Golden queen peaches
Golden queens are the clingstone peaches that fill the Wattie’s cans, and are a popular bottling variety, but are also delicious to eat raw, with firm, deep orange-yellow flesh and skin. They are the base fruit for many desserts and chutneys. Peaches and nectarines are the same species, differentiated by their skins – velvety in peaches, smooth in nectarines. The fuzz on a peach is thought to protect it from pests.
Peaches are a member of the rose family and a close relative of almonds and, in China, from where they originate, the peach is a symbol of good luck, protection and longevity.
At just 240kJ, a golden queen peach is a low kilojoule sweet treat with 2.5g fibre. The flesh colour indicates its high beta-carotene content, an antioxidant we convert to vitamin A.
Recipes
Sticky roasted peaches with ricotta cream
Baked potato with grilled peach salad
Green beans
Green beans, AKA snap, string or French beans, are actually pods for immature legumes. With more than 130 different varieties, these are a perennial, versatile favourite. Whether they’re fresh or frozen, sliced, chopped or whole, they’re most commonly used as a steamed side dish, in stir-fries or casseroles or roasted and served as a canapé.
No wonder Mum said to eat your greens: 1 cup of sliced green beans with your meal adds 4g fibre, 2.5g protein, vitamins A and C, B vitamins, folate, potassium, calcium and iron. All that goodness in just 170kJ.
Recipes
Turkey, green bean and rainbow veges stir-fry
Quick brown rice and quinoa, greens and poached egg bowl
Fresh this month
(Harvested in New Zealand gardens in February)
Vegetables
Beans, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, capsicums, carrots, cauliflower, celery, courgettes, cucumbers, eggplants, fennel, garlic, globe artichoke, kumara, lettuce, marjoram, onions, peas, potatoes, pumpkin, radishes, runner beans, silver beet, spinach, spring onions, squash, sweetcorn, tomatoes.
Herbs
Basil, chives, coriander, dill, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme.
Fruit
Apples, apricots, avocado, blackcurrants, blueberries, boysenberries, cherries, lemons, melons, nashi, nectarines, oranges, passionfruit, peaches, pears, plums, raspberries, rhubarb,strawberries.
www.healthyfood.com
