Articles

Winter Produce

By Tanya Carwyn

Often those of us who are dedicated to eating local food as much as possible, waver in our faith come late winter.  Keep heart!  Spring  and its crunchy snap peas is only just around the corner! 

In the mean time, lets take a second look at winter vegetables.  Not only are they available locally at this time of year (either from stores, or if you are lucky, from your own garden or storage space), they are healthy and exactly what our bodies need at this time of year.

Root Vegetables:

Roots are storage units for plants.  Root vegetables keep well in a cool and dry place (the root cellars of old) and can often be harvested right up until the ground freezes.  Roots become very sweet in taste when roasted in an oven and make a perfect side dish with just about every meal.  Simply peel (when necessary) and cut up the roots, toss with some olive oil and sea salt and spread on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until roots are tender and starting to brown.  Some great root veggies to try for this dish are carrot, parsnips, onion, garlic, turnip, sweet; purple and regular potatoes and swedes.

Another great way to use roots vegetables is in soups and stews.  Add some turnip to your next pot roast, some parsnip in chicken soup and you are well on your way to enjoying these seasonal veggies.

Winter Greens:

Winter greens, such as kale and collard greens are often thought of as tough and bitter.  However, with proper cooking techniques and great recipes, these nutritional powerhouses can become family favorites!  Try greens with a touch of maple syrup.  Wash and chopped your greens (kale works great here) and boil them in plenty of salt water for a 4-5 minutes.  In the mean time, sauté a diced onion and a clove or two of garlic in some butter or olive oil until starting to turn golden.  Add the drained kale, some soy sauce or sea salt and a small splash of maple syrup.  Sauté for a minute more and serve hot.  Winter greens also do well finely shredded in soups and stews (we really like white chili with collard greens and chicken soup with kale)

Cabbages

Cabbages are also great storage vegetables.    Green cabbage is a really unobtrusive vegetable when prepared right. ( That means, not over cooked!)  Shredded cabbage is nice added to soups (add it to a simple beef and tomato soup for instance) and is great simply sautéed as a side dish.  Shred the cabbage and sauté it with onion and garlic adding additional flavors to compliment the main dish.  Eating Indian or North African food?  Add some cumin.  Add oregano for an Italian flair, ginger and soy sauce for an Asian inspiration and ginger, green curry and a few tablespoons of coconut milk for a South East Asian feel.  Cabbages are also a main ingredient in traditional winter dishes such as Korean kim chee and European Sauerkraut.