Winter Seasonal Foods

Winter Seasonal Foods

Thu 12 Jan 2012

Story by Amanda J. Wendt
 

The #FoodRevParty was buzzing Tuesday night with wonderful ideas from the Food Revolutionaries. I was honored, once again, to have been asked to be this week’s guest host. Thanks to everyone for making it an amazing party!

Twitter Party: Jan 10th, 7pm PST / 10pm EST

Theme: Winter Seasonal Foods

Old Man Winter. The Winter Blues. Gray Winter Days. Poor winter has gotten a bad rap when it comes to colorful and exciting seasonal foods. Sure we miss our fresh vine-ripened tomatoes and strawberries, but winter foods do not need to be lackluster in color or taste. The Food Revolutionaries cozied up to the fire and shared amazing ideas and recipes to make the winter a warmer place to be and eat…from great tasting foods and tips, to ways to share those foods with family and friends.

Party Questions & Some of the Best Tweets

Q1. Winter is here for most of us, which brings new meal challenges. What seasonal foods are readily available in your area?

@AudreysMamma We like finding winter squash and greenhouse lettuce. Sweet potatoes are nice too.

@Lunchalicious We are able to get squash, beets, cabbage, leeks, parsnip.

@KrisLGray Love root veggies. Just like bears in winter, veggies seem to hibernate too.

Q2. How are you incorporating these seasonal foods into your meal plans?

@RutabagaBaby Chop butternut in thin wedges, toss w/oil, roast hot with seeds and all - simple and yum.

@richmansfood Found that butternut squash is fantastic in making vegetarian stock, adds color and flavor, potato peels 2 if organic

@Lunchalicious We enjoy putting winter veggies in soups...always great for a cold winter day!

@Ciocia Deadly simple rutabaga: Microwave 25 min on high (on plate lined with paper towel), wrap in aluminum foil for 20, peel & mash

Q3. How can you overcome any food challenges that winter or your location brings?

@OutoftheBoxFood Frozen veggies work really well if you can't find fresh. Lots of nutrients.

@JaimeMorlin If you can or dehydrate fresh fruits in the summer time, there's a bounty in the winter

@houseofannie we froze our garden tomatoes from Summer to use in Winter soups and sauces

Q4. Are you planning any ways now to handle your seasonal food needs for next year?

@seasonalsavory We are researching C.S.A.s and planning our garden

@RutabagaBaby More canning, drying, freezing. Each year we garden better.

@OutoftheBoxFood I love to make preserves!!! They are my xmas gifts every year! It's really easy.

@LZXpress Would be fun to work with local growers on options for prepping food for winter - maybe canning class, group dehydration…

Q5. Winter is a gr8 time to have dinner parties. Have you ever hosted a pot luck dinner?

@JaimeMorlin Our community garden has a pot luck with all of our harvests but in our climate thats in the fall

@SeptemberAcres we do pot luck here- sometimes I have a theme sometimes it's a free for all-fun

@Cookingfor7 We are having a pie party on 23rd for national pie day - Pie potluck

@susiemilner Pot lucks were a staple of grad school days! Would be fun to revive now with playgroup families.

Q6. What about having friends over to share winter season food & tips. What would you make and what info would you share?

@RutabagaBaby I like sharing new simple recipes and how to sub in new things like squash or cabbage.

@Lunchalicious Soup!! Would be great to swap recipes and share how easy winter foods can be to prepare!

@dawnviola always eat seasonally, and right now citrus is that bright spot on gray winter days.

@OutoftheBoxFood I had a winter food themed party-served roast lemon chicken w/acorn squash salad & roast veg. Oh yeah- and pumpkin Martinis

@LZXpress sometimes we go for all appetizers - then you can sample many.


Join the #FoodRevolution Recipe of the Month: Caesar On The Lighter Side Salad on the facebook page. Upload your recipes and photos here.

Be sure to join us for next week’s party – January 17th 4pm PST/7pm EST with guest host @RecipeDiva.

Thanks for joining the party!

About the author: Amanda is a mother of two and a work-at-home small business owner. A foodie, home cook and lover of meal planning, Amanda has always enjoyed time in the kitchen, but has recently started enjoying time in the garden too. This past year, inspired by the Food Revolution, her family began a journey towards a more healthy way of eating, cooking and living. She chronicles this journey at her blog, The Organic Trail. She lives with her husband and daughters in Connecticut.

Photo credit: Sport Hill Farm, Easton, CT