How to Pair Vegetables Seasonally

Knowing what produce is fresh and available throughout the year and how to pair vegetables seasonally can enhance the creativity and resourcefulness of your kitchen.

One of my favorite ways to eat both plant focused and resourcefully is to eat my fruits and vegetables seasonally. By asking myself what is ripe, fresh, and local, I am able to come up with delicious food combinations with food that is often cheaper and more nutritious than food that is out of season and shipped from far away.

Advantages to Pairing Seasonal Produce in Foods

Fresher and More Nutritious Produce

Buying vegetables from a local produce stand or farmers market is the way to get the most fresh local produce. But if you are like me and don’t have the time or energy to take a trip the the farmers market each week, simply knowing what food are in season can help you get the freshest foods even from your local grocery store.

Resourceful Cooking

Learning to pair vegetables seasonally in your cooking can help you:

• Buy what is on sale
• Use what is in your garden
• Use up produce before it goes bad

More Creativity in the Kitchen

Sometimes you might get in a vegetable rut, using the same veggies all the time, like canned green beans or frozen peas. Although it is very helpful to keep these “shelf stable” vegetables on hand, your meals can become more flavorful and nutritious if you enhance them with seasonal produce. Widening the produce that you eat can add to a meal you already enjoy to make it more seasonal.

Seasonal Change in Food Profile

If you are the type of person who gets sick of eating the same foods over and over again, eating seasonally can be a big help. Changing the soups, pastas, and salads that we eat seasonally can help us have variety and enjoyment of our foods year round. One of my favorite things to change seasonally is baked goods. I love swapping my whole wheat apple banana muffins to banana berry muffins in the spring, and have even experimented with making whole wheat pumpkin muffins for fall.

Fresh Produce by Season

This list includes both vegetables and fruit by season. Adding fruit to seasonal dishes can enhance flavor and bring a seasonal twist to some of your favorite meals.

Spring

• greens
  • lettuce
  • spinach
  • kale
  • etc.
• peas
• asparagus
• broccoli
• berries

Summer

• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• summer squash
• peppers
• corn
• avocado
• green onions
• berries

Fall

• carrots
• potatoes
• squash
  • pumpkin
  • butternut
  • spaghetti
  • etc.
• sweet potatoes
• green beans
• mushrooms
• greens
• onions
• apples
• pears

Winter

• potatoes
• onions
• carrots
• winter squash
• Brussels sprouts
• avocados
• kale
• citrus
  • oranges
  • lemons
  • grape fruit
  • limes

For a full list of seasonal produce, look here. This list includes a lot of produce that is shipped, so not necessarily seasonal in your location. Foods that are shipped while in season can still be high quality, but not always.

How to Pair Vegetables Seasonally in Dishes

To pair vegetables effectively, focus on the flavors and textures that each component will add to a dish. It is good to have mild flavored veggies like potatoes, greens, or squash paired with more tart or acidic produce like apples, citrus, or tomatoes.

If you are aiming for a heartier, more cozy meal, try combining earthy umami-rich ingredients like mushrooms and squash. You may also try combining sweet and creamy produce like avocados and corn to add a pleasant combination of flavors to a dish.

What are the Best Seasonal Dishes?

Salads, pastas, and soups are some of my favorite things to make into seasonal dishes.

Salads are probably one of my favorite things to enhance with seasonal produce. In the spring I love using fresh berries in salads like my strawberry spinach salad. I enjoy making a heartier salad in the fall with Kale and sweet-potatoes like in my sweet potato and pear kale salad. In the winter it is lots of fun to spruce up salads with ripe citrus and avocado like in my grapefruit and greens salad with lemon yogurt dressing.

I love using fresh roasted tomatoes and basil in my pasta dishes in the summer. In the fall and winter months I enjoy heartier pasta sauces like my sweet potato macaroni, or butter nut squash gnocchi.

Soups are the perfect way to use up seasonal vegetables because you can start with a base of onions, carrots and broth, then add almost any vegetable to make a unique and different soup for whichever season you are in. Summer soups are often full of tomatoes and peppers, fall soups highlight squashes, and root vegetables make hearty winter soups. Try adding sweet potatoes to your chili to give it a sweet cozy winter flair.

Learning how to pair vegetables seasonally can have so many advantages for you and your kitchen. Start simply by finding ways to add a seasonal touch to one of your go-to meals. Being creative in the kitchen is one of my favorite ways to enhance the flavor and the nutrition of the foods we eat every day.