WE ARE SLOWLY BUT WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD, which means that you should look for heat sources everywhere – not only in your wardrobe . In addition to woolen socks, hot chocolate and New Year’s dreams, simple and affordable foods can keep you warm and energized. We’ve compiled a list of fruits and vegetables to take vitamins and inspiration from in winter.
Garnet
Pomegranates may seem like a summer staple due to their brightness, but in fact they only appear on the shelves in late autumn and early winter and can withstand temperatures down to minus ten. No special recipes for a grenade are required (cleaning it alone takes enough strength), but when eating fresh grains will get bored, we advise you to think about cooking. Pomegranate works great in desserts, for example, in a pie with pomegranate juice , and in drinks: it is quite possible to celebrate the New Year with a champagne punch . In addition to these easy and straightforward ways, pomegranate seeds can and should be added to meat, poultry and salads. We are planning to start with a winter salad with pomegranate and bulgur .
Chestnuts
Now we are not talking about those chestnuts that painfully fall on the head, and then serve as the basis for thousands of handicrafts in elementary school, but about edible chestnuts, which, unfortunately, do not grow at every step (in no case try to cook the first – horse chestnut is poisonous). Chestnuts are not only eaten raw or fried , but also ground into flour – it can replace wheat in case of gluten intolerance. Chestnut flour is loved in Italy, where the famous Tuscan cake and tortellini dough are made from it – the filling for the latter can also be made from chestnuts. If it is inconvenient to tinker with flour or there is no desire, then you can simply cook soup from chestnuts – it is difficult to think of a more seasonal use for these fruits.
Cale
Gwyneth Paltrow, Jamie Oliver, Beyoncé – all these people confessed their love for Cale, and who are we to argue with Beyoncé? The salad, which has become a cult over the past four years, finally began to appear on the shelves of Russian supermarkets and stopped costing like a cast-iron bridge (although it still costs like a quarter of it). We are trying to rejoice at this state of affairs and suggest starting a closer acquaintance with the cale this winter. The easiest option is to put it in a salad, such as cucumber, nori and almonds, as Queen Bee bequeathed . In addition to salads, kale is good in soups – for example, with sausages and sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes, by the way, are also a winter product that should not be missed).
Persimmon
Some adore persimmon, while others hate, but it seems that there are no indifferent people at all. If you are from the fan camp, then you can rejoice – it is in winter that it is everywhere and always. The unusual astringent taste of persimmon is provided by tannins – tannins, which have no confirmed research is not useful, but they turn a simple snack into 4D entertainment. Because of the strong sweetness, persimmon fruits very easily fit into desserts – tarts with persimmon , persimmon with chocolate and mint – and perfectly act as a side dish, as in this lamb recipe . Fun fact: in Korea, they even wrote a fairy tale about dried persimmon , very cute.
Kohlrabi
An unusual relative of cabbage rarely ends up in the kitchen, but in vain. Kohlrabi can be found in every more or less decent supermarket, and anyone can cook this cabbage. An inexperienced chef will definitely cope with kohlrabi raw, as, for example, in this spicy salad . Those who are already a little better at cooking can introduce kohlrabi into their soup diet – this is an excellent base for any vegetable broth . Finally, this vegetable can be stewed, for example, in tomato sauce . Further, you need to limit yourself only to the limits of your imagination: you may want to cook pies with kohlrabi, pancakes or stews.
Rhubarb
In Russia, it was rhubarb desserts that began to gain popularity relatively recently, but England has only been living on rhubarb pies for the last four hundred years. And rightly so – sweet sour stalks are excellent filling for baking , one can cook jams and preserves , and even sweet rhubarb soup . True, you should not get carried away with this vegetable in large quantities: it contains oxalic acid. Although it takes a few pounds of leaves to actually be poisoned , sometimes even less can cause nausea or vomiting. However, rhubarb is good for you: it is high in fiber, B vitamins, and folic acid.
Avocado
Avocado is a juicy fruit that ripens from late September to January, so you can buy it as often as you can afford during the winter. In addition to mashed avocado on toast, which prevents some from saving for a mortgage , avocados can be used in baked goods instead of butter.
as in this vegan chocolate cake , and in salads – not instead of something, but just like that . Don’t be afraid to buy unripe avocados: they will ripen in a couple of days if you put them in a dry, dark place. The main thing is not to overexpose . Remember that the pelt and skin of an avocado are poisonous to pets, so if you decide to grow an avocado at home , move the pit away from the cat. We are ready to talk about the rest only in the presence of an avocado.
Barberry
We do not include caramel “Barberry” in the winter list – it is rather an off-season product. We are talking about the berries of a small shrub that grows almost everywhere and bears fruit just in winter. Barberry berries are rarely found in supermarkets, but they can be found in almost every market, especially in “grandmothers”. Barberry contains a lot of pectin, so it is easy to make jams , confitures and marmalade from it. For those who do not like sweets, barberry is also useful: dried berries are traditionally used in meat dishes of Persian cuisine, for example, for making barberry rice with chicken – it will definitely warm you on a winter evening.
Kiwi
Despite its “tropism”, kiwi is quite a winter fruit, ripening in late autumn. Kiwi contains a lot of vitamin C, and because of its softness, it lends itself well to pureing and can be part of any smoothie. You can start with a basic kiwi with banana and strawberry recipe . If you are already a professional in the smoothie business, we advise you to pay attention to Dima Ananyev’s telegram channel dedicated to them – kiwi is a frequent guest there, and the recipes are so inspiring that you immediately want to run for matcha powder and coconut milk. Besides smoothies, kiwi suitable for baking, for example muffin or cupcake kiwi yogurt.
Feijoa
A fruit with an unusual name has entered our lives for a long time: every second grandmother makes feijoa jam, and we are already used to seeing dark green fruits in the supermarket. Feijoa grows in tropical climates, but for the fruit to finally ripen, it needs a little cold. So, they begin to collect the fruit in November, which means that it is in the winter that you need to buy and eat it – fresh, ground with honey and in the form of the already mentioned jam, for example, with a pear . If you are too lazy to sterilize jars, then make a vitamin mixture and eat it with pancakes or bake sweet bread with feijoa . Like kiwi, this fruit works great in smoothies – with apples, limes, and spinach , for example .