Winter Feasts from the Garden

It is amazing how much food is consumed from the garden in winter time. Frozen, canned, dried or pickled foods can add a lot to the winter diet. Frozen food except for some meats seems to lose most of it’s flavor. Some home-canned foods actually improve in flavor. Pickles are often much better than the vegetables they were made from.

Lettuce grows all year except for the very middle of summer when it bolts. Garden lettuce, carrots, radish, mesclun and arugula can be combined with chopped pickles, canned whole tomatoes pickled beets to make a great salad. Add some home-made oil & vinegar dressing with basil and you have a true delight. Dried beans when served with rice or bread make a complete protein. Add some fresh green onions from the garden and a little thyme or rosemary.

The favorite of course is greens. Turnips, mustard, kale, rape, chard, collards and spinach provide vitamin C and folic acid. Flavor it with pepper vinegar. That makes a fabulous addition to the dried beans and rice. Admittedly a lot of the winter diet in our modern world is still going to come from the grocery store. For that matter, the summer table is set with store-bought stuff as well.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/