With winter on the way, your garden (likely) covered in frost and fresh local produce starting to dwindle at the market and grocery stores, you might be missing seasonal goods from the warmer months. But just because it’s the end of November, doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy fresh produce from local gardens – you just have to search a bit harder for it.
It may be a little late for it this year, but keep in mind next fall when your gardens start to droop that while your fresh herbs are still in abundance, you should harvest them before they get bitten by frost. Then, you can dry them for use in the winter, use the herbs to make flavoured butters and fresh pesto and, one of our personal favourites, freeze the herbs in ice cube containers for the next time you make pasta sauce or a chicken marinade. Just throw in the ice cube and it’s like the herbs are practically straight from the garden.
While you can still get fresh vegetables from greenhouse farms that are sold at the grocery store year round, much of the produce is imported. So if you want to continue to support the local farmers in the colder months, you might just have to give up some veggies and make something that adheres more to what’s in season in Ontario.
This means going straight to the source. While some local farms close for a few months in the winter, there are others that are open, including Martin’s Family Fruit Farm, that sell seasonal veggies like cabbage, squash and pumpkin, among others.
When you want to make a salad in the winter, you just have to get more creative and think outside of the usual. We recommend chicory lettuces – like radicchio and endive instead of traditional romaine. Then top it with red onion, parsnips and pumpkin seeds instead of cucumber and tomatoes.
When we come up with a recipe in the off season that incorporates fresh fruits and vegetables, we stop and think about what’s in season first and then design the dish around that. Like this roasted pear salad that features pecans, red onions and a cider vinaigrette.
Roasted pear and spinach salad with grainy mustard vinaigrette
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
2 red plums, cut into wedges
1/4 red onion, sliced into rings
1 baby forelle pear, cut into 8 wedges
15 pecan halves
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Spinach
Grainy mustard vinaigrette
2 tbsp cider vinegar
3 tbsp cider
2 tsp grainy Dijon mustard
2 tsp chopped ginger
2 tsp diced onion
2 sprigs of chopped fresh thyme
2 tbsp maple syrup
6 tbsp olive oil
Mix together ingredients for vinaigrette and set aside. Meanwhile, place all fruits and vegetables on a pan and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 15 minutes at 400°F.
Place hot vegetables into bowl and toss in a few handfuls of baby spinach. Drizzle with vinaigrette dressing. Do not add all of the dressing at once – you can always add but you can’t take it away. Toss greens and vegetables in dressing and place on plate.
Looking for more ideas that use seasonal vegetables during the winter months? Ask the chef!
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