Weekend food: Produce report, fresh on the shelves

NZ vegetables
Pick of the week is asparagus. The season is in full swing and the product is looking great; there are plenty of both thick and thin spears on offer. When purchasing asparagus, make sure to select stems that are vibrant, crisp and not too woody. It is best to eat asparagus as soon as possible. If you do need to store, put in a jar with a small amount of water similar to flowers or wrap a damp paper towel around the base and store in the fridge.

Suggested recipe. Try this grilled asparagus and creamy quinoa. Cook quinoa as per packet instructions and set aside to cool. Prepare the dressing by whisking together 4 tbsp of olive oil, 2 tbsp of soy sauce and the juice of half a lemon. Crush 1 tsp of cumin seeds with the back of a knife and add to the mix. To prepare the asparagus, coat well with olive oil and season with salt. Cook on a hot griddle pan, turning as needed for 6-8 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together the cooled quinoa, dressing, 180g of marinated, roasted red capsicum, drained and cut into bite size pieces, 2000g of feta, and fresh chopped coriander in a large bowl. Arrange the asparagus on top of the quinoa mix with coriander to garnish.

Other top vegetable buys are mushrooms, Ilam hardy potatoes, spring onions, iceberg lettuce, eggplant, leeks, beans and cucumbers. Mushrooms are in flush, meaning good prices. The availability of mushrooms can vary week to week so snap them up while you can. Mushrooms are incredibility hearty and good for your health. They are getting serious scientific attention as more studies show their correlation with supressing cancers and decreasing tumours. 

NZ fruit
Pick of the week is Sunfirst navel oranges. The season is in full swing, the prices are good and the quality is even better. Navels coming out of Gisborne are juicy and sweet.

Suggested recipe. Mediterranean orange cake. First, cook 2 whole oranges, peel on, with water to cover for 1-1.5 hours until tender. Remove from saucepan and cool before pureeing in food processor. Grease a 20cm cake tin and set oven to 180oC. Sift 2.25 cups of all purpose flour, 1.5 tbsp of baking soda and a pinch of salt into a large bowl. Stir in 1.75 cups of sugar and 0.75 cups of ground almonds; make a well in the middle of dry ingredients. In the food processor with the pureed oranges; add 0.5 cup of soy milk, 2 tbsp of lemon juice, 0.75 cup of oil and 1 tsp of vanilla essence. Whizz until combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir well. Bake for 55 minutes, allow to completely cool before dusting with icing sugar, alternately ice with cream cheese frosting.

Other top vegetable buys are lemons, Richard special mandarins, strawberries, green kiwifruit, truss tomatoes, tangelos and Jazz apples. Lemons have so many fantastic health properties that they should be at the top of the weekly shopping list. They are a great way to cleanse the system; drinking warm lemon water in first thing in the morning helps kick start the body and flush out toxins that are accumulated throughout the day.

Imported produce
Honeydew and rock melons from Australia and ginger from Thailand. Ginger is fanatic for your health; it solves most aliments and should be consumed daily in the form of tea, juices, marinades and stir-fries.

Fresh on the shelves