Cranberry Orange Chicken is a seasonal dish. It is one of those ‘mix-four-ingredients-together-and-toss-it-in-the-oven’ kind of dishes that busy people love. It is sweet and sticky so kids like it too.

In Canada fresh cranberries start showing up in grocery stores along with pumpkins in early October in time for Canadian Thanksgiving. At this time of year I always pick up a few cans of cranberry sauce because I know that at some point in the next several weeks I will be making this Cranberry Orange Chicken.

A Seasonal Strategy – Cranberry and Pumpkin

To me seasonal cooking is a great strategy for everyday survival. It is a way to add variety without requiring research and recipe testing. Everyone needs easy tried-and-true recipes that appeal to the people you cook for. For me it is not always fresh produce that dictates my menu but also foods that are in season. Regardless of whether the food is fresh, frozen or canned there is no denying that cranberries and pumpkin are in season every autumn.

Not all foods are delicious canned and some are down right awful. But two foods that are perfectly acceptable to me out of a can are cranberry sauce and pumpkin puree. So right now I have them both in my pantry as well as fresh cranberries. If the fresh ones sit there too long I toss them in the freezer and these are the recipes I will be making.

Canned Cranberry Sauce and Canned Pumpkin

• –Warm Cranberry Dip
• –Pumpkin Pie
• –Pumpkin Ginger Muffins
• –Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fresh or Frozen Cranberries

• –Winter Greens with Cranberry Port Vinaigrette
• –Cranberry Orange Muffins
• –Cranberry Orange and Cilantro Salsa

When the holiday rush is over cranberries and pumpkin will fall off my radar and I’m okay with that. Sure enough they will reappear next October and I will make some of my favourite cranberry and pumpkin recipe again. This Cranberry Orange Chicken is always one of them.

Let me know in the comments below if you have a favourite cranberry recipe.