The Food Coach

Market Fresh Report Week Ending 17th February

Information courtesy of Sue Dodd, Sydney Markets

Grapes
Sweet eating seedless grapes such as natural sultana, Thompson and Menideee Flame varieties and baby currant grapes are in season.
Figs
Luscious, sweet figs are sublime. Figs team equally as well with savoury foods such as nuts, meats and cheese as they do with sweet ingredients such as citrus and chocolate
Rockmelons
Full-flavoured rockmelons from the NSW Riverina are a bargain. A good rockmelon will have a characteristic melon aroma and feel heavy for its size.
Why not try...
Peaches
Make the most of late season peaches and nectarines; both the white and yellow flesh varieties are still available. Late season peaches are delicious roasted, poached or baked.
Pears
Juicy, sweet and economical Williams’ pears are tasty addition to a salad. Place slices of firm pear to a salad bowl, toss in rocket leaves, toasted walnuts and shaved parmesan. Drizzle with lime juice and olive oil and toss
Limes
Limes are plentiful and top value.
Oranges
Snap up a bargain with juicy Valencia oranges. Whilst the skin colour will be tinged with green pigment at this time of year the fruit is loaded with juicy and a generous serving of vitamin C.
Sweetcorn
Victorian sweetcorn is a thrifty buy.
Red capsicums
Field grown red capsicums are excellent roasted, in salads or stir fries.
Eggplant
Delicious roasted, baked or fried eggplant adds the smoky flavour to salads or pizza toppings or use layers of sliced grilled
Snake beans
Slender, fleshy and dark green in colour, snake beans are tender, mild-flavoured and versatile. Snake beans are at their peak freshness and value early autumn.
Zucchini
Zucchinis are better value this week. Grated zucchini is perfect for adding to a pasta sauces or sauté sliced zucchinis with crushed garlic until tender eggplant instead of pasta in lasagne.
Fennel
Delicious served raw or cooked, fennels mild aniseed flavour teams superbly with pears, plums, oranges, potatoes, seafood, pork or chicken.
Avocado
New season Queensland grown Shepard avocados are now in store and a top buy. A pear-shaped avocado with a creamy flesh, this avocado does not oxidise (go brown) when cut, so it is ideal for adding to salads that need to be made ahead of time.
Grapes
Figs
Rockmelons
Peaches
Pears
Limes
Oranges
Sweetcorn
Red capsicums
Eggplant
Snake beans
Zucchini
Fennel
Avocado

Seasonal Recipes - Summer


 Salmon with horseradish crust and green beans
This easy recipe is in the Autumn section of The Greengrocer’s Diet and if you haven't got a copy yet you really should because it's really excellent!

Green Tea and Lychee Tapioca
This is a fun and slightly different recipe to try - served cold and warm. Tapioca is gluten free and on it's own has a high GI however the combination of tapioca with coconut milk, almonds and chia seeds helps to stabilise blood sugar levels.

Grape and caper salad
There are many things that signify the start and end of summer to me – one is when green seedless grapes are affordable to buy: when they’re in season, grapes are cheap, loved by everyone and provide a good source of vitamin K. In this case, combined with the contrasting flavour of capers, basil, mixed greens and nuts, the grapes maketh the meal.

Almond Milk
A lovely alternative to cow's milk, almond milk is easily made and substituted for regular milk in many recipes. It doesn't contain calcium so make sure to get your intake from other sources in your diet.

Agar Agar Fruit Jelly
An natural alternative to sugar-laden commercial jelly, this recipe uses agar-agar as a natural setting agent. Get kids to help out in the kitchen (while supervised, of course) and they'll enjoy eating their colourful fruit creations. Some good fruit choices are mango, strawberries, blueberries or kiwifruit. Use just one type of fruit per recipe so the colours don't mix.

Christmas Mince Pies
Traditional fruit mince pies made with suet and sugar and eaten each day in the lead up to Christmas are guaranteed to pack on the kilos. Here we use dried fruit, peel with a delicious flax seed pastry for a fresh tasting, lighter pie that still feels like Christmas.