Instead of lamenting the loss of your favorite salad greens and tender summer produce, learn to get cozy with winter’s rocking root veggies. Building your repertoire of winter veg styles will keep you motivated and well on the road to sticking to mainly local, in season fare. So important in keeping food costs down, supporting the local economy and giving your body what it needs to adapt to the climate you’re in.
Root veggies are anything that grows underground. Think potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, turnips, celeriac, carrots, parsnips, daikon, beets and burdock. If you’ve been really savvy, maybe you’ve frozen some of your summer zucchini, kale or peas – these will make a welcome addition to any of the following meal ideas. Here are my top 5 ways to Fall In Love with Winter Vegetables:
Grate Then And Add Any Kind Of Salad Dressing
Thinly sliced or grated root veggies can be eaten raw. Paired with a warming or creamy dressing, toss in toasted sunflower seeds and you have a refreshing yet grounding light lunch in no time. One of my favourite winter dressings: 1 inch ginger root minced, 1 garlic clove minced, 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp soy sauce, ½ cup apple cider vinegar, ⅓ cup toasted sesame oil. Don’t be afraid to massage it into your veggie medley by hand!
Make A Thick, Creamy Soup
Potato and Leek? Carrot and Ginger? Sweet Potato and Garlic? Seriously…ANYTHING can make a fantastic and satisfying soup with roasted garlic, onion and a spoon full of organic miso paste at the very end. Blend it up smooth and creamy and serve with warm crusty sourdough bread, fresh from the oven.
Roast It Up Good
Roughly chopped and married with a ton of garlic cloves makes for a decadent side dish. Before I put my mix in the oven to slowly roast, I toss in a bowl with sea salt, dried oregano, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. When it’s nice and coated, I spread evenly onto a baking dish and let it marinate for about 20 minutes. I let it cook in the oven on medium heat until all veggies are cooked through and little crispy on the outside, then serve with quinoa and curried chickpeas.
Mash Those Babies Up
Roughly chop, put in a pot with water, bring to a boil until soft and mushy. Drain the water off (save for vegetable soup!). To your soft and succulent veggies, add sea salt, grass fed butter and delectable Parmesan cheese. Oh. My. Makes an excellent side dish.
Steamed, Then Added To Your Buddha Bowl
What’s a Buddha Bowl? Well, if you have to ask, then you obviously haven’t been in on my Immune Boost Cleanse. It’s the number one favorite recipe and it goes something like this: A huge bowl, cooked grains, cooked veggies, greens, sea vegetables, nuts/seeds and/or beans. Basically anything. To this you add one of your favurite dressings. Me, I love a homemade spicy almond butter sauce, and lots of it. If you do this, you may just never eat your winter root veggies any other way again.
Have fun eating local and in season. Keep it fresh, interesting and delicious and you’ll make your way to the spring, welcoming those fresh greens with open arms.
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