Veg, Fruit and Foraged Foods in Season in November

What is seasonal food? 

If you grow your own vegetables the packet will tell you when you can expect to harvest the crop and this is when it is in season.  If you see vegetables for sale outside of this time then they are not in season and may well have been imported or grown under heat in a greenhouse.

Why eat seasonal food?

Food that is in season has many advantages over imported food or that grown under cover:

• It will have the best and freshest taste.
• It will have a higher nutritional value.
• It is good for the environment as it will have low food low miles and less energy will have been used than glass-grown plants to produce it.
• As a result it will be cheaper.
• Finally, as a consumer, you will get seasonal variety and the excitement of the first taste of a just in-season food is hard to beat.  A strawberry in winter may look appetising but it has minimal taste compared to a summer one.

What is in Season in November? 

November sees a definite shift in what seasonal food is available with salads now replaced with lots of root vegetables and greens, perfect for winter soups and stews and tree fruits for warming, sticky puddings.

Please note I have based this list on UK and Northern France.  

Vegetables

• Turnips
• Swede
• Celery
• Kohl Rabi
• Peppers *
• Squash and pumpkins
• Beetroot 
• Broccoli
• Jerusalem artichoke
• Leeks
• Brussel Sprouts
• Celeriac
• Pak Choi and other Oriental Vegetables
• Cavolo Nero and Kale
• Cabbage
• Red Cabbage
• Lamb's Lettuce
• Salsify
• Chicory
• Fennel
• Endive 
• Cauliflower
• Romanesco 
• Winter squash

* Check these are still locally produced and not imported

Fruit

• Apples
• Pears
• Quince

Foraging

The hedgerows still have food to offer foragers throughout November so hopefully you can find something from this list locally.  There are also a lot of edible mushrooms but I am not an expert and advise you only eat them if you are absolutely sure know what you are doing.

• Walnuts
• Crab-apples  
• Hazelnuts
• Rose hips
• Chestnuts
• Sloes 
• Gorse flowers

So what can I recommend you cook with seasonal food in November? How about red cabbage with apple (recipe from Lavender and Lovage).  It is a favourite way of mine for cooking red cabbage and freezes well if you want to save some for later.

Red Cabbage and Apple from Lavender and Lovage

Do you have any favourite recipes using November produce?