Intimations of Spring Abound

 

With the crocuses emerging, the camellia in full bloom, some of the rhododendrons opening buds, and garlic and other bulbs shooting the green fuse through the stem, an older woman’s mind turns lightly to thoughts of fruit and vegetables….

I hauled home a lot of the stuff from the store the other day. Winter veggies like hard-shell squash, rutabegas (once every six or seven years), baby red potatoes, a bag of yellow onions (I use lots of onions) plus greens and sweets, arugula, kale, mushrooms, lettuce….nice spring asparagus, plus a big ripe pineapple, tangelos, blueberries, pears….well, yum.

Last night we had bacon-wrapped mushrooms stuffed with bay shrimp, tiny bits of chopped roast red pepper and green onion, bound with Philadelphia cream cheese salmon spread. Sprinkled powdered lemon peel and parsley on top. I pre-cooked the bacon a bit because it was thick, then wrapped it around the stuffed mushrooms and tooth-picked it in place. Put under the broiler until done. (If I had thought, I’d have chopped some of that preserved lemon I made for Christmas into the filling. My bad.)

Also pear-gorganzola-walnut salad. Need I say more?

Thick slice of ham round and pineapple went on the grill pan (nice heavy …oomph!...cast iron ribbed pan), a great boon in bad weather. You still get those lovely grill marks, and food doesn’t sit in grease. Peeled and cored the bottom half of the pineapple and cut into vertical wedges. Sprayed olive oil on one side, put on the grill pan oil-side down. When the pieces got nice deep grill marks I sprayed the tops, turned them over, and sprinkled the cooked side with fresh-ground cinnamon and a little raw sugar. Doesn’t get much better than that!

Speaking of the preserved lemons, I made just about the best coleslaw dressing ever the other day….an adequate blob of mayonnaise, a healthy splash of apple cider vinegar, just enough raw sugar to balance the vinegar, a small sprinkle of 5-spice (don’t want to color the mayo) and finely chopped preserved lemon. That lemon gave it a zing-bang-whop you wouldn’t believe! Mixed with finely chopped green cabbage and a healthy handful of Craisins and some chopped apple (honey crisp of course) this received rave reviews.

About rutabegas: I have no aversion to them…I just forget that they are there. They weren’t a part of my family culture.  Also called Swedes, they are, believe it or not, originally a cross between cabbage and turnips. The word “rutabaga” comes from the Swedish word Rotabagge, meaning "root ram."  I’m not sure where the ram comes in! These are also called “yellow turnips” in some areas. They’re pretty hard and take a while to cook – I’m thinking I might try parboiling some (peeled and chopped) for a while, then oven-roasting with some other veggies.

I think we tend to overlook the nice variety of veggies available in winter…but of course nothing beats the stuff you can get at the farmer’s market in spring. Greens! Leaves! Tiny baby carrots and French Breakfast radishes. (What’s with the supermarkets these days? No white globe, icicle, French breakfast, watermelon, or other interesting radishes…just the unremarkable red globes. Borrrring.
 

Time to start thinking about planting.