Summer is the season for long balmy days, sun kissed skin, holiday happiness and tropical fruit!

You know its summer in Australia when you spot your 1^st mango in the grocery store for the season. Mangoes speak their own summer language and this bountiful fruit can be incorporated into many summer dishes or purely eaten alone, dripping down your chin.

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of having a mango tree grow in your back yard, you will know just how much fruit you can grow in a season, you get to the point where the freezer is full of frozen fruit and you’re giving them away by the box load, wow! What a summer paradise!

But it’s not all about the adored mango, the Australian summer brings in an array of seasonal fruit and vegetables, which is grown across this vast country, offering an outstanding selection of produce no matter where you are located in Australia. The great thing about this country is this variety of produce is available nationwide fresh, affordable and conveniently on hand in all grocery stores, health food stores and farmers markets for all to enjoy.

I don’t think it matters where you live, when its summer time we all want to feel lighter and have more energy, and this really changes the way in which we eat over this magical period. With summer just around the corner, let’s look at what produce you can get your hands on this season.

Summer vegies

• Beans
• Boc choy
• Cabbage
• Capsicum
• Carrots
• Celery
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant
• Garlic
• Peas
• Pumpkin
• Shallots
• Snow peas
• Tomatoes

Summer fruit

• Stone fruit – apricot, nectarines, plums, peaches
• Bananas
• Berries – blueberries & strawberries
• Grapes
• Cherries
• Mango
• Watermelon
• Rockmelon
• Oranges
• Passionfruit
• Pineapple

When I think about summer recipes and the way I enjoy to eat, I instantly go to light, healthy and easy to digest meals which don’t lock you in your hot kitchen for hours on end. The Australian summer speaks BBQ’s, salads, seafood, fresh Asian inspired dishes such as Vietnamese rice paper rolls, picnics, family style eating with all having the key factor of being, quick and easy to prepare dishes that the whole family will enjoy.

And we cannot forget about the festivities of Christmas and new year’s eve which bring a whole different dynamic to the traditional Christmas dinner, a Australian festive season can be hot, and we certainly do still cook a turkey or whole glazed ham in the kitchen, however traditionally it is all about the salads, seafood, a couple dozen cooked prawns – which you will be fighting over for your fair share, cold cuts of meat which are then followed by a selection of Eton mess, pavlova, Christmas cake, fruit & cheese, yes! Bring it on!

As I mentioned, I love easy and fresh favours, I am the salad queen. I will make a salad out of anything and pair it with a beautifully seared piece of fish on the side, I will always make sure I make enough so I can take it to work the next day or just do a big meal prep salad for a few days in a row. Check out some of my new season go to dishes.

Quinoa salad with pomegranate, pumpkin and goat’s cheese

Prep time 10 minutes

Cooking time 15 minutes

Serves 4, or a great side dish to accompany a BBQ

Quinoa salads are the perfect balance between wholesome and hearty, making them an ideal recipe when you’re looking for a light lunch or dinner, they can be a great side dish to family style meals, while being super easy to prepare and throw together. The combinations to this protein rich salad can be endless, have fun coming up with your own flavours.

Ingredients

300 gm butternut pumpkin (about ½), diced

1 Spanish onion, cut into thin slices

1 tbsp olive oil

200 gm (1 cup) quinoa

1 cup coarsely chopped parsley or coriander

1 cup coarsely chopped mint

2 tbsp sunflower seeds

Seeds from ½ pomegranate

100 gm goat’s cheese

Dressing

Juice of 1 lemon

60 ml (¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method

1.Preheat oven to 220C. place pumpkin and onion on a roasting tray, drizzle with oil, season to taste and roast until caramelised (usually about 20 minutes).

2.Cook quinoa in a saucepan of boiling salted water until tender (10-15 minutes), then drain and set aside in a sieve to drain completely.

3.Combine remaining ingredients except cheese in a bowl, add roasted pumpkin, onion and quinoa and toss to combine. Season to taste and serve scattered with crumbled goat’s cheese.

NUTRITIONAL VALUE

PROTEIN: 56G FAT: 113G CARBS: 143G

• Approx 1884 kcal – Based off whole dish
• Approx. 471 kcal – When divided between 4 serves.

HIGH IN

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin K
• Vitamin E
• B1, B2, B6
• Folate
• Potassium
• Magnesium
• Copper
• Phosphorus
• Zinc
• Fibre
• Protein

Mediterranean potato salad

Prep time 10 minutes

Cooking time 10 minutes

Serves 6

I absolutely love potatoes, I will eat them however they come and I will certainly be that person who always orders them for the table when dining out. This potato salad came together as some off chance throw together which has become one of my favourite side dishes. Healthy, fresh and super quick to prepare. If you’re a potato fan I’m sure you will love this dish too.

