Market Fresh Report Week Ending 21st October

Sweet and juicy mangoes bring a lush tropical taste to your spring diet. Choose firm mangoes with a fresh sweet tropical fragrance. Fruit should be golden rather than green. Ripen mangoes at room temperature until the fruit yields to gentle pressure around the stem.

Make the most of plump, antioxidant rich blueberries while they’re in season.

There are good supplies of refreshing, sweet eating watermelon available again this week.

More than just a healthy snack food, crunchy apples add a delightful texture and sweetness to a salad or coleslaw. Select from Pink Lady, Fuji, Royal Gala, Braeburn and Granny Smith apples.

Pineapples are picked ripe and ready to eat. Skin colour or ‘pulling a leaf’ does not indicate ripeness or flavour. A good-eating pineapple will have a tropical sweet aroma. It’s best eaten within 2―3 days of purchase.

Ruby red rhubarb is a thrifty buy. Stew sliced rhubarb stems in a little sugar or honey to sweeten.

Sweet strawberries are in abundance. Slice and serve strawberries on your favourite breakfast cereal with yoghurt, toss into fruit salad, make a healthy smoothie or use them for desserts

Brimming with beneficial antioxidants and vitamin C, sweet and succulent papaya is a delicious Australian-grown tropical fruit. Whole papaya continues to ripen after harvesting. Leave on a bench for a few days at room temperature to fully ripen. It’s ready to eat when the fruit loses its greenish tinge and yields to gentle pressure around the stem (a bit like an avocado). Once cut, cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge.

Good quality avocados are coming from the Glasshouse Mountains in Queensland, Peats Ridge and North Coast of NSW.

Versatile eggplant is a good value. They are like a sponges absorbing all the flavours and imparting a soft creamy texture.

Spring is peak season for Australian-grown asparagus. Easy to prepare, fresh asparagus is no fuss; nutritious vegetable is a bargain this week.

Asian leafy greens are super good value. However recent weather conditions have reduced a bunches shelf life so use 1-2 days after purchasing for maximum quality.

Celery adds crunch and flavour to a great range of salads and stir-fries, and its juicy flesh teams well with creamy dips. Choose crisp pale green celery with fresh looking leaves.

Like other orange coloured vegetables, kumara (orange sweet potato) is rich in a range of carotenoids, including beta carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A. Delicious roasted slices or whole or served mashed this veggie adds colour and nutrition to the plate

Crunchy and mild-flavoured Iceberg lettuce is a bargain

A cross between broccoli and choy Sum (Chinese broccoli), broccolini this vibrant green veggie is packed with beta carotene as well as vitamins C, A and E. There’s no wastage because both the stem and small florets are edible.

With its delicious aniseed flavour and crisp texture, fennel adds vibrancy to spring salads. It has virtually no fat and few kilojoules, and refreshing raw or cooked

With high water content, crunchy Lebanese cucumbers are cool on the kilojoule count with only 40kJ per 100g! Choose firm, dark green Lebanese cucumbers. Refrigerate in a bag in the crisper section. Simply wash in cold water, pat dry then slice or chop as required.