Winter is a wonderful season for evocative, comforting culinary creations that soothe the soul. As the colder months approach, take a moment to hunker down and enjoy the simple things, take your time and take advantage of seasonal hearty flavours.
This is an opportunity to make use of winter fruits and vegetables alongside warming herbs and spices, and allow your characters and textures to meld. Make use of layering, and give your oven-roasted creations time to caramelise, utilising seasonal, earthy produce that complements and heroes everything else on the plate.
Here are a few of our favourite seasonal specials:
It may not be the supermodel of root vegetables, but behind that unlovely façade lies a deep, earthy celery-like flavour that adds a refreshing and fragrant twist to many dishes. The secret to a good celeriac is to use small bulbs, as larger ones are often woody in the centre. Peel away the knobbly skin and prepare your celeriac as you would a potato. Use it for roasting in wedges or chunky chips; great in an air fryer, fat fryer or oven, these are delicious as wedges or chunky chips. Lower in starch than a potato, they are delicious simply seasoned with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Celeriac can be steamed or stir-fried in batons, grated into delicious fritters, and young, tender julienned celeriac is a wonderful textural addition to salads and garnishes. Ad to low and slow meaty recipes for layered flavour.
Add surprise and delight to your dish with multi-hued carrots. It’s an easy way to add colour and depth to your winter menus, and they bring their own touch of whimsy – cutting into a purple carrot to discover a golden-yellow centre never gets old! These carrot bunches have a multitude of culinary uses, from simple, pretty garnishes to taking centre stage as the hero of your main event. Roasted, boiled or peeled into ribbons, each colour has a slightly different flavour; white carrots take on a parsnip/turnip flavour, while purples are a touch more peppery.
Don’t discard the tender green stems and foliage on these versatile veg; chop them finely and sprinkle as a herby garnish, or add it to a gremolata or salsa.
A controversial vegetable, people tend to either love them or hate them, but much of this mini veg’s popularity stems from how people have traditionally eaten them. The old ‘boil until you could squash it with a toothpick’ cooking method did nothing for a brussels’ flavour or texture! However, a little experimentation goes a long way. Quickly blanched, halved and seared or grilled with chilli and garlic, these little green giants keep their stunning emerald colour, and taste fresh and piquant, with a wonderful cabbage-like crunch. Try them steamed, tossed through a cheesy sauce and baked in the oven with a parmesan crumb for next-level delicious. You can also create some visual delight with brussels petals by separating the individual leaves and using as a garnish.
Packed with essential nutrients, a great source of fibre, full of antioxidants that fight cell damage and inflammation, and an essential addition to your diet to help prevent heart disease and strokes, this humble earthy winter veg deserves all the love.
Whether you’re using fresh or pickled, purple or rainbow, beetroots are incredibly versatile, and their incredible colours add real wow factor and punch to your plate. Use it julienned and eaten raw as a staple in winter salads, or add it to smoothies and juices; it’s also a wonderful natural food dye, bringing a dramatic fuchsia red colour to dishes like salmon gravlax, eggs, pastas, sauces and pastes. Beetroot is a great addition to both savoury and sweet dishes. Try them in soups and fritters, warm salads and tarts, burger patties, chips and dips for a savoury hit, or cook into cakes and brownies, and add to buttercreams and jellies for a sweet treat.
