ROUSES_JanFeb2022_Magazine_Pages-Web

At Season’s Peak

ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Broccoli rabe , or rapini, is broccoli’s bitter cousin. It has long, thin leafy stalks and small broccoli-like florets. Its hearty green leaves, starchy stems and buds are all edible. Broccoli rabe keeps fresh for two or three days when stored unwashed in the refrigerator’s vegetable drawer, wrapped with a damp paper towel or sealed in a plastic bag. For more extended storage, blanch and freeze. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Parsnips look like cream-colored carrots, but that’s where the resemblance ends. You can eat them raw—parsnips have a sweet, nutty flavor — but they’re much better cooked. Try them roasted, or boiled and mashed like potatoes. Trim off green tops and store in a plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator for up to one week. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Purple-top white-glove turnip roots and rutabagas look strikingly similar. Turnips are sweeter and squatter than rutabagas, which tend to be longer and leaner. Both are great mashed and roasted. Storage: Turnip roots and rutabagas can be stored, unwashed, tightly wrapped in a plastic bag in the vegetable drawer for up to 2 weeks. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Leeks are a member of the onion family, which includes onions, shallots, garlic and chives. Though they look like giant green onions, they’re sweeter and have a much milder flavor. The winter leeks out now tend to be fatter and shorter than summer leeks. Keep fresh, unwashed, untrimmed leeks in a loosely wrapped plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator for up to one week. Leeks are grown in sandy soil. Rinse them well under running water to remove visible dirt or sand, then slice and soak to remove any remaining grit or dust before eating or cooking. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Hearty green kale , a relative of the cabbage, is available year-round, but December through February is the peak season for this leafy green. Stow unwashed in the refrigerator, wrapped with a damp paper towel with plenty of airflow for up to two weeks. (Keep kale away from ethylene- producing fruits and vegetables (bananas, apples, melons, peaches, tomatoes, etc.) to avoid spoiling. Soak in cold water to get rid of any sand or dirt before cooking or eating. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Strawberries from such locally famous areas as Ponchatoula, the self-proclaimed “Strawberry Capital of the United States,” arrive in stores in January. Keep on the countertop if you plan to eat right away, otherwise store whole, unwashed strawberries in a partially closed container lined with paper towels in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Cara Cara seedless navel oranges, Moro blood oranges, clementines, red- orange tangerines, minneolas tangelos and grapefruits are fresh and ripe right now. Pomelos , which look like oversize grapefruits but are sweeter and less acidic, are also in season. These are the largest of all citrus fruit. We also have Meyer lemons , which are sweeter and juicier than regular lemons, and yellow-and-green striped Pink Zebra lemons . Most citrus will keep at room temperature for three to five days, or longer in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator, stored loose, out of any plastic bags. Turn them occasionally to allow airflow.

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