Slice of summer: watermelon and nectarines among Australia’s best-value fruit and veg in January

After a run of wet summers that put a damper on summer crops, this year’s drier conditions means there’s little that’s off the table this month.

Stone fruit is particularly cheap and sweet, says Graham Gee, senior buyer at the Happy Apple in Melbourne. “Peaches and nectarines … you can get for about $3 a kilo, with premium varieties a few dollars more,” he says.

Take advantage of the glut by pickling your ripe peaches or using nectarines in desserts. Thomasina Miers’ nectarine and raspberry sourdough pudding is a seasonal play on bread-based pudding with crunch, chew and tang.

Red and black plums are in good supply too, and cherries from Victoria and Tasmania continue their run, selling for about $18 a kilo.

There has also been a flush of berries, Gee says. Victorian strawberries are in their prime (about $3 a punnet) and blueberries and raspberries are tantalisingly cheap at about $2 and $4 a punnet respectively.

Related: Slice of life: 10 delicious ways to make the most of watermelon

Rockmelon are also hitting their peak. “When you cut them open, they’re beautiful,” Gee says. “They’re really starting to come into their own … you can probably pick up a nice, good-sized whole one for $4 to $5.”

At Harvest Eltham in Melbourne, the greengrocer Sam Russo recommends watermelon, which has come down in price (about $2.50 a kilo) and is crisp and vibrant. It’s the perfect thirst-quencher on hot days, or eat chunks for breakfast cooked in a frying pan and drizzled with honey.

Russo says dragon egg lychees (also known as Erdon Lee lychees) are gearing up to be the star of the month. “They’re going to be really popular come Chinese new year. They’re cheap for what they are but they’re still fetching $30 to $40 a kilo … They go crazy at the end of January.”

Kensington prides are reaching the end of their run but other mango varieties should hang on for another month for about $3 each, with honey gold the cheapest.

Club Med

Red capsicums are red-hot, selling for about $2.99 a kilo at grocers, where you would usually see them for between $3 and $6 a kilo this time of year. Serve them roasted as antipasti alongside mozzarella and anchovies, or blitz with walnuts to make muhammara, a spicy Middle Eastern dip.

Related: Dry them, fry them, turn them into sauce: what to cook with cheap, juicy summer tomatoes

Heirloom tomatoes from South Australia are flourishing and expected to hold their quality as long as the weather stays sunny and dry. “A heatwave is fine for a brief period,” Russo says. “But if you get a heatwave mixed with a lot of humidity, that’ll destroy everything.”

For Mediterranean platters, eggplants remain a good buy at about $7 a kilo. Try Meera Sodha’s sweet-and-sour eggplant orzo.

Lettuce rejoice

“Lettuces are in pretty good supply at the moment,” Gee says. “That’s iceberg and cos, as well as the more exotic ones, like oak, coral and butter lettuce.”

For a salad that’s as simple as it is fun, use iceberg (about $3 a head) in Alice Zaslavsky’s “particularly Aussie” surf club salad; for Middle Eastern flavours try Yotam Ottolenghi’s butterhead lettuce salad with apple dressing and black lime crumbs.

Brassicas should not be relegated to a winter vegetable, according to Gee. With broccoli about $6 a kilo, cauliflower about $4 a head and broccolini at $2.50 a bunch, he recommends roasting or blanching them to beef up salads.

Hass avocados – another star of summer salads – have been creeping up in price to about $3 apiece.

Related: Extraordinary size and staying power: the unlikely origin of a mighty Australian avocado

“We’ve had a really good supply for about 18 months and it is starting to dry up a little bit now,” Gee says. “It’s probably a trend we can expect to see up to Australia Day.

“We may even see them get $1 more expensive. As more of the regions come online, the new season crops will bring the price back down.”

Buy:
Blueberries
Broccoli
Broccolini
Capsicum (red)
Cherries
Eggplant
Herbs
Lettuce
Limes
Lychees
Mangoes
Peaches
Plums
Raspberries
Rockmelon
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Watermelon
Yellow squash

Watch:
Avocados
Dragon fruit
Passionfruit (coming in slowly)
Zucchini

Avoid:
Beans and snow peas (remain expensive)
Honeydew
Lemons