Making the most of seasonal produce

Zucchini

People rave about how much they love banana bread, or carrot muffins, but zucchini often gets overlooked as a baked goodie ingredient. Maybe because it’s seasonal produce? Or maybe the green juice trend has us afraid of the colouring? If you’ve got lots of it on hand, try making a chocolate zucchini cake, or even just substitute zucchini for carrots in your favourite muffin recipe. It’s an added bonus that zucchini is much, much easier to grate!

Tomatoes

If you’ve got too many tomatoes lined up on your windowsill, whip up a batch of homemade tomato sauce and freeze it for the winter months when you wish it was still tomato season. When you pour it on pasta, pizza, spaghetti squash (like our food blogger), or use it to dress up a boring chicken dinner, it’ll bring you back to the taste of summer. Check out our recipe for tomato braised chicken here.

Basil

Got basil growing in your garden? Take advantage and grind yourself some homemade pesto. Traditionally used as a pasta sauce, pesto is also great for marinating salmon, stuffing chicken or flavouring new potatoes. Pesto is also easily stored frozen for use throughout the year.

Berries

Summer is the season of fresh local berries. While we don’t expect that you have an abundance of berries (who can stop themselves from eating the whole carton within an hour of getting home?), if you do have some left over, consider freezing them yourself. Lay them out on a cookie sheet so that they don’t stick together, freeze overnight and then transfer to a sealed container or freezer bag. The next time you want to make a smoothie, it’ll taste that much better knowing that the ingredients are local.

Corn

Friends came over for a barbecue and now you have way too much corn? Try incorporating the classic seasonal produce as a salad topper, or addition to a bowl of quinoa or rice for some added colour and summer flavour. These ideas are also great for people who like the taste of corn, but can’t handle a full cob on their own.

Peas

Like corn, peas can be used in all sorts of vegetable or grain salads. They also make a great addition to scrambled eggs for those who favour a savoury breakfast.

Mint

If mint is running rampant in your herb garden, pick it and dry it yourself for use during the winter months. Not only will you have the satisfaction of knowing that it’s your own, you’ll also save money on pricey dried mint. Peppermint tea is a great stress relieving drink.