Embracing Seasonal Produce in Your Menu

Want to impress your customers and build a distinguished culinary reputation within your community? Keep reading as we uncover some insights to incorporate locally sourced, seasonal produce in your menu offerings.

The term ‘farm-to-table’, seasonal sourcing, and selling local produce continue to broaden in the restaurant industry. While restaurants achieve a unique position by capitalizing on seasonal produce, this opportunity also allows farming communities to earn bigger profits. Besides, using heirloom fruits and vegetables provides a unique signature for your restaurant. Here’s how you can secure local sources to offer attractive spring and summer promotions to customers.

Root vegetables 

Hearty root vegetables like beets, carrots, and turnips are traditional favorites and can be used to elevate any dish. They pretty much suit any cooking method, especially baking, roasting, grilling, and stews. Try incorporating them into various cultural dishes that can help you showcase the flavors of these nutrient-rich roots (besides your ability as a culinary artist, of course!).

Some interesting, flavorful seasonal root vegetables besides the ones we mentioned above are salsify, sunchokes, and horseradishes. Not only do they taste amazing when cooked the right way, but featuring these roots in your seasonal menu can also impress your customers by offering non-conventional 

Utilize every part of the plant

For the most part, restaurants tend to use the fruits or seeds of seasonal crops. Take zucchini for example–its bright yellow blossoms are edible and taste slightly sweet. However, only the fruit is usually utilized in salads, limiting the possibilities this amazing vegetable holds. Zucchini blossoms can be dipped in batter and fried to crispy, golden perfection.

Explore the wide array of seasonal crops you can utilize every part of and get creative in the kitchen! Our seasonal favorites for this are carrot and leek tops, kale ribs, collard stalks, and asparagus. Try pickled watermelon rinds and broccoli slaw, too!

Flavoring alternative

Salt, pepper, spice seasonings, and other mineral flavorings are great, but have you explored the complex flavor profile of garlic as an alternative yet? Garlic is a superfood that imparts a strong, slightly sweet, and mustard-y touch to the dish when cooked. Using garlic scrapes, on the other hand, provides a much milder feel to it–which has also become a prized trend to incorporate more fresh produce into your cuisine. 

Sourcing your seasonal produce

Keep track of seasonal produce and plan your seasonal menu several months in advance. During this wait time, gradually begin reducing your supplies from bulk processors so that you don’t have to deal with extra inventory. Remember to market your new and upcoming menu by taking lots of pictures, posting them on social media, and sending marketing messages to your loyal customers.

While the idea of incorporating unique, seasonal produce into your menu sounds great, bad harvests, weather disasters, and other factors can disrupt your supply chain. Fortunately, Simplot offers a wide range of prepped seasonal crops like corn, berries, and more. Explore what we offer on our product page.