Category Archives: Recipes

Seasonal Eats: Beet, Carrot, Ginger Salad

Eating from your garden or even just eating locally seems like it can be toughest in winter. No matter how much you ferment, dry, can, and freeze, it can be challenging not to reach for the fresh produce readily available in every supermarket. This beet, carrot, ginger salad is one of my favorites for creating a delicious side that’s fresh, light, and colorful but can also be made with ingredients from your root cellar or local winter farmers’ market.

For this recipe, you’ll need:

  • Beets
  • Carrots
  • Fresh Ginger
  • Rice Vinegar
  • Lemon or Lime Juice
  • Onion (can be a green or bulb onion)
  • Salt & pepper
  • Optional Fresh mint, cilantro, or lemon balm

Another great thing about this recipe is that it doesn’t need to be exact. I like to keep the ratio of grated carrots to beets at about 1 to 1. However, you may find you prefer it a little differently.

Begin by peeling your beets and grating them and your carrots. You can then toss them together. If you’re using bulb onions, I would also finely dice up a handful or two and toss them with the grated root vegetables at this time.

After I grate and mix the beets and carrots, I begin grating and adding fresh ginger about one tablespoon at a time to taste. Especially if you’re not used to cooking with fresh ginger, you may want to start with less than you think you’ll need. You can always add a bit more later. 

Next, toss everything with a small amount of rice wine vinegar and lemon or lime juice. I would use about two tablespoons of vinegar and one tablespoon of lemon juice for every one pound of beets. 

The last step is to season with a bit of salt and pepper and any roughly chopped fresh herbs or vegetables you’d like, such as green onions, mint, cilantro, or lemon balm.

You can serve this salad fresh at room temperature or chilled. It’s a perfect healthy, quick recipe that’s sure to impress guests at holiday get-togethers. 

Pumpkin & Squash Recipes Perfect for Fall

When you harvest your winter squash and pumpkins, sometimes the actual size of your harvest can come as a bit of shock. These prolific plants are excellent at hiding even more produce under their large leaves than you thought was possible. Thankfully, if you properly cure them, they’ll keep for months. Plus, there are so many fun ways to use them. Here are some of our favorite pumpkin and winter squash recipes perfect for this time of year. 

Dehydrated Pumpkin Pie Leather Roll-Ups

Ever wish you could take pumpkin pie on the go? These Pumpkin Pie Roll-Ups Colleen shared on her blog Grow Forage Cook Ferment are the perfect fall snack. They’re sweet even though they’re sugar-free. If you’ve got a dehydrator, give these a try.

Pumpkin Spice Waffles

Who doesn’t love a big stack of waffles on a cool, crisp morning? Adding a bit of your pumpkin or winter squash with this Pumpkin Spice Waffle recipe makes them extra special for fall.

Chocolate Hazelnut Pumpkin Pie Truffles

These Chocolate Hazelnut Pumpkin Pie Truffles from Kathie of Homespun Seasonal Living are a great treat, even if you’re not an experienced candy maker or baker. These truffles are decadent yet straightforward and perfect for fall get-togethers. 

Moroccan Cushaw Salad

Cushaws are popular southern winter squashes that were commonly grown by enslaved people in the late 18th century. One of our favorite culinary historians, Micheal Twitty, shared a great recipe for Moroccan Cushaw Salad on his blog, Afroculinaria. 

Pumpkin Butter

Pumpkin Butter is one of our favorite pumpkin recipes at Southern Exposure, and it’s surprisingly simple to make. While some people pressure can pumpkin butter, we use this easy recipe and store it in the refrigerator. 

Pumpkin Soup

Eva Kosmas Flores has tons of pumpkin and winter squash recipes that are as tasty as they are beautiful. If you’re looking for something to warm you up on a chilly fall day, we recommend her pumpkin soup recipe that she learned in Germany.

Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls

These pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls are a delicious treat that pair perfectly with your morning cup of coffee or tea. They also make excellent gifts. 

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Last but not least, you can’t forget your furry friend! This Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treat recipe from Timber Creek Farm is perfect for including your pet in the fall festivities or gifting to a dog-loving friend. 

What’s your favorite pumpkin or winter squash recipe? Let us know if we missed any great ones on Facebook. 

Herbal Infused Oils & Vinegars

It’s often surprising, especially to new gardeners, just how much you can harvest from a couple of herb plants. With relatively little effort you can have tons of basil, rosemary, oregano, and more. This time of year you’ll need to figure out how to preserve your herbs if you want to keep using them this winter. One simple, flavorful way to preserve herbs is to create infused oils and vinegars.

Vinegar

Herbal vinegars are excellent for homemade salad dressings and marinades or for sprinkling over sauteed or roasted vegetables. I love sautéed swiss chard with a splash of garlic vinegar.

You can use any type of vinegar you have on hand. Personally, apple cider vinegar and white wine vinegar are my favorites. You can also use whatever herbs you desire. I love sage, tarragon, garlic, basil, lemon balm, and dill.

To make you vinegar, loosely pack your herbs into a clean, glass jar. Bruising them a bit with a spoon can help bring out the flavor. Then cover your herbs with vinegar. Try to make sure all the herbs are fully submerged before putting a lid on your jar.

Allow your vinegar to steep in a cool, dark place for at least one week. After one week you can taste your vinegar to see if you like the flavor. If it isn’t strong enough you can let it continue to steep. It could take up to three weeks.

Oils

Herbal infused oils have been used as both food like basil oil and medicine like calendula oil. Like herbal vinegars, they make great homemade salad dressings and are also delicious for dipping fresh bread in.

To create herbal oils you’ll want a high-quality vegetable-based oil. Olive oil is my favorite but sunflower or other oil would work as well.

Traditionally, fresh herbs would be placed in a jar and covered with oil. They’d be left to steep somewhere warm and out of direct sunlight for several weeks. However, modern food safety experts recommend against this practice as fresh herbs and oil could create botulism.

If you want to use fresh herbs try gently heating them in the oil to impart their flavor more quickly than steeping them. Your oil can then be strained and safely stored in the fridge or freezer.

Alternatively, you can eliminate the risk of botulism by drying your herbs before steeping them. Using dry herbs you can cover them with oil and allow them to steep for about two weeks before straining them.

Herbal infused oils and vinegars are great, simple ways to store the season’s flavor. They also make excellent gifts for the culinary enthusiasts in your life!