Seasonal Cuisine - Advice for cooking cheap food for different seasons?

[HomeEconHelp]

Hi there,

I have been learning to cook food from different countries. The problem is, that quite often I am needing to buy vegetables that are out of season and a single meal can end up costing so much that it would be cheaper to go to a restaurant. Does anyone have any suggestions for exotic foods that I can try to cook where the likely ingredients will be cheap for a specific season?

At the moment, I thought I could cook Russian foods in winter because they have a lot of different types of soup (which I absolutely love) and they do not require expensive ingredient. The cost of tomatoes and coriander are extremely high in winter so I try and avoid those dishes.

So:

Summer = ?
Winter = Russian and ?
Autumn = ?
Spring = ?

Thank you for any advice.

 

[Magus]

Can your own tomatoes or buy the canned stuff in the spring when its on sale cheap.
Try this:
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/russian-borscht/
https://www.thecookierookie.com/sweet-and-sour-chicken-simply-sated/

 

[snappy1]

I agree with Magus.
Choose some recipes, make a list of ingredients, then buy them in season. That is how I cook and prep.

 

[Magus]

Pretty much everybody does, its the best way to save the big bucks!

 

[Wingnut]

Some foods are seasonal for me: oatmeal is a good example. Love it in cold weather with melted butter, brown sugar & milk! Another good example would be fresh salad, I enjoy it all summer... sure, you can buy salad makings in the winter, but they're usually more expensive, and sometimes the quality suffers. I'm just as likely to eat frozen veggies in winter. Fall & winter for large beef roasts, holiday turkeys, plenty o' gravy, etc. Summer for homemade fresh fruit smoothies in the blender... see where I'm going with this? As far as meats go, I buy whatever offers the best value, and I almost always buy value packs, since I often cook in large batches so I have plenty of leftovers. Less time spent cooking, and multiple meals to easily prepare... good way to save money in the long run. Just my $.02 on this subject...

 

[Swing]

Can you put your general location in your information so it will show. It will give the other members some idea of what will work for you.
https://www.homesteadingforum.org/account/account-details Put it in location there.

 

[Magpie]

Potatoes are a year round thing here; do you have space to grow your own fruit/veg?
In general Autumn /winter food is heavier, because traditionally you needed warmth/calories. I make alot of soups & pasta sauces from whatever is in season and freeze.

Sorry, editing this as I now see your original post said exotic food. I'm guessing you mean growing ginger, lemongrass etc - or can you give examples of what you would like to grow?