Butternut Squash, Kale, and Pomegranate

Butternut squash, kale and pomegranates are foods of the season. This year I am making the effort to enjoy them more frequently.

My grocery store has tubs of chunked butternut squash that makes it very easy to cook just the amount I want. I buy the largest they have and freeze what I am not cooking immediately. Butternut squash cooked in broth - mashed when it is tender - makes a great base for a hearty soup. Adding some dried onion, pepper, basic and bacon bits is delicious. One time I added a few spoonfuls of cranberry orange relish and dried parsley just before pouring it into the soup bowl; the tartness of the cranberries and orange contrasted with the squash (and the red flecks of cranberry made the orange soup even more colorful. Another cooking method is to coat the chunks with olive oil and cinnamon then bake in the over. Since the chunks are relatively small - it takes less time than a potato or whole squash.

Kale is a new vegetable for me. It is a hardy plant that thrives as the temperatures get cooler. This is my first year to experiment with kale chips. They are tasty and easy to make; simply cut up the leaves (discard the tough central stem), coat/spray with oil, season, cook for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees. I’m still experimenting with ways to avoid getting them too oily (spraying is probably better than putting the leaves in a gallon Ziploc with the oil and seasoning)….and trying different seasonings.

And finally -- the pomegranate. I simply cut the fruit in quarters and enjoy every red-jewel seed. They are a food that is beautiful and tastes good too - a worthy fruit to enjoy fresh and celebrate the bounty of the season!

Quote of the Day - 1/5/2012

One of the earliest known greenhouses was built around 30 AD for the Roman Emperor Tiberius, to satisfy his craving for cucumbers out of season.  Glass had not yet been invented, and the greenhouse, called a specularium, was painstakingly fabricated from small translucent sheets of mica. - Gardening Under Glass and Lights: The American Horticultural Society Illustrated Encyclopedia of Gardening

~~~~~

How fortunate we are to live at a time that many fresh fruits and vegetables are available all year round!

• Greenhouses are one way that is achieved - a technique attempted with varying degrees of success for over 2000 years with the first documented case noted in the quote above; there were probably even earlier attempts that we just don’t know about.
• Improved transportation is another; the produce aisle of our grocery often contains items that were grown in another hemisphere.
• Our houses are more evenly heated than in earlier times making is possible to have indoor gardens in winter; I only go as far as sprouts but with a little effort to do more.
• We have improved ways to store produce as well - temperature controlled, atmospheric (gases), coatings, bactericides.

There are still seasonal fruits and vegetables. Pomegranates are what I think about first. They are the ultimate December fruit for me….so beautiful with their deep red coated seeds. They really are not available in my grocery except for November-January. Strawberries are available all year round but are less expensive when they are in late May/early June for my area; years ago there was a local ‘pick your own’ strawberries farm that my family enjoyed annually (unfortunately, plant problems followed by a housing development has now overcome that tradition); somehow strawberries always seem to taste better during that ‘in season’ time.

What is your favorite out-of-season veggie or fruit this week? With it below 20 degrees F for the past few days - I’m enjoying little cherry tomatoes.