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Hello food adventurers! Can you feel the coldness floating around in the atmosphere? With the start of June, we’re officially in winter! And to celebrate the changing season, we’re starting with another seasonal produce guide. Specifically the NZ winter fruit and vegetable guide, with the bonus of an infographic. To help you figure out what’s out and about in the few months ahead of us…
Yuzu, is in season this winter, specifically in June! Which is rather fun and exciting. It’s a bumpy Japanese fruit that resembles a lemon and is definitely on my seasonal produce wish list!
Speaking of prime, tamarillos and Jerusalem artichokes also reach their peak this winter season. So now’s the perfect time to get them or even give them a try for the first time.
Using this Winter fruit and vegetable guide and Infographics:
The great thing about an infographic is that it’s not only a visual reminder of what’s available but you’re also able to put it on display and easily refer to it whenever you need it.
Here are a few suggestions…
- Print out a copy and attach it to your fridge or somewhere in your kitchen. Like a new seasonal décor item.
- Pin it to a Pinterest board for referencing later, plus easy access wherever and whenever you need it.
- Save this post for when you need a guide and visual reminder
- Share it with friends and family, so everyone is in the know. Plus it’ll give you some extra inspiration for all those winter cooking and baking adventures ahead.
That way you’ll be able to plan out your meals and hopefully grab a bargain while you’re at it. Consequently helping you to make your shopping list and not miss out on the seasonal produce on offer. There are only benefits to having all of this knowledge tucked away in your back pocket!
Winter Fruit
A major highlight for the seasonal fruit available this month is yuzu. Which, as mentioned previously is available in June. There are a few fruits that also stay on board as we transition on from Autumn (refer to this Autumn seasonal produce guide). This includes kiwifruit, both green and yellow varieties, quince, citrus fruits such as mandarin, lemon and lime and also tamarillo, which will be in its prime. Persimmon and nashi pear are featured at the beginning of the season from June to July. So, if you haven’t had enough from last season, then you’re free to snack on those happily before they transition out again next season.
See below for the fun infographic…
There may be a little more space this month in the infographic for all the types of fruits available, but that doesn’t make them any less special!
3 Tips for making the most of fruit this winter:
- Dehydrate thinly sliced citrus (mandarin, orange, lemon, lime or grapefruit) in a dehydrator or oven (check out this guide by Familyspice). Then use your newly dehydrated sliced citrus for making tea, embellishing drinks, as decorations on cakes, food or inside your home, healthy snacks, cake toppers, stored in a jar as a cute dining table centrepiece or crush up for some citrus powder to add on all the things… quite honestly I could just continue as possibilities are endless.
- Learn how to make use of tamarillos in several different ways including roasting, chutney and compote.
- Explore different uses for avocados including creamy avocado hummus and then grow an avocado plant for some DIY!
Recipes with Winter Fruit:
- Apple tahini toast with honey and thyme by Tasty Yummies
- Make this yuzu lemon tart with black sesame meringue by Lilli Vanilli
- Try a little something different with this grilled yuzu chicken recipe from Tasting Table
Winter Vegetables
The perfect time for all those warming vegetable soups, roast vegetables and grilled toasty side dishes. The winter season delivers a small array of vegetables to enjoy with the cold weather. Potentially making it easier to make all those decisions, particularly if you’re indecisive (guilty!).
The Jerusalem artichoke reaches its prime this season which is something I highly recommend trying. You can find recipe ideas in this Autumn produce guide under vegetables.
New additions to the winter party include yams which are small bright pinky-orange vegetables with a slight tang and a bit of sweetness.
Additionally, kohlrabi is also making an appearance as a crispy, slightly sweet vegetable which is similar to cabbage or broccoli stems in taste. Kohlrabi means cabbage-turnip and is a term translated from German (Source).
3 Tips for making the most of vegetables this winter:
- Roast them! I’m not kidding when I say that I absolutely love a good roast and personally believe that everything tastes better roasted. Plus it’s super easy and low maintenance. All you’ve got to do is toss some cut vegetables (to reduce cooking time, but whole also works) in olive oil, salt and pepper as a base. The go in with seasonings, I like fresh/ dried herbs, garlic/garlic powder and even a bit of spice. If you’re doing carrots I also recommend a bit of honey. Then throw them in the oven and bake until cooked, caramelised, golden and sometimes even a little crispy!
- Learn more about yams, how to use them, what to look for and more from vegetables.co.nz
- Get to know all about kohlrabi and then get inspired on how to prepare and cook with it with Bon Appetit
Recipes with Winter Vegetables:
- Make my Roast Pumpkin Gnocchi with Spinach, Bacon and Pesto, with an in-season Butternut pumpkin!
- Celeriac soup with savoury grain-free granola by Wu Haus
- Crispy apple kohlrabi salad by Cookies and Kate
- Cheese stuffed kohlrabi by Food52
More Seasonal Guides:
A note on these infographics:
*This information has complied research gathered from several sources including:
If you would like to further your fruit and vegetable knowledge, check out their sites. There’s a lot of helpful content, other than just the seasons, such as how to best store produce, how to prepare it and even nutritional information. Bound to level up your fruit and vegetable game!
The information displayed on the above infographics includes fruits and vegetables at their peak point of seasonality in NZ, where resources are plentiful. Use this as a guide to doing your shopping and plan meals around this produce. There may be occasions where particular items may be purchased outside these ranges. However, the main purpose is to reflect the main months/ seasons fruit and vegetables have a plentiful supply, rather than imported or limited.
You may notice that some items such as spinach are not included as they are available year-round. And that will be summarised in another infographic coming your way sometime soon!
Conclusion
That concludes all the wonderful NZ winter fruits and vegetables that will be available in the upcoming months. I hope you were well inspired and are looking forward to making use of all the great produce out there. I can’t wait to obtain my next avocado seed, so I can attempt growing my plant! (I’ll keep you updated on my progress and other behind-the-scenes over on my Instagram stories, so make sure you’re following me along!)
If you enjoyed this, head on over to the beginnings of my All the Things Culinary series, right here!
In the meantime, I shall see you back here again next week, more exciting content awaits!
Until next time, stay curious!
Stay connected!
