Buying fruits and vegetables in season is a great way to shop as they are usually the cheaper than buying them out of season. They are also usually more readily available in supermarkets and smaller fruit and vegetable shops.
The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend we eat at least 5 serves of vegetables every day. Now you may be thinking what is a serve? A serve of vegetables is ½ cup of cooked vegetables or 1 cup of raw/salad vegetables.
Next time you are at the shops, buy one new vegetable in season you wouldn’t normally buy- not only are you increasing the variety but you are also expanding your variety of nutrients.
Asparagus
Beans
Beanshoots
Beetroot
Broccoli
Carrot
Cauliflower
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Potato
Pumpkin
Snowpeas
Spring Onion
Sweetcorn
Turnip
Zucchini
Source: http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcrecipes.nsf/inseasonview/inseason?opendocument
Here are some suggestions to use these fabulous autumn vegetables:
- When serving mashed potato, try mashing half potato and half pumpkin. Not only will you have an amazing flavour hit, you will also be increasing the goodness in the dish. Pumpkin is a great source of beta-carotene which is an anti-oxidant and important for eye sight health.
- Brrrrrr a little chilly for salads? No problems- try a roast vegetable salad! Turnips, zucchini, beetroot, carrots and cauliflower are usually forgotten vegetables for roasting. Try these roasted with herbs sprinkled on top- I love thyme!
- Asparagus is very versatile! You can steam, bake and stir fry this fabulous little vegetable!
