Surprise! It’s vegetables!

Very few people look at the beginning of December--when we've had our first frost, and there's suddenly SO MUCH DARK and think "seasonal abundance." But that's the great thing about the South: my farmers' availability lists have EXPLODED: turnips and sunchokes and beets, like 8 different kinds of greens, radishes so colorful they can stand in for sunlight.
This week I'm revisiting the vegetarian pot pie, with a heartier polenta crust on top, more akin to the grits on the beef and grits. They've got all those great veggies too: sunchokes (slightly sweet and nutty, and with plenty of inulin, a fiber that increases satiety and cholesterol regulation), scarlet queen turnips (my fave), roasted shiitakes and green beans, in a rich gravy under shingles of herby polenta.
Herbs are also central to this week's salad: a vinaigrete of chervil, dill, chives and cilantro binds yet more 'chokes, radishes, satsumas, and napa cabbage. We've got eggs (hard-boiled with creamy yolks) for protein and crispy shallots for crunch.
Those of you who watch the Instagram or Facebook may have noticed a teaser: This week I'm canning a spicy pepper, ginger and mustard seed condiment. It's fermented and funky and aggressively spicy. I humbly posit that it would make a wonderful, unusual gift for the capsaicin lovers in your life. Keep an eye out for this and a few other gift-appropriate items over the next two weeks.
And finally, in other warming news, I'm rolling out a lentil and lady pea stew with greens, ginger, tahini, and chilies. Think of it as the cold-weather cousin to veggie stew with wonderbroth.