Fruit and vegetables all have a season. Eat seasonal January highlights which food products are in season in January
These days supermarkets offer all sorts of produce all year round. If you want strawberries in the winter you can get them. Apples in the spring? No problem. With fresh fruit and vegetables available all year round it is easy to forget that they have a season. Fresh fruit and vegetables have different times of year when they crop. Eating fruit and vegetables when they are in season will guarantee they taste better. The products will also be cheaper as they have been grown naturally and not been fooled into thinking it is time to grow.
Have you ever grown your own tomatoes? If you have you know that when you pick them off the vine after they have ripened all summer they taste fantastic. Compare the taste to the supermarket tomatoes you get in January. By comparison they are taste flat with little flavour. If you want meals that are full of flavour then choose ingredients that are in season.
January is a cold month which often brings frost and snow. The last few mornings have brought frost and I have had to take care on my morning walks in case I slip. Despite this plenty of vegetables and fruit are in season. Most of these are grown in the UK. A few of the fruit and vegetables are from more exotic climes but should be enjoyed whilst still at their best.
The best vegetables this month are root vegetables, think carrots, parsnips, turnips. Cabbages are also in season, red, white and green. Kale, a superfood which is rich in iron is at its best this month. The last of the apple and pear crop can be found in January as well as citrus fruits. Clementine’s, blood oranges and lemons should be enjoyed now. Don’t forget that meat, poultry and fish also have a season. Salmon is starting to come into its own in January. I have put together a graphic that shows what is seasonal in January. You can also download this and print it later as I have made it into a printable.
After Christmas I had a glut of vegetables in the fridge needing to be used up. I had rather a lot of parsnips as well as a cauliflower that I hadn’t got round to using. Knowing they would go off I turned them into a parsnip and cauliflower soup. Soup is perfect for this time of year when it is cold and frosty outside. There is something magical about putting a load of vegetables into a pot and watching them transform into a delicious soup. The delicious smell while they are cooking fills the kitchen with promise. When a streaming bowl is placed in front of you with a crusty bread roll it can’t help to warm you and make you think of spring.
Parsnips and cauliflowers work well in a soup creating a lovely creamy texture without the need for cream. The root vegetables are filling and warming. To add a little spice to the soup I added fennel seeds, caraway seeds and turmeric. I have been adding turmeric to a lot of things recently. Not only does it add a lovely golden tone turmeric is meant to have many health benefits. It is a natural antioxidant and anti-inflamitory as well as having properties that may prevent heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Adding a little to a dish gives it a lovely taste so it is a great way to take advantage of the possible health benefits.
Why not pin the recipe to try later?
Here are some other recipes that use seasonal ingredients for January if you want to try them.
A lovely warming soup that is perfect for a lunch on a cold day. The addition of cheese and bacon make it into a hearty meal
A classic soup recipe. The combination of leeks and potatoes creates a lovely warming dish that is filling as well.
As well as being soup month the end of January brings Burns Night. Why not celebrate with a traditional Scottish cock-a-leekie soup?
Continuing the Scottish soup theme this neep and tattie soup is a twist on the traditional neeps and tatties which get served on Burns night. It is a great way to use up any extra turnips you have lying around.
What could be nicer on a cold day that a steamed pudding with custard? St Stephens pudding uses apples to provide a touch of sweetness.
This is a lovely warming curry that mixes the sweetness of chicken with the earthiness of the beetroot to make a lovely filling meal.
Cocktails don’t have to finish after Christmas is over. Why not make this kale cocktail which you can convince yourself is healthy? You can leave out the gin if you are having a dry January and make a mocktail instead.
Do you use seasonable ingredients? Let me know below of any seasonal recipes that you make in January below.
Linking up with the kitchen clearout linky on Madhouse Family Reviews as I used up loads of vegetables.
This looks lovely – you can’t beat a nice warming bowl of soup on a cold day. I had a freezer full of frozen veg so I made a three layer veggie lasagne yesterday, which is great for using them up too ! Thanks for linking up 🙂
That sounds lovely, a great way to use up veg
Definitely great mind think a like! It is great to have a list of “at their best” produce isn’t it. This soup looks and sounds right up my street! Thank you for sharing with #SimplySeasonal x
It is good to have a list, seasonal produce is so much nicer
That soup is right up my street!
Thanks it was perfect for a cold day
Delicious soup! I love parsnips and cauliflower, and with all those lovely spices I bet it tasted as good as it looks. We still have our own apples in the summerhouse, they keep quite well, though got slightly waxy on the outside. Agree about tomatoes, many of them taste flat in winter, though you can still buy decent tomatoes from greenhouses grown in the UK. I dislike tomatoes from Holland or Spain, they taste nothing like a real tomato should taste.
Thanks, it was nice. I would love an apple tree. Would be great to make lots of pies
Hi,
Thanks for your kind work
Any chance for the rest of the months as January’s poster.
I do have the rest of the months as well, I will put some links in so you can find them