PRODUCE REPORT

New Zealand navel oranges have arrived in supermarkets, staying until their early summer departure and helping us keep up our vitamin C quota over winter and spring. These large, sweet oranges are usually seedless, making them even more desirable. One orange will provide our entire recommended daily intake of vitamin C and also contains folate, potassium and niacin (the latter essential for brain and nerve function, also helping to reduce fatigue).

Store oranges in the fruit bowl at room temperature for about a week. Refrigerated, they will last about three weeks longer. If you are picking your own, remember ripe oranges may revert back to green if kept on the tree. This will not affect the flavour — navel oranges can stay on the tree for three or four months after the fruit reaches a mature size. Use in a winter salad with avocados, which are finally more affordable than they have been for a very long time. Add finely sliced red onion too and dress with vinaigrette, with the addition of a little orange juice if you fancy reinforcing the flavour. Cauliflowers and cabbages are widely available now and not too expensive. Broccoli and parsnips are our vegetable buys of the week. Look out for local daikon radishes. These long white Asian radishes are often braised in Chinese dishes or made into one of the best yum cha dishes, “turnip” cakes (lo bak go), which actually contain no turnip at all. They are also pickled by the Vietnamese and grated raw by the Japanese to serve with sashimi. Thinly sliced, they add a sweetish spicy crunch to winter salads. Look for firm unwrinkled daikons and store them in the fridge for up to a week. Peel before eating.

Tamarillos are lowering in price.

Lemons and green

kiwifruit are our fruit buys of the week.

Suzanne Dale Heat oven to 200C. Finely grate a 2cm knob of ginger and mix it with 2 cloves crushed garlic, 1 tsp five spice, 1 Tbsp brown sugar and the zest of 2 oranges. Season 1 free-range chicken, inside and out with salt and pepper, then rub the ginger mix all over. Slice another 2cm knob of ginger and stuff it into the cavity of the chicken along with 2 sliced oranges. Place breast-side-up in a lidded casserole dish. Mix together ½ cup orange juice and ¼ cup soy sauce and pour it over the chicken. Cover and cook in the oven for 1 hour until cooked through. Remove the lid for the last 15 minutes to brown the chicken. Serve with juices from the pot, steamed rice and greens.