I am not great with a CSA. I’m easily overwhelmed by it, some weeks I go out a bunch and don’t cook, sometimes I have to text Mark pictures of things to ask him what they are (and once I do that, there’s a good chance I’ll be too tired or intimidated to figure out how to cook said vegetable), etc. What happens a lot of the time, which I’m sure plenty of you are familiar with, is that the vegetables sit and become either barely salvageable or trash-bound.
One year, I made the mistake of getting a winter CSA. I like root vegetables, but don’t love them, so you can figure out how that went.
So all this just means that I’ve committed to not getting a CSA and instead going to the farmers market as often as possible, even in the winter, when I’m ambivalent about the offerings.
Cooking in the winter can feel less exciting, too. Over the holidays, though, Nick and Holden and I went to my dad’s, and he made the most glorious, simple root vegetables (from his CSA, of course), and it made me feel sort of like, ok, maybe winter veggies can be my thing!
So I went through the books and found some winter vegetable recipes that I found inspiring, that made me want to scrub some dang potatoes.
Behold, and rejoice, below:
Chickpea and Carrot Salad with Warm Cumin Oil
An uncommon warm salad you can easily customize: Grating the vegetables in a food processor, rather than chopping them as in the recipe, makes the salad more like a slaw. I like the teeny surprise of cumin seeds, but if you prefer a smooth dressing, pour the oil through a strainer into the bowl before serving. Home-cooked chickpeas are always excellent here, as are cannellini beans. And toasted pita wedges are the perfect accompaniment no matter what tweaks you make to the recipe.
Smoky Root Vegetable Soup
Call it a variation on minestrone, perfect for the colder months. The vegetables will take at least 1 hour to roast.
Beef Stew with Baked Potatoes
Beet and Lentil Burgers
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