Winter

Roasting broccoli is probably my favorite method – it’s quick and easy to prepare. High heat roasting enhances the natural sweet and nutty flavor while creating a beautiful brown, caramelized exterior. People seem to either love or hate broccoli, which is a shame because few other vegetables are as naturally abundant in indole-3-carbinol, a powerful antioxidant.

President George H.W. Bush apparently disliked it so much that he never, ever, wanted to see a sprig of broccoli on his plate. According to reports he proclaimed, “I'm President of the United States, and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli!"

It seems things have changed a bit at the White House, and broccoli is back on the menu. Last year at a Kids' State Dinner, President Obama told a kid reporter that broccoli is his favorite food. He may have been exaggerating a tad, but give this recipe a try, it might just change your mind about broccoli.

I have gone on and on here about how much I love mashed potatoes (one of my fave recipes). Who doesn't really? However, I do consider them "special occasion" food with their copious amounts of butter, cheese and cream. 

The rest of the time I often just puree cauliflower for a "faux" mashed potato fix and don't add much of anything, it doesn't need it. Kind of like this Winter Root Vegetable Puree, it has so much flavor from the veggies themselves. I love, love root veggies more than one can imagine, I'm not even sure where it came from. I didn't grow up eating this stuff. But geez it's such a yummy, low-calorie way to enjoy what your brain thinks is mashed potatoes. It totally satisfies my urge for that starch side dish.

One of the root vegetables I used was celery root. Have you ever used it or seen one? They are pretty ugly and look challenging to cut..but they're not. They peel easily with a knife and are available at almost every market. Try adding it to soup, it's delicious.

I really wanted to call this "hamburglar soup". Remember him? Is there anyone younger than forty who remembers the hamburglar? I have no idea how long his legend lived on....ha-ha.

Anyway, soup weather has returned to the Pacific Northwest. It's like mother nature turned on a faucet and the rains have started again. We had one of the driest summer on record...it was quite incredible. I had almost forgotten about the rain here. But it's back. Dense fog, cool temps, rain, rain, rain. It hasn't stopped. And I love it. It's Oregon and it is one of the reasons it's so beautifully green here.

So, in honor of the cold, damp weather, I had to make soup. In my awesome slow-cooker. Something hearty and warm. We have been working for weeks straight bringing in the wine grape harvest, light and delicate soups have no place here (at the moment). Hard-working bodies need protein and carbs and flavor!!

Sweet potatoes are having their moment—at least according to my favorite New York Times reporter, Kim Severson. It seems their new fame is largely due to the popularity of sweet potato fries.

These fries (mostly deep-fried like regular potato fries) have popped up on both upscale and chain restaurant menus all over the country in the past couple of years. I am one of those willing victims who eats these things; but more often I roast them at home in the oven using the recipe I created for Fast, Fresh & Green.

But I’ve long been a fan of sweet potatoes cooked many different ways—especially any method that allows them to caramelize a bit, like slow-sautéing. So I thought this week I’d make some slow-sautéed sweet potatoes and share that recipe here, in honor of the humble tuber’s new (but hopefully not fleeting) fame.