Happy New Year Gleaners!
Happy New Years to all of you!
We are so excited to be able to walk into another year with the opportunity to Glean and be part of our community!
In the spirit of celebrating, we’re here to share some amazing recipes for the first week of January as well as introduce some food holidays to start your year off right!
January is National Slow Cooking and Hot Tea Month ! In the cold of winter there’s nothing like warmth of some hot soup and tea! January first was also Apple Gifting day and Bread Machine Baking Day!
Some of our favorite in season recipes to help you enjoy Slow Cooking month include a delicious roasted sunchoke, potato and mushroom recipe (we recommend even trying to add some other veggies like onion and carrot!), a roasted parsnip, celery heart and apple dish that can make use of all types of harvest and a vegetable broth from all your leftover bits and pieces to help eliminate food waste!
The month of celebrations doesn’t just stop there—there are a few food day holidays in the next weeks that can be celebrated in delicious fashion!
January 6th is National Apple Tree day and National Bean day! What better way to celebrate than trying this Apple Bean Bake to combine the sweet and savory flavors of the season for this unofficial food holiday!
January 9th is National Apricot Day. Apricots have high amounts of vitamins, potassium and provide health benefits including skin protection via vitamin E and C, vitamin A for eye health that can help reduce the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts and can help with dietary fiber needs.
Fruits and Veggies can’t have all the fun, either, so you can also celebrate drink holidays in January! January 11th is Milk Day and January 12th is Hot Tea Day!. To celebrate, try a homemade Chai tea for a spicy warm drink that incorporates both black tea and the creaminess of the milk of your choice during the chill of the cold season. If hot drinks aren’t your thing, just wait till January 15th is the last day in our two weeks of holidays and it’s Fresh Squeezed Juice day! Why not try some fresh squeezed orange juice at a local restaurant or try to squeeze your own oranges or lemons for a light and refreshing drink any time of the day!
In order to keep Gleaners (and Eaters) informed, we’ll be including an “In Season” section so you can enjoy the flavors of the season as they come! Seasonal produce this month that can be found locally includes Bussels sprouts, Sunchokes, Turnips, Shallots, Rapini, Potatoes, Mushrooms, Apples and Celery!
Sunchokes: Otherwise known as Jerusalem artichokes. These root tubers can be found widely across North America. They are generally in season from late fall to early spring.
Rapini: A green vegetable otherwise known as broccoli rabe. Everything on the plant is edible but it does not form large heads like broccoli. It is used often in Mediterranean cuisine. Being an extreme hardy plant, Rapini can be grown even through early frosts and as such has a very long season as long as it can be protected from the elements.
