Winter Harvest Part 1

Hello reader! This post got long, so I'm breaking it into two parts. Because let's be honest, no one spends more than 5 minutes on a webpage...unless it's facebook, of course.

So it's almost spring, but there are still days in Philly when I could wear my winter jacket. And although my agricultural knowledge is sparse, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to see a single local berry, cucumber, tomato, or peach anytime soon. The picture below is my illustration of winter time. Does it work for you?


Stereotypically, winter harvest is SUPER un-sexy. Let's see... would you like some roots yanked out of the ground or some tough leafy greens that make squeaky rubber sounds when you chew? Well, I'm telling you that this is just the stereotype, and not the truth! Winter foods can actually be quite exotic and enticing. Don't roll your eyes. I saw that.

Below is a "blue potato". Can you believe that it's purple on the inside?!

I used it in this big, chunky soup and it carried a wonderful flavor. This soup also featured some heady carrots. I do solemnly swear never to eat another baby carrot again. Seriously, they're always slimey, too hard, require some sort of ranch dressing... and you know what? They're not really baby carrots... they're just shaped like that by a machine. Screw that. Check out these colorful, tender, non-slimey carrots below:



Next up, the little sweet potato. So, I've done an informal survey, and I've found a strange pattern. Most girls are crazy about sweet potatoes, but most dudes just could care less about the tater. So, for all the chicks out there... here are some sweet potatoes roasted with olive oil, garlic, fennel and cumin. This is the easiest thing in the world to make: just slice the potatoes, sprinkle your spice of choice on top, wrap in aluminum foil, and bake at 350 in a toaster oven (if it fits) for about 45 mins. Sorry dudes, you're missing out.

There's a lot of reasons why eating local, seasonal food is really good for you and area in which you live. And I try to support that. (I DO sometimes cheat and get citrus fruits, because let's face it, PA is just never going to grow a grapefruit. But Texas and California will be exporting them all year round.)

Anyway, I recommend trying the seasonal produce, but make sure it's from a local farm. Buying a super-sized potato from the supermarket WILL taste like nothing (without oodles of butter/sour cream/etc.) But try a small, sexy potato from the farmers' market, and I think you'll be surprised.
Next time: the squash and kale.