Welcome to Strictly Seasonal Round 2

It’s become somewhat of a tradition that I announce my recipe series for the following year about this time of year. This year, we had Health Unwrapped, looking at whether foods that are ‘bad for you’ really are. 2020 was Plant Sourced, a series focused on recipes to provide nutrients harder to find on a plant based diet. 2019 was Strictly Seasonal, recipes using primarily seasonal ingredients, focused on saving money and being more eco-friendly when it comes to the carbon footprint of what’s on our plates. Well, 2022 is Strictly Seasonal Round 2, with a slight twist.  

Strictly Seasonal Round 2

So, what’s different?  

Eating seasonal ingredients is great for so many reasons. You get variety throughout the year, food becomes cheaper and more plentiful – think summer berries vs winter strawberries, and it’s better for the environment.  

The downside of the old seasonal recipe series is that it was flawed to think that the plentiful cheaper food would all get used in one recipe, or that the person following it would have another recipe up their sleeves to use up the leftovers. Each October/ November I see countless people looking for pumpkin recipes. I’ve lost count of the number of people who comment on certain recipes saying they love x ingredient, but never know what to do with it/ the leftovers. It’s time to do something to attempt to fix that.  

The 2022 version of Strictly Seasonal is going to be monthly, rather than seasonal. Each month will be dedicated an ingredient that is in season that month/ season and each recipe that month will feature that ingredient. So, if you have leftovers, there are a few other recipes right there to give you some inspiration for what to do with them, hopefully reducing food waste.  

The Plan For 2022 

Each month will commence with a post listing what’s in season that month. I already have posts that list what’s in season each season, but the monthly lists will be more thorough. Some ingredients are only in season for two months rather than a whole season; other ingredients are in season late autumn into winter rather than being a strictly autumn or winter food – this way makes it easier to centre recipes for one month around what’s in season, rather than the whole season.  

Under each ingredient, I’ll list any other recipes I already have focused around that ingredient to get you started before the monthly recipes commence.  

Then end of the monthly in season post will reveal the ingredient I’ve picked for the month. 

Spoiler: January’s ingredient of the month is featured in every image in this post – avocadoes.  

Until next time, 

Sophie 

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