Ingredients

10 x small red potatoes (with skin on) cut into ¼

½ red diced onion

½ cup (100g) kalamata olives

½ jar (30g) capers

½ cup (90 g) semi dried tomatoes

1 bunch parsley

Drizzle with Caesar style dressing

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.Bring potatoes to boil, until cooked, do not over cooked, keep firm still

2. Combine all ingredients together in a bowl

3. Season, drizzle with Caesar dressing and enjoy

nutritional value

PROTEIN: 43G FAT: 44G CARBS: 268G

• Approx 1713 kcal – Based off whole dish
• Approx 285 kcal – When divided between 6 serves

HIGH IN

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin K
• B1, B3, B5, B6
• Folate
• Potassium
• Magnesium
• Copper
• Phosphorus
• Fibre

Eton mess

Prep time 35 minutes

Cooking time 50 mins

Serves 10

This super easy, thrown together English dessert is pretty much heaven in a bowl. It is a little naught, yet it is the perfect summer dessert, of crumbled meringue, softly whipped cream topped with marinated, in season berries.

The beauty of this delicate dessert is in its simplicity.

In our recipe, we’ve used raspberries and strawberries, yet this dessert is open to flavour variations, so be creative and use whatever fruit is in season at the time I also love to use mango, passionfruit or stone fruit, the choices are endless.

Whether your Eton mess is folded or layered, when all the elements are piled high in a beautiful glass serving bowl, this classic dessert makes the perfect sweet finish for summer entertaining.

Now some may be a little afraid of this dish, purely due to the meringues, but there are a few little tricks when it comes to making a meringue:

• The 1^st tip is patience
• I like to use room temp eggs
• When beating the eggs, be sure that you beat until mixture is glossy and that you have super firm, stiff peaks when you remove the beater from the mixer. Don’t be afraid to mix a little longer if it appears too soft.
• To ensure a perfect crisp crust, always leave them to cool in the oven after baking.

Meringues can be prepped in advance: they’ll keep for a few days stored in an airtight container.

Ingredients

110g (½ cup) caster sugar

200 ml thickened cream, lightly whisked

125g crème fraîche

55g (½ cup) pure icing sugar, sieved

Scraped seeds of ½ vanilla bean

125g raspberries

750g strawberries, quartered, plus extra to serve

Meringues

100g egg white (about 3 eggs)

100g caster sugar

100g pure icing sugar, sieved

15g cornflour

Method

1.For meringues, preheat oven to 120C. Whisk egg white and a pinch of salt in an electric mixer until firm peaks form (3-4 minutes). With motor running, gradually add caster sugar and whisk until thick and glossy (2-3 minutes). Sieve icing sugar and cornflour over, fold to combine, then spoon 8cm-diameter mounds onto oven trays lined with baking paper. Bake until meringues lift easily from trays and are crisp but not coloured (45-50 minutes), then turn off oven and cool completely in oven.

2.Meanwhile, toss strawberries and caster sugar in a large bowl to combine, then set aside until juices begin to seep (20 minutes).

3.Whisk cream, crème fraîche, icing sugar and vanilla seeds together in a separate large bowl until soft peaks form. Scatter a quarter of the strawberries in the base of a 3-litre serving bowl, spread with a quarter of the cream mixture, and coarsely crumble a quarter of the meringue over the top. Repeat layering with remaining ingredients.

4.Scatter Eton mess with raspberries and extra strawberries and serve.

nutritional value

PROTEIN: 23G FAT: 129G CARBS: 433G

• Approx 2991kcal – Based off whole dish
• Approx 299 kcal – When divided between 10 serves

HIGH IN

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin A
• B2
• Manganese

Take aways

No matter what time of the year it is, when you choose to eat the food which is seasonally grown, you absolutely will not regret it! Seasonal produce is fresh, it last longer due to it being grown and picked in a timely manner, its grown in either your country or local area and its food which your body will normally crave in that particular season – think tropical fruit in summer topped with a zesty sorbet or root vegetables in winter to make those hearty winter stews

We at Kin, love to immerse ourselves in the seasons and purchase our produce from our local farmers market, but if you don’t have a market close by, your grocery store will have a beautiful array of seasonal produce available for you and your family.

Happy cooking and seasonal eating this summer.

Let me know in the comments section what your favourite summer dishes are, I would love some new inspiration.

Much love your KIN family x

The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinion of the author, which has been researched through a variety of integrated health modalities.

The information on this website is not intended to replace the relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. The articles are intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience which has come from a variety of health practitioners in their individual fields.

Kin daily, encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your personal health journey with the guidance of a qualified health care practitioner.