You’ve got potatoes, a bunch of herbs, beetroot, pumpkin, kohlrabi, shallots, lemon, cabbage, cauliflower, silverbeet,  garlic, olive oil, wholemeal flour, and eggs to use. 

How will you transform these ingredients from Hunter region farms into tasty meals?

The Slow Food Eat Local Challenge – Maitland’s first seasonal food competition – has begun and it will test your creativity and culinary skills. 

Those who accept the challenge will buy a $15 bag of these ingredients and then cook as many dishes as they can until the end of October. 

To make the task a little easier, contestants can add as many other ingredients to the list as they like.

They will post their efforts on social media to be in the running for four market hampers worth $50 each.

The overall winner will dine in the comfort of their own home, with six guests of their choice, and indulge in a seasonal menu.

Mother-of-two Nicole Murphy picked up her ingredients on Thursday and cannot wait to start cooking.

“Rather than planning a menu from recipes – like the media and my cookbooks tell you – I’ll be starting with the ingredients and finding recipes to suit,” she said.

“I’m excited about cooking that way.”

Contestants must also complete the challenge without wasting anything.

I’ll start with what is going to perish first, and then i’ll look at the more sturdy things. I’ll be trying to get a higher number of dishes and I will try to make a few different things with a single vegetable,”

Slow Food Hunter Valley leader Amorelle Dempster said contestants would be judged on their creativity, the number of dishes they could make from the ingredients, and their ability to use everything. 

“I want to see the spring onion roots in the ground and the egg shells in the compost,” she said. 

“Together we can make sure that there is good, clean, and fair food for all, support our local farmers, eat seasonally and do some good for the planet."

The challenge is part of the Slow Food Menu for Change which entices shoppers to eat locally grown food instead of industrial scale farming products. 

It also aims to raise awareness about climate change and the distance food travels from the farm to the plate. 

Those who don’t use social media can email their efforts to slowfoodhuntervalley@gmail.com or drop a hard copy of the photos into the Slow Food stand at the November 2 Slow Food Earth Market, or into Readers Cafe and Larder.

Ms Murphy urged families across the city to enter and put their culinary skills to the test.

“It makes life more simple by having less choice,” she said. 

“Otherwise, you’d be in the supermarket with 50 different vegetables, that are imported and not in season, wondering what you’ll cook for dinner.”