What’s in season for summer?

Summer brings us long, warm days to enjoy with our friends and family, but also brings a variety of Australian-grown fresh fruit and vegetables to the table.  From juicy and flavoursome fruits to crisp vegetables, the summer season presents plenty of produce that will delight your taste buds and support a healthy diet.

Choosing seasonal fruit and veg offers many benefits, including:

• Fresh and nutritious – seasonal produce has more flavour and nutrients compared to produce that has been stored over several months.
• Less expensive – plenty of supply means that produce will be cheaper compared to imported or out-of-season fruit and veg.
• Good for the environment and local economy – buying local supports Australian farmers and reduces carbon-footprint.

Snack on summer fruit

Summer fruit such as bananas, pears, mangoes, peaches and berries are perfect for a snack or refreshing summer dessert and an easy way to get the recommended two daily serves of fruit.  Here are some ideas how you can serve summer fruit:

• Enjoy on their own!
• Chopped up on cereal or yoghurt for breakfast
• Make a refreshing fruit salad
• Or why not fruit our fruit skewers:

Reduce waste tip: don’t throw out fruit that may be a bit soft – try making this frozen fruit puree to have as a handy addition to smoothies and cold drinks.

Serve up some sensational salads

Summer is the perfect time to eat more vegies and salads to reduce your cancer risk.  Here our top 3 simple salad recipes to try this season.

1. Classic coleslaw

You can’t go wrong with a classic coleslaw, great for a BBQ or added to sandwiches or wraps.  This recipe combines white and red cabbage with sweetness of carrot and flavoursome dressing for a refreshing salad.

2. Crisp bean salad

Green beans are at their best, so make the most of it by serving our bean salad. One serve of this recipe provides half of the recommended daily vegie serves!

3. Perfect potatoes

There’s nothing more ‘summery’ than a potato salad.  Did you know that cold potatoes are a good source of resistant starch? Resistant starch is a type of fibre that is good for your gut.

Add summer veg to your snacks

The abundance of summer vegies provides a great opportunity to reach the recommended 5 daily serves of veg.  To help achieve this goal, it’s best to spread vegies throughout the day and have as morning and afternoon snacks.  Why not try these ideas:

• Beetroot hummus – serve with wholegrain crackers for a delicious snack
• Vegetable fritters – whip up a batch of fritters and have them on hand for any meal or snack
• Zucchini muffins – make and freeze a batch for a go-to healthy snack
• Vegie filo cups – the added eggs to seasonal vegies make for a substantial snack

Here’s your guide to what’s in season for summer:

For more summer ideas check out these short articles:

• 5 healthy summer snacks
• Our favourite summer lunch box snacks
• Which mango do you like?

© Cancer Council NSW 2024 Head Office Address: 153 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011. Cancer Council NSW is registered with the Australian Taxation Office as an Income Tax Exempt Charity: Charitable Fundraising Authority No. 18521.

Some images on this site have been supplied by Cancer Council Western Australia's Crunch & Sip website