Eating locally grown in winter

By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD
Extension Educator, Food Safety

But, even eating seasonally can get a bit tedious over the long hard winter if your supply is limited by either amount or variety.  Luckily, in Connecticut we can grow our own or take advantage of more and more opportunities to buy locally produced winter foods even after the holidays.  Winter greens and root vegetables can be found at the Coventry Farmers Market, the Billings Forge and Hollander Farmers' Markets in Hartford, the Fairfield Farmer's Market, Litchfield Hills Farm-Fresh Market, Middletown-Wesleyan Farmers' Market, Wooster Square Farmers' Market in New Haven, and Farmers' Markets in Norwalk, New London, Stonington, and Storrs.  Check with the local market near you for hours, days and times.  Some meet only once or twice a month, others continue to be open weekly.

Then there is the fact that some think that eating seasonally in the winter is boring.  They may think there is only so much you can do with beets, cabbage, carrots and leeks.  Well, here are some ideas to stimulate your culinary imagination when you are thinking, "Oh no, not potato leek soup AGAIN.  I have divided some of our favorite winter veggies into "Roots", "Leafies," and "Bulbs."

Roots (ok, I realize that not all of these are really root veggies, but they seem to fit best here): Beets, Carrots, Celeriac/celery root, Jerusalem artichokes, Kohlrabi, Parsnips, Potatoes, Radishes, Rutabagas, Salsify, Sweet Potatoes, Turnips, Winter squash

First, think outside the recipe box -you have tried most of these baked, or even mashed.  Why not try them grated or shredded.  Make pancakes or hash browns from shredded sweet or white potatoes-or kohlrabi-or rutabaga.  Try making a salad out of shredded raw carrots, cooked celery root or beets.  Use either mayonnaise lightened up with plain yogurt or a vinaigrette dressing.  Sweeten the salad with dried cranberries or raisins.

Or try something you have never even tasted:  kohlrabi (cooked or eaten raw in a slaw), salsify (mashed and served simply butter, salt and pepper) and celeriac or celery root (the root of the celery plant-who would have guessed).
 
This might be a good time to be a little adventurous.  Type "Indian food recipes" or "French food recipes" in your search engine box and do a little research on cultural food specialties-Indian recipes often use cauliflower and potatoes.  Try aloo muttar-a savory stew-like dish of potatoes and peas-or a vegetable korma with cauliflower.  French gratins (think scalloped potatoes) can be made using just about any root vegetable as the base.  You can add onions, leeks, kale, radicchio or cabbage.

Leafies (again, I have taken liberties with foods assigned to this category): Belgian Endive, Broccoli, Broccoli raab/rapini, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Celery, Chicories, Curly Endive (Frisée), Escarole, Kale, Radicchio

Hearty leafies like escarole, chicories, endive and radicchio make a great base for a winter salad.  Because they have stronger flavors than the usual romaine or ice berg, they make a great base for other seasonal foods. One of my favorites is citrus (more on this later).  Sliced oranges are great in winter salads made of a mixture of radicchio, escarole and endive.  The sweetness of the oranges offsets the bitterness of the greens.  Finish with some balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil.  You can also use dried cherries or cranberries in this salad along with some walnuts or pecans.  

Of course, we often add kale and other winter greens to vegetable or potato soups.  They also make a great pasta sauce when stewed with some broth, garlic, and maybe some browned up sausage. You may be familiar with broccoli raab cooked this way.  However, it is also a good way to serve kale, chard or escarole. Add a little pasta water if the sauce is too dry. Serve it over orzo or a whole wheat penne and sprinkle with parmesan.

In the winter when the more common salad greens are "imported" from California, I like to make slaws from broccoli, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, and other winter veggies.  You may choose to blanch broccoli or cauliflower when used in this way-it softens them up a bit. 

On a colder night, you might try a stir fry instead of a slaw.  Incorporate just about any winter vegetable - roots or leafies-along with garlic, leeks or shallots. 

Bulbs: Fennel, Leeks, Onions, Shallots

Fennel is easy to add to many winter vegetable recipes.  Raw, it adds crunch and a little anise-flavored bite to just about any winter salad.  It too is great when combined with oranges or tangerines.  Many like to add fennel to recipes for roasted or grilled vegetables.

Leeks, onions and shallots are members of the same family-the Alliums.  They can pretty much all be used interchangeably, but there are subtle flavor and pungency differences that may lead the eater to favor one over another. They can all add flavor:  raw, in salads; cooked, in just about any soup, stew, stir fry or casserole; or roasted, alone or mixed with other winter vegetables.

Finally, while not grown locally, citrus fruits are certainly a "seasonal" food.  It makes sense to add them to your grocery list at this time of year-even if you know they won't be found at your local farmers' market.  First of all they provide vitamin C and other nutrients that might be difficult to find in a limited seasonal diet.  Look for those grown in the US, including Texas, Florida, Arizona and California, if that will make you feel better (local can be defined as you see fit, here!). 

Add sliced oranges to a winter green salad, sprinkle their juice over cooked beets or carrots, or use the rind in a pumpkin cranberry bread.  Limes and their juice are often used in recipes that are Indian, Central American or Caribbean in origin.  A bit of lime juice along with a handful of cilantro will make a black bean soup even better.

Don't forget the broiled grapefruit or a Clementine or two for dessert.

For more information on eating locally and seasonally, contact the Home and Garden Education Center at ladybug@uconn.edu or 1-877-486-6271 for more information.