Mid-Winter Vegetables & Their Friends
Plus some meal ideas!
The solstice has come and gone, and the days are getting incrementally longer. The December holidays have passed, and now we must cope with the rest of the winter coming on strong. Winter is my favorite season and I love the cozy nights in, gatherings around a table, and hobbies that get to shine with the extra time. The meals are nourishing and comforting with longer cook times, making room for board games between shakes of the sheet pan or stirs of the soup.
Welcome to 2024 everyone!
Winter Produce Storage
We got our CSA a month ago, and we’ve been able to use most of it, and what is left in the fridge is still (almost) as fresh as the day we got it. If you buy your vegetables from a typical grocery store, you can expect that the veg has probably sat for a while in a refrigerated truck or cooler, so your produce might not last quite as long as CSA vegetables. Regardless, these tips below will help keep your veggies fresh as long as possible!
Beets - Store in a zip top bag in your produce drawer. If they are fresh and stored well, they should last weeks in the fridge (and may even sprout some leaves on the top, which is okay - they will still be safe to eat).
Cabbage - Store in a zip top bag in the fridge.
Carrots - Zip top bag with a paper towel to absorb moisture in the fridge.
Cilantro - Store in a jar with a little water with a zip top bag over the top with a rubber band to keep it fresh.
Daikon radish - Store in a zip top bag in the fridge.
Garlic - Store on the counter in a bowl or vessel with some air flow.
Kale - Store in a zip top bag in the refrigerator with a paper towel, or strip the leaves and put in a zip top bag in the freezer to use throughout the winter.
Kohlrabi - Store in a zip top bag in the fridge.
Onions - Keep these on the counter, out of sunlight if you can, with your garlic. Make sure whatever you store it in has good airflow so the onions don’t get moldy!
Parsnips - The one vegetable I’m not eager to eat. I like them more now, so I’m going to be a very brave girl and keep trying them this winter in hopes of liking them more and more. Store in the fridge in a zip top bag - paper towel optional!
Potatoes - Store on the counter in a dark place away from your onions. The aroma ripening onions give off naturally is not good for long term potato storage.
Shallots - Keep these on the counter, out of sunlight if you can, with your garlic. Make sure whatever you store it in has good airflow so they don’t get moldy!
If you love seasonal produce like me, and are curious about how to store things well that aren’t covered above, you can read my previous newsletters here:
Winter Meal Planning
The storage crops last in the fridge for a while so we’ve been able to make use of most of them already which is good because we have another box coming this week!
Beets - I roasted all of them up in the oven and they are getting stored in a zip top bag in the freezer for a rainy day.
Cabbage - Honestly an enormous head of cabbage is still in our produce drawer so I’m going to need to use this up soon. 😬
Carrots - These got used quickly in borscht, turkey bolognese, beef stew, chicken soup, pasties, and stir fry and alongside Swedish meatballs and ham at Christmas dinner.
Cilantro - Used in chili for a friend who was recovering from surgery.
Daikon radish - I pickled these with a bunch of gochugaru (Korean chile) and they are so delicious!
Garlic - For the first time I made garlic confit and used it up in a couple days on toast, in chili, in soup and stews.
Kale - Most of the kale is in the freezer, but we have used some of it in chicken soup and alongside some sausages this last week.
Kohlrabi - One is still in the fridge and I gave another one to a friend who loves it. Gotta use that up stat!
Onions - I joke that if I grew onions in the backyard, 365 would not be enough because I eat onions with almost every dinner. These always get used up so quickly in my house. If you genuinely need ideas of how to use up onions, I’ll happily do a whole post about my favorite alliums.
Parsnips - This used to be the one thing in the world that I didn’t like to eat but last year I finally liked them! It goes to show that it’s best to just keep trying and sometimes (only sometimes) it ends up that you may like that food. I used these in beef stew, chicken soup, pasties, and mashed up with some steak on New Year’s Eve.
Potatoes - Made these into mashed potatoes as a side for Swedish meatballs dinner, and threw them into beef stew, ham soup, chicken soup, and pasties.
Sauerkraut - This has been great as a side for the comforting, rich meals of the season, AND on a grilled cheese.
Shallots - See the onions section. We use them up really quickly!
Notable Dinners Last Week & This Week - For Inspo If You Need It
Dumplings & seaweed
Mac and cheese with salad
Sausage, peppers, onions, & kale
Steak quesadillas
Veggie tater tot hot dish
I hope the new year is treating you well, and that you have some A+ meals ahead of you this coming week.
Things I Like
A friend suggested YearCompass as a way to reflect on the year past and to be intentional for the upcoming year, and I have been using it as a guide in the new year.
I made a vision board on Pinterest for the year which I haven’t done in awhile. I have some big dreams for the year so I am trying to keep them front of mind in all the ways I can!
Being able to make a big pot of chili at the drop of a hat. If you can’t pull out a good soup at a moment’s notice, I highly suggest cultivating that skill.
Gentleness and broad non-specific goals for the new year.
Thinking about my wardrobe and how I want it to shift (or not?) in 2024.
May your week be gentle and may you eat well. 🌲🥣