5 seasonal foods you need to stock up on
Get the most flavour and value out of your meals by eating seasonally.
By Healthy Diet
Fruits and vegetables can be seen in shops all year round, regardless of their natural seasons. However, just because you spot a strawberry on the shelves in December, doesn’t mean you should be adding it to your basket. When a food is in season it tastes better, is often cheaper, and more likely to be British grown. Here are five fruits and vegetables in season for January that should be at the top of your shopping list.
1 Beetroot
We’re just about to leave the beetroot season, so now is the time to get trying some new recipes. To take full advantage of the beet, make sure you’re including both the bulb and the leaves, as together they are rich in calcium, vitamins A, C, fibre, iron and potassium. Blend the root down with chickpeas for a delicious and healthy hummus, and leaves can be cooked just like spinach or kale.
2 Pears
January also sees the season of the humble pear come to an end. A great source of vitamin C, antioxidants, dietary fibre and minerals including copper, iron and magnesium, this well-loved fruit is also low calorie, clocking in at just 58 calories per 100g. This means that it’s not just great for our health, but for our waistlines too. Why not try baking one for a sweet treat?
3 Cauliflower
Full of vitamin C, K, B6, fibre and folate, this versatile veggie is not one to be overlooked. We’ve just entered into the cauliflower season, which runs through until April, so now’s the time to be filling your plate with cauliflower rice or cooking it down into a warming soup, perfect for lunch on a chilly day.
4 Sweet potato
Easily substituted for regular potatoes and containing more health benefits, the sweet potato makes it onto our must-have seasonal foods list with ease. They are rich in beta-carotene, which raises the levels of vitamin A in our blood, making our skin radiant, boosting our immune system and keeping our eyes in tip top condition. They are in season from November to March, so there’s plenty of time to enjoy them. Swap them for regular chips, mash or have them baked with a side salad.
5 Blood oranges
The striking colour of this fruit is packed full of essential antioxidants, which along with the abundance of vitamin C and great source of fibre, makes it a must this month. The NHS states that our bodies can’t store vitamin C, so we need to be adding citrus fruits into our diets regularly. The blood orange is sweeter and less tart than the common orange, so works great in healthy bakes. And the best news is that these are in season in America until May, making them more readily available in UK supermarkets.
About Healthy Diet
Healthy Diet provides clear and sensible advice from the very best health professionals to make healthy eating easy and affordable for all the family.
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