Seasonal Eats - January

A seasonal eating guide for January in the Pacific Northwest region. Know what produce is in season along with some recipes on how to cook with them. #seasonaleats #eatingseasonal

Eating seasonal and local has been one of my goals for a very long time now. Although, I agree that I tend to buy other vegetables for convenience or just purely because I use some produce all year round, say, tomatoes. I use tomatoes in my curry base for a whole lot of dishes I make and I cannot imagine buying and using them only in summer and not for the rest of the year.  Same goes for a large variety of Indian vegetables that I buy. Most of them are available year round at the Indian store. So, yes, I am guilty of buying produce that are not just seasonal, but I do put in a lot of conscious effort to buy produce that is in season as much as I can, apart from some of these buys.

What I love the most about buying seasonal produce is that I am not always buying the same things from the supermarket every month. When I visit the farmer’s markets or even browse through the grocery store produce aisle specifically for seasonal items, I tend to buy a variety of different fruits and vegetables which makes me cook different dishes with them and try out a whole lot of different flavors that are not always just the same. I think I will be pretty bored if I had just a few recipes in my repertoire with just as many handful of ingredients. This particular way of shopping allows me to experiment quite a bit, which is largely what you see here in the form of new recipes and posts.

There are so many more wonderful reasons for why you should buy in season but we will tackle them one by one, as you will see these posts every month. Till then, signing off with some recipes from the archives with some of these seasonal produce as ingredients.

Apple

• Apple Ginger Butternut Squash Soup
• Apple Cinnamon Pancakes with Cardamom Spiced Honey Apple Compote

Beets

• Beetroot Kichadi – Beets in a Spiced Yogurt Sauce
• Beetroot Leaves Thoran – Beet Leaves Sauté with Coconut and Cumin
• Beetroot Risotto

Cabbage

• Cabbage Thoran – Cabbage Sauté with Coconut and Spices

Chard

• Red Chard and Cannellini Bean Sauté
• Spaghetti with Red Chard and Pearl Onions

Kale

• Roasted Squash and Kale Salad
• Chana Chat Tacos – with Baby Kale in them
• Tropical Green Juice – with Kale and Spinach in it

Carrot / Potato / Sweet Potato

• Carrot Sweet Potato Soup with Cannellini Beans
• Kerala Style Potato Curry with Coconut Milk and Kerala Style Breakfast Potato Stew – both have carrots as the secondary vegetable. I, most always, add carrots to any dish with potatoes and they just go well really together. This works great because potatoes are in season now too.
• Red Curry Mashed Potatoes
• Potato Curry with Tomatoes and Onions
• Couscous Risotto with Butternut Squash and Carrots
• Carrot Semiya Payasam
• Carrot Halwa – Indian Style Carrot and Condensed Milk Pudding
• Mashed Potato Pancakes over Garlic Sautéed Greens
• Indian Style Mashed Potatoes
• Sweet Potato Breakfast Hash with Granola
• Potato Leek Frittata
• Achari Aloo Chole – Potato and Garbanzo Beans Curry with Pickling Spices

Mushrooms

• Butternut Squash Chanterelle Puff Pastry Bites
• Green Lentils and Maitake Mushrooms Tacos
• Truffle Polenta Crostini with Wild Mushroom Sauté
• Vegetarian Carbonara with Mushrooms and Asparagus
• Mushroom Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Pear

• Ginger Pear Streusel Coffee Cake

Winter Squash

• Long Bean and Delicata Squash Stir Fry with Tofu
• Garam Masala Butternut Squash Crostini with Cilantro – Sage Chutney
• Apple Ginger Butternut Squash Soup
• Fettuccine with Butternut Squash Alfredo
• Slow Cooked Butternut Squash and Chickpea Soup with Coconut Milk
• Roasted Squash and Kale Salad
• Paneer Butternut Squash Tikki
• Butternut Squash Lasagna with Marinara Sauce