Cabbage: Sesame Noodle Salad

Photo by Emily Mills

This dish is one of my favorite things to bring to potlucks because it can be served hot, cold, or room temperature. It's also vegan and not spicy so a large number of people can eat it. (You could even switch to rice noodles and tamari instead of soy sauce to make this gluten-free). The best thing about this type of dish is that you can make it in stages rather than trying to time out cooking a bunch of vegetables that take wildly different amounts of heat and caramelization. Just put on music or an episode of True Blood and don't stress out about doing too many things at one time.

Butternut Squash: Red Curry with Squash and Tofu

Photos by Meghan Rose

Squash and tofu in red curry is a common menu item in Thai restaurants and is easy to recreate at home. It can be served over rice, rice noodles, or on its own as a soup. This pictured bowl would have been prettier with a fresh basil garnish, but it was a winter night in Wisconsin and I didn't feel like making a run to Asian Midway Foods for fresh basil.

Oranges: Glazed Citrus and Raspberries

Photo by Douglas Detert

 This is a variation on a recipe from Julia Child's "The French Chef Cookbook" published in 1968. It can be a great chance to practice your fancy knife skills by making only orange and grapefruit supremes, though I have a shortcut that works almost as well and saves more of the fruit. For recipe, click on blog title or "read more".

Sweet Potato: Sweet Potato Hash

Photo by Emily Mills

Sweet potatoes are good for you and good in savory dishes with enough salt or other seasonings to balance out the sugar.  This is one of the really simple ways to make sweet potatoes and could work for breakfast, lunch or dinner. A sunny side up egg on top is a great way to add protein and make a whole meal. I use grapeseed oil because it has a light flavor and holds up to high heat without breaking down (it has a high smoke point), but vegetable or canola oil would work too.

For the botanist nerds: sweet potatoes are the only edible member of the morning glory family Convolvulaceae and are not related to yams.

Hash:

2 large sweet potatoes, cut into 1" cubes

1/4 cup grapeseed oil

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh black pepper

Heat the grapeseed oil over medium-high heat in a skillet. Add the sweet potatoes, onions, salt and pepper.  Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender.  There should be some caramelization of the onions and sweet potatoes. Add more salt to taste.

Oranges: Blood Orange and Spinach Salad

Photo by Emily Mills

Winter is a good time to experiment with oranges in recipes. They're cheap, in season, and a good source of Vitamin C. This recipe is a variation of the classic spinach, fruit, and nut salad with vinaigrette dressing. Use a store-bought vinaigrette if time is an issue. Other oranges could be used, but blood oranges are the most festive-looking against the green spinach around Christmas.

Salad:

6 cups washed spinach

1 blood orange

1/2 red shallot, minced

1/2 cup walnuts

Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

1/4 tsp salt

Peel the blood orange and separate segments. Remove any seeds and cut segments into thirds. Toast walnuts over medium head until lightly brown. Add all ingredients to a bowl and toss.