Tag 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. 

Homegrown: Five Seasonal Cooking Resources

This season we’ve been inundated with orders and happy to see many folks trying to make the best of a tough situation by planting victory gardens. We love seeing new gardeners grow their own food for the first time and veteran gardeners expanding their plots.

Particularly for new gardeners, cooking from the garden is a bit different. Rather than selecting a recipe and purchasing the ingredients, gardeners harvest their ingredients and then select a recipe.

While we try to post some of our favorite seasonal recipes here on the blog, we certainly don’t have a comprehensive list. Here are a few of our favorite resources for seasonal recipes and preservation techniques.

Fresh Preserving

When you’re in doubt about putting up the harvest check the Fresh Preserving site from Ball Canning. They have tons of recipes and guides for water bath canning, pressure canning, freezing, dehydrating and more.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Some of you may have read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Kingsolver documents her family’s year-long adventure of eating locally to their Virginia home. You can find some of their favorite recipes from their year of local food on their website. Try quick dinners like their swiss chard “Eggs in a Nest” or recipes like their Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies to use up excess produce.

Mother Earth News

The seasonal recipe section of Mother Earth News is filled with tons of recipes from a wide variety of homesteaders and gardeners. Check out unique recipes like Thai Green Tomatoes with a Coconut Crust or Creamy Parsnip Soup with Sorrel.

Garden Therapy

Stephanie Rose created Garden Therapy after she found that gardening helped her to “rebuild [her] health.” Her website now includes an abundance of gardening resources including recipes that will help you bring seasonal ingredients to the table. Try fun treats like Edible Flower Lollipops, delicious meals like Garden Fresh Quiche, or beverages like her Salad Bowl Gin and Tonic.

Farm Flavor

Farm Flavor strives to connect consumers to agriculture by profiling U.S. farmers and ranchers. Their recipe section is full of easy ideas for you to use your homegrown or local produce. This summer whip up some Collard Green Salad Rolls or Garden Fresh Gazpacho.

SESE Blog Recipes

Here are a few favorites from the SESE blog. Browse for more recipes and stay tuned with us this year.

Did we miss something? If you know a great food preservation or seasonal cooking resource, let us know on Facebook!