It's time to put aubergines and cucumbers back on the menu.
Both are coming down in price and supply is good. Cucumbers make great quick pickles. These sweet, salty, often chilli-spiked condiments are having their time in the limelight and no wonder. Quick pickles really liven up meals. Top your burgers with cucumber pickles or try them with salmon or fish cakes. For more ideas see our pickles and fermented foods collections.
Aubergines, or eggplants, come from the nightshade family and, although eaten as a vegetable, are actually fruits. They are prized in many cuisines. Try them in Kathy Paterson's miso eggplant and her version of Greek moussaka (below).
To avoid discolouration, eggplants should be cut just before cooking but there’s no need to salt them first as in the past — they are bred without bitterness these days. However, the salting does stop the eggplant soaking up too much oil when it is fried, so you may decide to keep up with the practice.
Leeks are also good buying this week as are carrots and avocados.
Fruit buys of the week include green kiwifruit, very affordable lemons, mandarins and grapefruit. Tangelos, the super-juicy hybrid of mandarins and grapefruit, should be in stores soon.
