It’s the next instalment of the seasonal series! At the beginning of each season, I will release a guide to eating in that season. Throughout that season, I’ll release seasonal recipes, usually a savoury, a sweet and some sort of beverage or snack. I will be sticking to fruits and vegetables, but I’ll link a few websites that I’m grabbing this information from which also detail meat and fish if that’s something you’d like to know. Eating seasonally is another approach to eating that lowers your carbon footprint because you are reducing air miles and chemicals. When something is out of season, it means that it has either travelled from abroad or it is being grown here under manufactured conditions. Obviously, it’s pretty difficult to eat seasonally all the time, but hopefully these recipes will give you an idea as to how to incorporate more seasonal food into your diets!
This week, I’m going over what food is most available in the UK in Autumn. Autumn in the UK is from September to November. We get more colder days, quite a few storms and the days get a lot shorter. Autumn for me is also represented by all the leaves falling from the trees. The food that is available in autumn is quite different to what is available in summer, which you probably noticed from the type of food you eat around this time of year! However, there’s still a lot to choose from, so why not see how many seasonal items you can eat this autumn?
Vegetables
Lots of different varieties of mushroom are in season in the UK in autumn – for a full list click here – and they’re great to use as a meat substitute or to add to dishes to bulk them out. As expected, potatoes are in season, as are onions, marrows, aubergines and squash. And one of the most exciting vegetables that’s around now is the ever so spooky pumpkin! We love to carve them up for Halloween, but they’re also great to add to soup and other dishes.
Fruits
One of my favourite fruits that is in season in Autumn is apples – they’re really versatile and are easy to cook with. Pears and plums are also great and are great stewed with ice cream. Other fruits such as blackberries, damsons and elderberries are also around this time of year.
Herbs
A lot of herbs are available all year round but have a nicer flavour at certain times of year. Basil, tarragon, rosemary and parsley are four of my favourite flavours to use around this time of year, and all four of them are available at this time of year. Rosemary and parsley go really well with potatoes, tarragon is often used in sauces and basil is a staple of pesto and pasta sauces.
Hopefully this was helpful! Keep a look out for lots of seasonal recipes this season before we move into the next one – winter.
Links
Waste Makes Waste 