The cold and dark winter months call for warm, colorful and comforting food.
Winter is great for fresh, simple and nutritious produce. Take advantage of ingredients such as carrots, cabbage, parsnips and potatoes for hearty soups and stews. Add color to your plates with beetroot, purple sprouting broccoli, sweet potatoes and radicchio.
Pork and game are good value – venison, pheasant and partridge are lean and full of flavor and make a nice change used in roasts, pies, and even burgers. A beetroot and red onion tart or roasted chestnuts and mushroom in a herb pesto pasta are colorful and tasty dishes which make use of the last of the season’s delights.
With Christmas and New Year celebrations, Chinese New Year, and Valentine’s Day all on the winter calendar, you have some great excuses to fill up your kitchen with friends and family and experiment with some new dishes. We’ve started you off with a few dishes here. Enjoy getting creative in the kitchen this winter!
Sweet potato, chorizo and onion hash
This tasty one-pot hash is easy to throw together for a hearty weekend brunch. Make it your own – add a fried or poached egg, stir in some spinach and serve with the brew of your choice.
Ingredients
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 ½ cups sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
- ½ cup chorizo, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 4 eggs
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 200° (Fan 180°, Gas Mark 6).
- Add the onion, garlic, sweet potatoes and chorizo to a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and toss together until evenly coated.
- Sprinkle the smoked paprika and stir in well.
- Place in the preheated oven and roast for around 30 minutes until the sweet potatoes are tender and the chorizo is crispy. Stir occasionally.
- Just before serving, melt the butter into a hot pan and fry the eggs to taste.
- Serve the hash topped with the fried egg.
- Optional: Stir some spinach into the hash in the last few minutes of cooking for extra nutrients.
Curried parsnip soup
The sweetness of parsnip combined with the kick of the curry spices makes for a heart-warming winter soup. Serve with crusty bread or warmed naan for a delicious lunch.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 ½ cups parsnips, peeled and chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped or crushed
- 4 tsps mild curry powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 5 cups vegetable stock
- 3.4 fl. oz. coconut milk or double cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped parsnips and fry until they begin to lightly brown.
- Add the onion and garlic and fry for another minute until the onions appear soft and translucent.
- Add the spices. Keep stirring for up to a minute to release the flavor.
- Add the vegetable stock to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and leave to simmer for around 25-30 minutes or until the parsnips are soft and tender.
- Use a hand blender to puree the soup until smooth. Stir in the coconut milk (or cream) and season with salt and pepper.
- Serve with crusty bread or warmed naan.
- Optional: Add a sprinkle of toasted pumpkin seeds for a bit of crunch
Caramel and vanilla rice pudding with rhubarb
Enjoy this sweet twist on the classic comforting dessert. The smooth caramel is balanced by the tangy rhubarb to create a dessert perfect for a cozy night in.
Ingredients
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 2 fl. oz. water
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into 1cm cubes
- 4 fl. oz. double cream
- 30 fl. oz. whole milk
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup short grain rice
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ lbs rhubarb, peeled and cut into 3cm lengths
- 2 cups caster sugar
- 2 tbsp water
Directions
- Add caster sugar and water to a medium-sized pan and warm over a medium heat. Stir continuously until the sugar melts and begins to turn a golden yellow colour.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter and double cream. Keep stirring until the mixture comes together to make a smooth caramel sauce.
- Whisk the milk, vanilla extract and brown sugar into the sauce.
- Add the rice into this caramel mixture and place the pan back over a low heat, stirring often, for around 20 minutes or until the rice absorbs the liquid and becomes tender.
- Meanwhile, heat the rhubarb, sugar and water in a pan over a medium heat until the fruit softens.
- Serve the rice pudding topped with rhubarb and enjoy it hot.
- Optional: You can replace the rhubarb with seasonal fruits, such as Cortland apple or pear.
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