Fall and early Winter season produces naturally tasty
vegetables in the north eastern hemisphere. This season is almost Spring like
with the bounty of vegetables. The
reason is because as temperature cool vegetables such as beets, carrots and
turnips, among many others, convert their starches into natural sugars
producing beautifully sweet and ripe vegetables.
(nicely roasted farmers market carrots)
To test the effects yourself simply freeze some of these
vegetables and compare them side-by-side with their unfrozen counterparts. I tried this with a potato – I simply
placed one in the freezer until it was frozen solid then steamed it alongside a
non-frozen potato. The
frozen version was noticeably sweeter tasting. This does not mean that you have
to freeze all your veggies from now on in order to make them taste better. Frost
and cold weather is enough to concentrate or convert the natural starches to
sugars which boosts flavor, but you may achieve this result with the right herbs
and spices as well and transform a basic white skinned potato into a delicious
dish.
One of my favorite desserts in early spring on my menu is
parsnip & poppy seed cake. The
parsnips were left in the ground over the winter season so that they were solid
frozen for several weeks and brought to the market in early spring for a
candy-like taste. Granted such
rare treats are hard to come by and you might be able to obtain them from a
farmer’s market only by talking to the people who grow the goods they sell.
Fall Greens
Plants such as kale, Swiss chard and collards store their
starch in the leafy part of the plant. Cold weather triggers the conversion of
some of the starch to glucose, making the leaves sweeter and resistant to the
cold of the season. It might explain why we gravitate towards such leafy
vegetables during the fall season.
Tasty fruits
Other sweet tasting examples of fall frost treats are apples,
pears and strawberries that are enhanced by natural freeze. Again the fruits that experienced a
freeze were much sweeter. This
brings me to the conclusion that using vegetables and fruits frozen at their
peak is preferable to using fresh vegetables of inferior quality or origin. So I have been buying fruits at the farmer’s
market which barely escaped the garbage bin because they did not look good
enough and might have had some soft spots and consumers don’t want such “over
the hill” looking fruits. So I
take these sweet and slightly bruised goods, freeze them and use them the next
day for preserves or fruit butters (e.g. apple butter). It probably goes without
saying that they need very little sweetener added!
(simpley roasted root vegetables)
The following recipe is compatible with the season’s offerings and is meant to more of a guideline in terms of adding vegetables.
Roasted Fall
Vegetables
(recipe yields four side portions)
4 golden beets, 1-inch diameter
4 turnips, 1-inch diameter
4 – 8 fingerling potatoes
1 white Swiss chard
½ teaspoon thyme
Sea salt, to taste
Black pepper mill grindings, to taste
- Peel beets, turnips, potatoes and slice into ¼-inch cubes.
- Rinse chard with water and separate leaves from stems. Chop the stems into 1-inch long stalks and the leaves into ¼-inch long strips.
- In a 1-gallon sized pot heat oil on low heat setting and add turnips, potatoes, beets and chard stems. Add some salt and cook vegetable for 35 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Stir vegetables every 8-10 minutes to evenly cook the vegetables.
- Add chard leaves and thyme to the cooked vegetables and add ¼ cup water and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Season vegetables with pepper and salt to taste.
- Put vegetables into four serving bowls.
Chef’s Tip: If you’d like the vegetable stew to be a little more substantial sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan cheese over the roasted vegetables.
