Winter Vegetables: Week 3 of BigBarn’s Food Weeks

Winter vegetables are usually some of the least popular members of the vegetable family. Unfortunately many are over cooked or plain badly which is almost criminal if it puts kids off eating healthy veg. Especially when the likes of leeks and swedes nurture us all the way through the cold and the dark winter and provide us with much needed nutrition and vitamins.

Many winter vegetables contains significant amounts of vitamin C: For every 100g, Swede contains 25 mg, which is 42% of the daily recommended dose. Other veg like Beetroot also have cancer preventing anti-oxidants.

Boring or delicious?

Like potatoes we have only had Swede for a few hundred years and elsewhere it has different names. In America it’s known as the rutabaga, while Scots know it simply as ‘neeps’.

Now, Swede is not a turnip! Although the two are both a part of the cabbage family, the turnip tends to be a lot smaller and to have a whiter bottom half, where the swede is noticeably yellow.
However, despite its rather ugly appearance, swede can be a delicious vegetable and a stalwart of the winter larder. It’s perfectly versatile (boil it, bake it, roast it) but there’s no finer way to serve it than as a buttery mash (treat as you would potatoes basically) with tatties (mashed potato) and haggis.

Quality, nutritious, soup

Another option is to take veg like carrots and parsnips, role them in a gentle coat of oil and rosemary and place on a hot tray with whole garlics and roast on high until they look delicious and soft enough to eat. Or, chop finely, fry in a large saucepan then add water or stock and simmer until the veg is soft, the perfect healthy soup.

Have a look at our delicious vegetable stew with herby dumplings here

If you have a favourite winter veg, or any other, recipe and would like the chance to win a prize, please video your recipe and add it to KIS (Keep it Simple) Cookery. Please have a look at existing videos here and try and keep your video less than 2 minutes long.

To find he best swede and winter veg try your local farm shop using our local food map.