Let's be honest, who doesn’t love food that feels fancy, especially when it offers new meal ideas to enjoy at home. An easy way to achieve this is by cooking with in-season ingredients, like mandarins. Using foods that are more readily available can help to change up your meals, keeping them fresh and fun. Best of all, mandarins are only just starting to come into season, which means you have plenty of time to get inspired.

Former chef and food content creator, Veronica Wnuk (@vewnuk) shares three delicious yet simple recipes that prove that you don’t need a mile-long ingredient list or complicated techniques to whip them up. By picking up fresh mandarins and other ingredients at Sacca's Fine Foods, Veronica shows you a smart, budget-conscious way to cook that naturally helps reduce food waste, all while still letting you feel creative when it comes to flavours.

See how you can use a single ingredient to create a refreshing mandarin and ginger soda, a tasty mandarin chicken chop salad and a delightful mandarin upside down cake.

Mandarin and Ginger Soda

Serves 4

The perfect mix of citrusy mandarin and spicy yet sweet ginger.

What you will need:

• 6 mandarins (about 1 cup of juice).
• 1 bottle soda water, chilled.
• Ice.
• Mint and peeled mandarin rind, to garnish.
• 1 cup water.
• 1 cup sugar.
• ½ cup sliced fresh ginger (skin on).
• Optional: zest of 1 mandarin.

Method

1. Combine water, sugar, ginger and optional zest in a small saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and steep for 15–20 minutes. Strain and chill.
2. Juice the mandarins and strain if desired.
3. Fill a tall glass with ice, add 2–3 tablespoons ginger syrup and ¼ cup mandarin juice per glass, then top with soda water.
4. Garnish with mint and a twist of mandarin rind.

Mandarin Chicken Chop Salad

Serves 4

This mandarin chicken chopped salad is a great weeknight dinner option that feels special without taking too long to make.

What you will need:

• 2 large chicken breasts, skin off.
• 2 mandarins, segmented.
• 2 cups wombok, finely shredded.
• 2 cups green cabbage, finely shredded. 
• 1 cup crunchy noodles or fried wonton strips. 
• 1 cup mint and coriander, torn. 
• 4 spring onions, thinly sliced.
• Optional: 1 cup red cabbage, thinly sliced.

Dressing

• 2 mandarins, juiced (about ⅓ cup).
• Zest of 1 mandarin.
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce.
• 1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar. 
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar.
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil.
• 1 clove garlic, grated.
• 1 teaspoon ginger, grated.
• Optional: 1 small red chilli, finely chopped. 

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. Season chicken with salt and bake for 15–18 minutes, or pan-sear for 4–5 minutes per side until cooked through.

Whisk all dressing ingredients together.

Spoon a few tablespoons of the dressing over the hot chicken. Rest for 5 minutes, then slice or chop.

Combine wombok, cabbages, herbs, mandarin segments and spring onion in a large bowl.

Toss salad with remaining dressing.

Add chicken and crunchy noodles just before serving.

Mandarin Upside Down Cake

Serves 8

There’s always room for dessert, especially if it’s a mandarin upside-down cake.

What you will need:

• 4 mandarins, segmented (segments sliced in half, seeds removed).
• 175g unsalted butter (50g for topping, 125g for cake).
• ½ cup brown sugar. 
• ¾ cup caster sugar.  
• Zest of 2 mandarins. 
• 2 eggs.
• 1¼ cups self-raising flour.  
• ½ cup almond meal.  
• ½ cup Greek yoghurt.    
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.  
• Pinch of salt.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C fan and line the base of a 22cm cake tin with baking paper.
2. Melt 50g butter with brown sugar until bubbling. Pour into the tin and arrange mandarin segments in a tight circular pattern over the base.
3. Beat remaining butter, caster sugar and mandarin zest until pale and fluffy.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between additions.
5. Fold in flour, almond meal, yoghurt, vanilla and salt until just combined.
6. Gently spoon batter over the mandarin base.
7. Bake for 35–45 minutes, until the centre springs back. 
8. Cool for 10 minutes, loosen edges and invert onto a serving plate. Brush any extra caramel over the top.

The everyday magic of cooking seasonally can inspire you to get creative in the kitchen and allow for budget friendly options while ingredients are in abundance. Plus, with a single core ingredient, like mandarins, you can transform your weekly rotation with dishes full of zesty flavour.

Head to Altona Gate and grab everything you need to make these tasty recipes.