Topic: winter vegetables

Wondering how to keep things fresh and tasty when carrots, potatoes, celeriac, turnips and other root vegetables abound? We’re taking a spin around the globe, exploring the many ways winter’s bounty of lower carbon footprint produce can be transformed into 12 easy and flavorful dishes. Think Japanese Curry, Moroccan Tagine, Italian Frittata, French Galette and more! 

RECIPE #5 Pot pie

Pot pie is the ultimate winter comfort food, basically a simple stew dressed up with a topping. Great for making ahead, pretty enough for company and easy to whip up with whatever you've got on hand. Pot pies are perfect for repurposing leftovers (some would call it disguising them). We love pot pies for being infinitely adapatable! Make it meaty with leftover turkey or part of a rotisserie chicken. Got a vegan in your house? Fill it up with umami-packed mushrooms and no one will miss the meat. Trying to avoid dairy products? Skip the milk, using only stock. As for the topping, pie crust is traditional but if there's no time for that frozen puff pastry is beautiful and delicious or a biscuit topping (homemade or from a can) is sure to please. Choose your baking dish - round pie plate, square baking pan, cast iron skillet - indiviudal ramekins will elevate your pot pit to something restaurant worthy. The possibilities are endless!

RECIPE #4 STIR FRY

We love stir fry! It's the perfect answer to what's for dinner; a great way to clean out the fridge of all those odds and ends you've lost track off; makes great use of pantry staples and with a little attention to varied colors, piece size and saucing ingredients is colorful, flavorful and satisfying. Use this open-ended guide to make a stir fry where what-you've-got-on-hand meets up with let's-get-supper-on-the-table fast! And is sure to please!


4 cups sturdy, long cooking vegetables like

For this trip around with world with winter root vegetables we're headed to West Africa where yams, plantains, tomatoes, greens, garlic, ginger and chiles all figure prominently. In this recipe we've adapted asaro, a starchy root vegetable stew in a flavorful tomato- and chile-based sauce to our New England offerings. Traditionally, the dish is made with the yams, but carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, rutabagas, turnips are all good and readily available stand-ins. Firm, green plantains are a welcome addition but certainly not essential as the sauce rich with caramelized shallots, garlic and ginger is the perfect backdrop to whatever is in your crisper drawer. There is a slight but welcome heat from a single pepper dropped in whole to infuse the stew. Coconut milk supplies the richness and hearty greens help cut the richness while adding a contrasting, colorful punch. Serve topped with crunchy shallots, fresh herbs and a wedge of lime.

Food, lovingly prepared by hand figures prominently in Michelle Zauner’s memoir, Crying in H Mart. From shopping with her mother to learning from her and other Korean relatives how to prepare traditional dishes to nurturing her  mother through serious illness Zauner illustrates the power of food to nourish and sustain us. So recently, when suffering through a bad bout of the flu, I found myself drawn to her images of congee, the traditional rice porridge that makes appearances in many Asian cuisines, and is often served to people who are ill.

I perused the internet and my cookbooks; inventoried my pantry where I found rice, peanuts, black vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, chile oil and Smithereen Farm Organic Mermaiden Broth; checked the fridge for eggs, ginger, soy sauce and sriracha; took stock of this week’s bounty from my Boston Organics box - three good sized carrots, three watermelon radishes and crimini mushrooms (an On-Sale add-on item) and came up with a plan. Lucky for me, I also had scallions, cilantro and bok choy on hand.

Tagine is a North African dish, named for the earthenware dish in which it is traditionally cooked. Usually made with chicken we've adapted the warm essences of that part of the world to highlight winter's root vegetables - flavors like mildly earthy turmeric, citrusy coriander, bright lemon, peppery ginger, fresh cilantro plus the sweetness of dried fruit. Variations abound in this dish! Use whatever roots you've got on hand other than beets, unless you like your food tinged pink. Choose from the dried fruits in your pantry. Add olives if you love them or toasted nuts. Make it substantial with boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

Wondering how to keep things fresh and tasty when carrots, potatoes, celeriac, turnips and other root vegetables abound? Over the next few weeks we’re taking a spin around the globe, exploring the many ways winter’s bounty of lower carbon footprint produce can be transformed into easy and flavorful dishes. Think Japanese Curry, Moroccan Tagine, Italian Frittata, French Galette and more! We’re beginning today with a quick trip to the Land of the Rising Sun.