Don’t just stick to familiar old favourites
This time of year is a great time for vegetables. Root vegetables, for example, are at their best and cheapest during the cold winter months. Nowadays, it’s easier to find a great range of vegetables in our supermarkets, greengrocers and markets, so don’t just stick to familiar old favourites – try ones that you haven’t tried before.
Many leafy green vegetables come into their own in winter. Have a look at my tip on Know Your Winter Greens for some suggestions on what to look for and how to cook them.
A great way to cook assorted root vegetables is to peel them, cut them into chunks, toss them with a little olive oil, season them by crumbling over a Knorr Reduced Salt Vegetable Stock Cube and roast them at a medium high heat for around 40–45 minutes until they’re cooked through and lightly browned.
Beetroot:
With its striking colour and sweet flavour, beetroot is the marmite of the vegetable world, with people either loving or loathing it. There are many more ways to enjoy this vegetable than simply eat it pickled. It might surprise you to know, but beetroot is very fashionable now. Try my Roast Beef, Beetroot and Horseradish, a great way to serve leftover roast beef.
Carrots:
We tend to take the humble carrot for granted, but they’re a great, versatile vegetable, adding a subtle sweetness to dishes from bolognese sauce to chicken broth. Alternately, use them to make a lovely, orange-coloured soup or roast them alongside the potatoes with your Sunday roast.
Celeriac:
Increasingly available in our supermarkets and greengrocers, this white-fleshed vegetable has a subtle taste which I’m rather partial to. Use it in soups, like my Rustic Vegetable Soup and stews. Roast it, mash it or add it to a potato gratin for an extra flavour dimension. A classic French way to use celeriac is in a dish called remoulade, where it is finely sliced and tossed in a mustard-flavoured mayonnaise – delicious with a few slices of good ham.
Fennel:
Often treated simply as a salad vegetable, crisp-textured fennel, with its delicate anise flavour, is also great for cooking with. Braise it in stock made with a Knorr Chicken Stock Cube or a Knorr Chicken Stock Pot for a tasty vegetable side dish or take inspiration from the Italians and first boil the fennel until tender, then bake in a buttered gratin dish sprinkled with Parmesan until the cheese is golden-brown.
Jerusalem artichokes:
These notoriously knobbly tubers can look a bit off-putting, but are well worth trying as they have a distinctive, delicious nutty flavour. When shopping for them, choose firm, unblemished ones. One important thing to remember when peeling or chopping them is that they discolour very quickly, so you need to drop them into water to which you’ve added a little lemon juice or vinegar to stop them turning brown. Use them to make a soup, add to a potato gratin or try making my very simple pureé, delicious served with roast meat or poultry.
Parsnips:
With their nutty sweet flavour, these long, pale roots are great roasted and served with roast beef or lamb. They also make a very nice soup; purée it in the blender and pass it through a sieve for an elegant, fine-textured soup with which to impress your dinner party guests.
Salsify:
Something of a rarity, this unfamiliar vegetable, a long, thin white-fleshed root with a delicate flavour, is a member of the dandelion family. Bear in mind when peeling and chopping it, that it discolours very quickly so needs dropping into water with a little lemon juice or vinegar added to it to prevent this happening. Use it in soups or boil or steam until tender, taking care not to over-cook it, toss with a little butter or olive oil, and serve as a side vegetable.
Swede:
The humble swede, with its pale orange flesh and distinctive, slightly peppery flavour, is a great addition to soups and casseroles. It’s a traditional ingredient in many dishes such as Cornish pasties and let’s not forget that the Scots have to have ‘bashed neeps’ (i.e. mashed swede) with their beloved haggis. My Swede Purée is a quick and simple way to serve swede, which goes well with rich braised dishes such as my Beef and Guinness Stew.
Sweet potatoes:
As their name implies, these do indeed have a sweet taste. You can find white or orange-fleshed sweet potatoes; I like using the orange-fleshed variety as the colour is so nice. Try my Sweet Potato Purée – made using a microwave to keep maximum nutrients and texture.
