What's In Season for Autumn/Winter?

Shopping at your local farmers market is an awesome way to support local and reduce your food miles. At traditional supermarkets, it feels like every type of food is at our fingertips all year round - but the reality is that these veggies often come from all over the world in order to stock shelves year round. On the other hand, shopping for your veggies at farmers markets is a fun way to engage with the seasons and get more in touch with the food you’re eating throughout the year. What’s growing right now is what you get! As an added bonus, buying direct from the producers ensures you’re getting the freshest, most nutritionally dense ingredients available. What’s not to love?
What's In Season for Autumn/Winter?

What’s in season right now?

There’s lots of delicious fruit and veggies that are in season right now - here’s a selection that we’re loving to cook with at the moment! Visit your local farmers market to see all the other delicious fruits and veggies on offer this season.

Apples

Image: Melbourne Farmers Markets (@melbournefarmersmarkets on Instagram)


Apples - apples are in season through Autumn and Winter which is fantastic because they are awesome for cold weather dishes!

When we visit the farmers market, we tend to favour Pink Lady Apples as these are great all rounders.
What to do with apples:

  • Slice thinly and add to a salad with rocket, walnuts, parmesan and balsamic vinegar
  • Bake whole or quartered and serve with roast pork
  • Make an apple sauce to serve with roasts - we love Pink Ladies for this as they are naturally sweet enough that you don’t need to add any sugar to your sauce!
  • Bake into an apple crumble or tart tatin for dessert. Yum!


Pears - Autumn and Winter are the seasons for pears, and there are loads of fun ways to use them.


What to do with pears:

  • Pears are gorgeous with blue cheese! Pair them with some caramelised onions and serve with a soft bread like focaccia
  • Have them for breakfast with a bit of greek yoghurt and honey
  • Serve with pork chops, this is a nice changeup if you often serve your pork with apple sauce!
  • Slice thinly and add to a salad with goats cheese

Pine mushrooms - These harder to find mushrooms grow at the base of pine trees and are a real treat!

If you're lucky, you may be able to find pine mushrooms at your local farmers market from Autumn through to June/July. They are a little firmer than traditional mushrooms which means they hold their shape better and impart loads of flavour during longer cooks.


What to do with pine mushrooms:

  • Cook with lots of lovely butter, plus a little garlic and fresh parsley, or onion and pepper
  • Gorgeous in risotto or pasta
  • Saute and use to fill the centre of your morning omelette

Beetroot - beetroot is in season pretty much all year, but definitely shines in the more wintery months!

For many of us, our experience with beetroot is relegated to a couple of slices on a burger ‘with the lot’, but beetroot is actually a fantastic addition to your go-to roundup of roasting veggies.


What to do with beetroot:

  • Chop into cubes and roast with pumpkin and potatoes, then drizzle with a herby greek yoghurt. This is a super easy and delicious accompaniment to roast chicken!
  • Borscht - this bright pink Eastern European soup is a great warming meal in colder weather
  • Make it into a dip and serve with crusty bread
  • Grate it into a chocolate cake. Believe it or not, it’s not uncommon to find beetroot as an ingredient in chocolate cake recipes! Because beets are naturally sweet they add sweetness without having to add as much extra sugar to the recipe

Cabbage - we LOVE cabbage in cold months. Cabbage has a beautiful subtle sweetness to it that is fantastic to add to soups and stews.


What to do with cabbage:

  • Add to your noodle soup! We love to add this to Asian style noodle soups especially. Using cabbage and a few prawns adds a nice sweetness to balance the salty savoury flavours of the broth
  • Chop then steam with a dash of sesame oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. This makes a really nice accompaniment to pan fried Ora King Salmon! Add a handful of green beans into the steamer with it if you’d like some extra variety
  • Fry with bacon and a big hunk of grass fed butter and serve as the filling for a baked potato

Carrots - carrots are technically in season pretty much year round but we do love an Autumn/Winter carrot.

What to do with carrots:

  • You can’t go wrong with a roast carrot. Next to potato, carrot has got to be the ultimate Sunday roast accompaniment. We love to do them with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and some freshly picked rosemary leaves
  • Another great carrot dish is buttered carrots - slice your carrots into coins and saute in loads of butter, plus a drizzle of honey if you’re feeling extra gourmet. A taste of France!
  • Carrots are an essential ingredient in so many delicious stews and slow cooks. Whether you’re using them for a soffritto (an aromatic mix of diced onions, carrots, and celery in olive oil or butter - cooked slowly to release the flavours. Used as the base for many Italian dishes!) or adding as chunks in a red wine casserole, carrots really shine here!

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