Recipes that Feature Winter Vegetables

About Nicole Pajer

Nicole Pajer is a Los Angeles-based freelance published in The New York Times, Woman's Day, AARP, Parade, Wired, Glamour, People and more.

Looking to boost your nutrition while being kinder to the planet? Embrace eating seasonally. By choosing fruits and vegetables that grow locally during their natural harvest season, you can enjoy fresher, more nutrient-packed produce. Seasonal foods are often picked at their peak ripeness, unlike out-of-season items that are typically transported from far-off places, harvested prematurely, and artificially ripened. Plus, eating local helps to reduce the carbon footprint of your food, helping to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Now that it’s wintertime, there are plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables to try that are in season. From beets to Brussels sprouts, squash to cranberries, here are a few recipes that take advantage of winter produce – and most importantly taste great.

Perfectly Roasted Root Vegetables by A Couple Cooks

When it comes to eating a healthy diet, rotating the fruits and vegetables you eat is key. And bonus points if you’re able to incorporate vegetables you don’t eat on a regular basis, such as beets. This recipe makes a perfect side dish and can be paired with everything from roast chicken to pan fried fish and beyond. It incorporates a medley of root vegetables, like carrots and beets with sweet potatoes. After cleaning and peeling and chopping these veggies, you season them with garlic powder, lemon zest, fresh black pepper, chopped rosemary and olive oil and roast them until they are tender.

Winter Kale Salad with Cranberries by Love and Lemons

When the weather cools down, kale is ripe for the picking. And cranberries go so well with the season. This festive winter salad is made with a base of kale, scallions, dried cranberries, parsley, and toasted pine nuts. It’s a great vegetarian option, as it’s topped with homemade soy-balsamic tempeh bites. And the dressing, made of extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, honey, tahini, and grated cheese is so good you’ll want to drink it! You can even sprinkle in a few red pepper flakes if you are craving a little spice to warm you up.

Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Bacon by Damn Delicious

The Brussels sprouts of today are not the same Brussels sprouts you grew up with. Food trends are so over boiling them and are so into roasting them. This popular winter vegetable is tossed with olive oil, honey, balsamic vinegar, and garlic, topped with sea salt and fresh grown pepper, and enhanced with little slivers of bacon. If you’re vegan, feel free to leave the bacon out. They’ll come out nice and crispy and will be a hit at any party you attend.

Parsnip and Potato Mash by Elise Bauer

When was the last time you ate a parsnip? It’s probably been a minute. This healthier take on mashed potatoes combines parsnips with Yukon Gold potatoes to sneak in an often-overlooked winter vegetable. You won’t even notice that it’s not 100% potatoes – especially after you top this dish with unsalted butter, parsley, chives, black pepper, and salt!

Creamy Cauliflower Soup by Feasting at Home

Is there anything better to eat in the winter than a warm bowl of soup? It’s hard to beat! This creamy cauliflower soup is infused with garlic and sage and can be topped with an optional toasted pine nut crumble. It’s creamy and savory and is vegetarian, with the option to be made vegan. It only takes 10 minutes to prep and 20 to cook and puree, making it an easy recipe when you don’t have time to get too fancy in the kitchen.

Poached Pears in Red Wine by Sally's Baking Addiction

Sure, you can serve cake, cookies, or ice cream for dessert, but you can also sneak in a little fruit with this healthier but delicious recipe for poached pears. This dish is as simple as washing and halving pears and using a cookie scoop or melon baller to core out the seeds. Bake them in the oven with cinnamon, drizzle maple syrup and vanilla extract on top and cook till they’re nice and soft. You can serve with warm granola and Greek yogurt or can even top with your favorite vanilla ice cream.

Cranberry Orange Muffins by Amy’s Healthy Baking

When the winter rolls around, citrus fruits like oranges are nice and juicy. Never thought about putting oranges and cranberries together? Trust us, it’s a tasty combo. These muffins can be made with whole wheat flour or a gluten free flour substitute. They use egg whites instead of eggs, plain nonfat Greek yogurt, and nonfat milk to keep them lower fat. And then you toss in nice and fresh whole cranberries that are finely diced.