In season mid-spring: Silver beet

The low-down

Availability: Year-round, but particularly abundant in late winter, especially in home vege gardens.

Buying: Choose crisp green leaves with firm white or red stalks. Avoid wilted or damaged leaves.

Storing: Keep silver beet in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Nutrition: Silver beet will add fibre, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A, folate and other nutrients to your diet, but an even better reason to eat silver beet is for the lutein it contains. This is an important antioxidant which helps protect our eyesight from damage by UV light.

5 quick ways with silver beet

1. Add silver beet to cooked potatoes in a hot frying pan. Add two beaten eggs and scatter sliced ham over to make a tasty frittata.
2. Make Silver beet, feta and mini tart
3. Use silver beet as an edible wrapper to steam fish, or use it like vine leaves stuffed with minced meat, rice and veges.
4. Stir-fry silver beet leaves with garlic and olive oil then serve with grilled meat or fish.
5. Add chopped silver beet leaves to pasta water during the last few minutes of cooking. Drain with pasta and add a tomato sauce and a can of tuna.