Winter salads/produce- what are you eating?

[happybellynh]

I try to eat seasonally, and I preserve my own and farm stand veggies to eat during the winter... but right now I'm either bored or running out, and craving fresh produce. It's winter in Maine: inspire me with your cold-weather salad and produce ideas, please!

[classylady]

I use carrots, radishes, european cucumbers, onions, peppers and occasionally tomatoes. These vegetables are still available along with package lettuce but they are getting expensive due to harsh weather and snow.

[Gin and It]

Slice a Napa cabbage, mix with about a cup of cider vinegar and allow to wilt overnight in the fridge or the garage. Next day, pour off the liquid and dress with a vinaigrette of olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, ground cumin, roasted garlic, celery salt, and pepper. Then you need to add a sweetener- a drizzle of honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar works. Then store in the fridge and you have a quick salad to pull out and eat immediately.

[lexpatti]

yum, thanks. could live off cabbage, yesterday just chopped up a 1/2 head and sauteed with red onion, crimini mush in olive oil and butter then added a heaping tablesp of red curry paste at the end. oh oh oh.

[lexpatti]

been lately having a blast with roasted vegies - brussel sprouts are excellent right now. I coudl eat an entire plate of roasted red onion (just in olive oil and few herbs). I did a recent roasted veg gratin with polenta as the base, roasted vegies, 1/4 cup of half and half, then fresh grated asiago cheese. Used the leftovers for soup.

I love a chop salad,big hunks of celery, cuks, red onion, basil, cheese, stale bread - like a panzanella but without the tomatoes - still very good with other vegies (leeks, fennel)

[lupaglupa]

I love carrottes rapee - grated carrots tossed witha bit of olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Simple and excellent. My food coop makes a killer sweet potatoe salad with craisins, pecans, red pepper and scallions. I realise that's not not all in season right now but you could play with it. Do you make your own sauerkraut? I've had that very crunchy as a salad!

[dfrostnh]

Last summer i was able to have a real garden with lots of sun. The zukes kept getting ahead of me. I kept a couple of big ones with the winter squash in the garage and actually used the last one to make zucchini bran muffins and zucchini bread for Christmas. I peeled the squash and scraped out the seeds. I was surprised it kept so well. I am also trying various recipes for winter squash. I grew Confection from Johnny's, a pale gray squash from a Japanese line. They are very sweet and very dry. Last weekend I was very surprised that a Cooking Light recipe for a Swiss Chard salad with sauteed cubed winter squash was very good and very unusual. The dressing was made with bacon, sauteed mushrooms and apple cider vinegar. Silly me let a couple of nice chard bunches go to waste in the garden but I was curious how long they would last. It might be worthwhile to try a cold frame to extend the season. I cooking swiss chard, beets and onions as a side dish for our family dinner tomorrow to go with winter squash and ham. Tonight I'm trying a stir fry of pork, cauliflower and carrots, peas.
I just tried a crock pot recipe for chicken thighs with Thai flavors but basically the sauce is a jar of salsa and some peanut butter. The flavor was great but I didn't care of the look of the sauce. I froze some roasted tomatoes but haven't done anything with them yet. Another recipe that looked good was peanut noodles with broccoli and cilantro.

I had fabulous cherry tomatoes and peppers this year thanks to some heirloom varieties a local gardener made available. I like to lunch on salads so I really miss those fresh veggies. My standard winter salad for company is romaine with shredded swiss cheese, craisins, cashews, cubed apple and cubed pear with a poppyseed dressing.

[lupaglupa]

The link here is for an article in the New York Times about a couple who grow salad greens year round in Maine in a cold frame - I'd love to try this! Think of the welcome treat those fresh greens and herbs would be in February - or right now (as I look out at 6 inches of fresh snow, and it's still falling.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage...

[lynnlato]

My Italian parsley, thyme and of course rosemary are gorgeous right now. My pepperoncini have long since fadded away but even my basil lasted longer than normal. These mild temps in NC have been wonderful for my herb garden. Although I love all the sun and 55 degree weather, I wouldn't mind looking out the window and seeing big fat snowflakes and a blanket of freshly fallen snow. Lucky you.

[Ruth Lafler]

Last night I made carrot puree out of carrots boiled in water with a touch of lemon juice, then pureed with a little butter and cream (really, just a little). I ate the whole thing, and I started with more than a pound of carrots!

Cauliflower puree is good, too. Try it with a sprinkling of blue cheese.

And speaking of produce and blue cheese, it's pear season, and pears are so lovely with blue cheese.

