Squashes and Roots

Winter is the time for hard squashes as well as root vegetables like beets, carrots, rutabagas, potatoes, celery root, turnips and parsnips.  They are at their flavorful best in winter and are also more affordable.

Here are some of the many root vegetables that come in my winter farm share.

As part of my winter farm share from Monroe Organic Farm, I get lots of squash and roots–and I do love their hearty yumminess added to soups and stews, slow-cooked with meat or just roasted into tender sweet nuggets.

But about this time of year, I’m ready for a little crispness and crunch. . . and yet, it’s still cold and wintry so I pretty much shudder at the thought of a typical summer salad (you know, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.)

So a couple days ago, I made a combo of crisp and crunchy kale with warm winter veggie toppings–a perfect compromise!

The Ingredients

Base: Kale of any variety; I loved the combination of green and red curly kale

Toppings:  Roasted kabocha squash sauteed with onions and yellow peppers from the freezer (although red peppers would have added some nice color!)

Dressing:  Basic lemon, garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper.  Add a little grainy mustard for some zest

Make It Easy

I roasted a squash a day or two earlier for dinner, so it only had to be scooped out in chunks and then sauteed with the onions and peppers.

BTW

Winter is a great time for kale or any of the other greens like chard and collards.  As cold-weather crops they taste best in winter–and the price is right.

Almost any of the root vegetables can be great on a winter salad–just roast them first for best flavor.