads, in baked apple recipes, use them to fill crumbles, pies or turnovers, puree them and use in cakes or stir through custard for a simple fool. Toss finely sliced apple rings into pancakes, or slice and sugar them, top with buttery crumbs and bake.

Grateful thanks to healthy-eating-made-easy.com for this information

Winter Fruit and Vegetables

Rustle up some lovely warming dishes, with winter fruit and vegetables.

By December the soft, tender fruits and vegetables are long gone. Winter greens and fine root vegetables are the stalwarts of the winter months, while the only home-grown fruit around consists of apples and pears. While I try to avoid buying imports whenever I can, I do make an exception during winter, when all the beautiful citrus fruit starts to arrive.

SERVING WINTER FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
Most of the suggestions made for autumn fruit and vegetables will also work well right through the winter. Winter fruit and vegetables need cooking, and when it’s really cold I make soup on an almost daily basis, and put a small flask of it into the kids’ lunch boxes. Salads need flavour and colour to tempt me towards cold food at this time of year, and I add chopped fruit, citrus segments and nuts to make them more enticing. I also stew fruit, adding spices or orange juice, and serving them alone, or with a crumble topping. If I’m short of time, I pile up a bowl of mixed fruit, and add one or two exotics like kumquats, fresh dates or lychees. Whatever way you choose to serve winter fruit and vegetables, make sure you eat plenty of them, every day. At this time of year, when bugs are about and we need our immune systems to be in top shape, it’s more important than ever to have five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
WINTER FRUIT IN SEASON NOV TO FEB
For suggestions for apples and pears, and many other fruits which remain available into the early part of winter, see autumn fruit and vegetables. Listed below are the newcomers of the season, which are always so welcome.
Dates You might be lucky and find fresh dates in winter, although they’re really an autumn treat. They’re lighter and less sticky than boxed dates, and as sweetly satisfying as a bit of chocolate eaten just as they are. With any type of date, a little goes a long way. You can use them chopped in salads, or mixed into cottage cheese as a sandwich filling. They’re also good in cakes and tea breads.
WINTER VEGETABLES IN SEASON DEC TO FEB
Pumpkin is still available until it disappears at the end of November, so make the most of it in fresh pumpkin recipes. All the vegetables that are such staples through the winter – carrots, potatoes, parsnips, plus less common varieties, like Jerusalem artichokes – first come into season in autumn, and are covered in autumn fruit and vegetables.

Contact

Email: Quotation@Fiveaday5.com

Phone/Text: 087 7783924