[goodhealthgourmet]

cauliflower puree has become one of my winter staples. cut a small head into pieces, toss with a little olive oil, season with salt & freshly cracked pepper, and roast in the oven with a split head of garlic & some fresh thyme. discard the thyme, dump the cauliflower into the food processor or blender, squeeze in the roasted garlic, and process until smooth. taste, adjust seasoning with S&P if necessary.

the other one i've grown to love is this Moroccan roasted carrot puree...

http://yumminessnsues.blogspot.com/20...

i've made a few adjustments for my own taste, but the original recipe is still pretty darn good.

[masha]

This looks delicious. At what temperature do you roast the cauliflower (350?) and for how long?

[goodhealthgourmet]

i like to do it at a higher temp - 400 - to get really good caramelization on some of the pieces...you want it to be nicely browned in spots. the amount of time depends on the size the florets, but 30 minutes (tossing or stirring at least once) usually does the trick. check with a fork - they should be really tender on the inside, and slightly crisp on the outside.

if you're really into umami flavors, you can use tamari sauce in place of salt (sprinkle it over the cauliflower before roasting, and then drizzle a little more into it when you puree it)...or stick with salt and grate some really good fresh parm over the top before eating.

[greygarious]

'Tis the season to put your mandoline/V-slicer to work, making extra-thin slices of vegetables which can then be marinated in your favorite dressing, with or without any par-cooking before marinating.

[ourhomeworks]

Sauteed broccoli raab (or other cooking green). First carmelize an onion in butter or olive oil, chop the broccoli raab, add to the carmelized onion and cook until its tender. Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan.

Pumpkin (or winter squash) enchiladas http://ourhomeworks.wordpress.com/2008/11/26/pumpkin-love/

I also go to dried beans this time of year. You can make a plain pot' o beans or ham and bean soup, or add the beans to the above broccoli raab recipe. Here's a pot o' beans recipe... http://ourhomeworks.wordpress.com/200...

[julesrules]

I like baby spinach with orange or clementine segments, red onion and black olives.

[lynnlato]

I am back on my broccolini bandwagon. We love to par-boil it and then finish it in a saute pan w/ olive oil and fresh garlic and a sprinkle of hot red pepper flakes.

I also like this spicy butternut squash saute (you can mix in any kind of squash, really, in addition to sweet potatoes and parsnips). Here's a recipe I found in our newspaper:

2 medium or 1 lg butternut squash
1T olive or peanut oil
1 red pepper, seeded & sliced
1T lemon juice
1/2 tsp Tabasco
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup veggie stock
1 handful fresh spinach

Peel and cube squash. Heat oil in a large skillet over med. to med-high heat. Add squash & saute until tender & starting to brown. Add pepper slices & saute 2 mins. Stir in lemon juice, Tabasco, honey, sugar & stock & continue to cook, stirring for 2-3 mins. Stir in spinach at end of cooking.

(recipe by John Stehling of Early Girl Eatery in Ashville NC. He serves it over basmati rice as a vegetarian meal but it also makes a nice side by itself).

[pemma]

I cut up butternut squash into chunks and roast with fresh sage, rosemary, salt and pepper and olive oil. At 450 for about a half hour - 45 min. or so. The roasting brings out a sweetness.

[cocktailhour]

I like frisee with shaved fennel. you can add blood orange or other winter fruit, like pear. add shaves of parm and use a simple vinaigrette with shallot, sherry vinegar and dijon. any sturdy, slightly bitter green will work, or a mix.

roasted beets. any roasted root vegetable, on its own or as a medley. Celeriac remoulade. kale, or other winter braising green with sausage--a soup.

you could roast onions, too. I don't know what's available in Maine, though.

[greygarious]

Frisee isn't readily available on its own in most supermarkets but I like it's bitter cousin, chicory, just as well. It's common and lots cheaper - if you are lucky most of the interior will be paler and frilly, indistinguishale from frisee. I use raisins or other dried fruit with chicory, sometimes adding nuts or croutons, and sweet onion.

[goodhealthgourmet]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/471773
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/566568
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/387735
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/555186
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/580182

and if you do an advanced search of the Home Cooking board there are plenty more where those came from.

[happybellynh]

Thanks, GHG! I searched 'winter produce' and 'winter salad,' but missed these!

[goodhealthgourmet]

happy to help. next time, make sure you change your preferences to list the results in order of relevance, not newest first. it definitely makes a difference...as does going back a couple of years instead of limiting to posts that are only a year old.

[happybellynh]

Hmm- that could be why I never seem to pull up what I want- I know it's out there!