Fresh Food Club - What's in season?

Packed with vitamin C, easy to peel and super juicy, new season Imperial, Afourer and Satsuma mandarins are delicious eating and great value. When it comes to cooking apples, Granny Smith is an Aussie favourite, with its gloss green skin and tart white flesh that sweetens on maturity.

Fragrant golden-skinned quince has a musky flavour, and there is something quite alluring about how their pale flesh transforms from a soft pink to a rich claret colour on long, slow poaching or roasting. Roasting quince with honey, maple syrup, olive oil, and spices like cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom brings out its natural sweetness and makes a tasty side dish for roasted meats.

Attractive ruby-coloured and antioxidant-rich pomegranates contain jewel-like seeds bursting with juice and flavour. Sprinkle the arils over various dishes, and use the juice for salad dressings or marinades. Pomegranates are delicious and served with lamb, duck and chicken dishes. Liven up salads, couscous, eggplant and hummus with a spoonful of pomegranate seeds.

When it comes to cooking apples, Granny Smith is an Aussie favourite, with its gloss green skin and tart white flesh that sweetens on maturity.

Firm Hass and Shepard avocados can take 2-5 days to fully ripen at room temperature. The fruit will yield to gentle pressure at the stem end when it's ready to eat. A creamy avocado is the perfect topper for a baked jacket potato with nachos.

New-season ruby grapefruits are bursting with goodness, have a clean, pleasant, tangy flavour, and provide a healthy boost with vitamin C. The flesh colour can vary from pale pink to salmon red, and they are sweeter than their yellow-fleshed cousins.

Sweet persimmons (also sold as Fuyu, their variety name) are at their peak for quality and value this week.

Fennel's crisp texture and delicate aniseed flavour make it a delicious addition to casseroles. It is also a tasty addition to salads and soups; the fine fronds can be snipped and used to flavour or garnish chicken and fish dishes

machine-harvested green beans are currently from the level fields of Bowen

When the temperature drops, creamy vegetable soups come to the fore, and root vegetables like celeriac are perfect for making nourishing soups, like this leek, celeriac, and chicken soup. Celeriac has a mild celery flavour and is ideal for adding diced to casseroles, stews, or boiling and mash

Cauliflower has health benefits for your bones, brain, gut, heart and immunity.

Brussels sprouts are good value this week

Crisp Iceberg lettuces are well priced. They're perfect for making lettuce cups to serve with San Choy Bau or Vietnamese chilli chicken salad.

Kumara, or orange sweet potato, is delicious and ideal for roasting or mashing. Roast chopped orange sweet potato with red onion wedges in olive oil flavoured with cumin and coriander for 30 minutes or until tender. Mashed kumara is a delicious and vibrant-coloured topping for a cottage pie.

Leeks are a versatile ingredient adored for their soft, delicate, oniony flavour and lovely aroma. You can use them as a base for a stew or braise, like onions, or make them the hero in a homemade pie or soup.

Take advantage of having chestnuts on hand, ready to enjoy. Now is the time to snap freeze-cooked chestnuts; roast a kilo or two before the season finishes. Cut a shallow cross through the flat side of each chestnut and roast on a tray at 200C for 30 minutes; cool slightly that peel while still warm

Delicately flavoured zucchini is a versatile, no-fuss vegetable that requires minimal preparation. This week supplies are coming from local Sydney growers, Queensland and Victoria. Choose firm zucchini with glossy skin. Store in the crisper in the fridge