There’s a Wonderful Array of Winter Vegetables Available to Explore : Produce: Good cooks are again respecting seasons in the choice of vegetables.

My hostess’ kitchen filled with the aroma of rosemary and garlic as I removed the cover from my platter. Guests gathered around the buffet table and were soon relishing the plate of roasted winter vegetables. I didn’t breathe a word as they helped themselves to more turnips; given its bad reputation, I’m sure few realized what they were eating. I couldn’t help thinking what a far cry this was from the dreaded boiled root vegetables I had pushed around my plate as a child.

My love affair with winter vegetables is still fairly new. I have long been enamored of summer fare like tomatoes and corn, but pan-roasted parsnips, baked beets and raw baby turnips have been a long time coming. They were worth the wait. Part of my reliance on summer fare stems from my childhood struggles with winter vegetables. They had always been boiled and never had much in the way of seasonings.

But a lot, I’m sure, was due to the fact that for modern Americans the seasonality of vegetables has become a blur--and it was years before I became disenchanted with an endless summer of anemic tomato and lettuce salads. Thanks to today’s chefs, who are emphasizing quality local produce enjoyed in season, I have learned to shun the inferior quality of out-of-season produce and have begun exploring a wonderful array of high quality winter fare.

Throughout the country, grocery stores have displays filled with winter vegetables, but even more choices are available to home gardeners. These fortunate ones relish the cylindrical red beets and yellow ones, too. Also in favor are small white Japanese turnips that are eaten raw and rutabagas that turn orange when cooked. Chefs often select the baby root vegetables. Gardeners have the luxury of growing the huge, dense sweet carrots, rolling pin-sized leeks and giant beets and turnips.

With the cornucopia of winter vegetables, we are rediscovering many of the old traditional recipes. But we also have a feast of new ideas from which to choose.

BEETS -- Beets in the grocery store are usually red and about two inches across. But beets can also be orange or white, or red with pink and white rings inside like the Italian Chioggia. Beets can range in size from the little 1-inch babies to some old-fashioned varieties that can grow 10 inches across. Most beet varieties are round, but there are also cylindrical ones that make uniform slices that are great for pickling.

Beets are one of the sweetest vegetables -- after all, they’re related to the sugar beet. When preparing beets, wash them and remove the green tops, being sure to leave about an inch of stem connected. Then cook the beets whole. Don’t throw the greens away; they are delicious cooked quickly in a covered pan with just the water which remains after washing.

If the beet skins are tough, peel the beets after cooking. Rubbing the hot beets under cold running water for a few seconds will take the skin right off. Rubber gloves will protect your hands. The bright red beets bleed into other foods so they are often cooked separately. Yellow and white beets need no such treatment.

Flavors that combine well with beets are onion, lemon, nutmeg, cucumber, cream and vinegars of all types. A truly classic dish is pickled beets. Chef Jesse Cool of Flea Street Restaurant in Menlo Park, Calif., likes to add hard-cooked eggs to the pickled beets a few hours before serving. The egg whites turn a bright magenta. Cool also uses raw grated beets in her salads.

Beets were a staple for Colonial cooks who would put the large ones, called “keepers,” in the coals to bake. This made them sweet, juicy and smoky. In summer, it’s easy to approximate this cooking method by rubbing the beets with oil and putting them on the barbecue. In winter, beets are wonderful baked in the oven. For eons, Russian and German cooks have made a hearty borscht from large, meaty beets, and Italian cooks serve beets on antipasto plates and combine them with ricotta cheese to fill ravioli.

CARROTS -- The familiar carrot is invaluable. Available all year round, carrots are often sweeter in cold weather. To prepare carrots, wash and peel the medium to large ones. Small carrots or those being grated often need no peeling. The standard long orange carrots show up in recipes as varied as soups and cakes, they add sweetness to stews and stir-fries and can be grated and added raw to salads and sandwiches. The young tender carrot tops can be used to make a traditional French cream soup.

Cool pickles carrots with chiles, makes a carrot salsa and uses carrots in a fresh thyme timbale served with roast duck. Other flavors that combine well with carrots are mint, chervil, garlic, onion, orange, parsley, cinnamon, vinegar and dill.

Specialty markets sometimes carry baby carrots that are useful for garnishes, dip platters and for glazing with orange sauce. Gardeners fortunate enough to have grown the large keeper types can bake them or brush them with oil and garlic and roast them on the barbecue. Gardeners also can grow the Belgian White variety and enjoy their intense carrot flavor in soups and stews.

FENNEL -- Americans are becoming acquainted with this anise-flavored vegetable and it is showing up more and more in grocery stores. Choose fennel bulbs that are plump and white. Cut most of the green foliage off and run water down between the layers. Slice as you would celery or cut in quarters.

Use chopped fennel raw in salads and sandwiches or serve quartered, braised and covered with a cream sauce or cheese. Cool likes to serve thin slices of raw fennel and red onion with tangerine sections -- all of which have been drizzled with a little walnut and olive oils and vinegar. Fennel is much appreciated in Italy where it is often part of an antipasto dish or braised and served with a dusting of Parmesan cheese. Chef Celestino Drago in Los Angeles serves braised fennel with mozzarella cheese on open-faced sandwiches made on crusty Italian rolls.

In the stores, only 3- to 4-inch diameter bulbs of fennel are available. By harvesting earlier than the commercial farmers, home gardeners can enjoy the baby bulbs that are only an inch across and very tender. Chefs seek these out and prepare them by braising in broth and serving them with a light sauce or sprinkling them with cheese or olive oil and garlic.

LEEKS -- Leeks are related to onions and have a rich aromatic taste. While markets usually offer them through most of the year, they are less expensive in the winter and lend themselves well to many hearty dishes. To clean leeks, remove the roots and most of the green tops, then make a slice vertically from the top almost through the bottom. Avoid cutting through the bottom lest the leek falls apart. Hold the leek open and swish it up and down in a pan of water.

Tender, sweet baby leeks, only a little bigger around then a pencil, are a luxury usually only gardeners are able to enjoy, but leeks of mammoth proportions (4 or 5 inches across) are also available to gardeners and they are great for soups and stock.

TURNIPS, RUTABAGAS AND PARSNIPS -- These vegetables are similar in taste, though the first two are members of the cabbage family and the last is related to carrots. Turnips and rutabagas are globe-shaped and often have pink or lavender shoulders. The flesh of most is white but the rutabaga Laurentian turns orange when cooked.

Heirloom varieties of both can grow as large as small cabbages, but Asian and European varieties, like Tokyo Cross Hybrid and De Milan, harvested when less than a few inches across, are so tender and sweet they are often eaten raw. Parsnips look like white carrots but are more tapered.

All these vegetables, while sometimes strong-tasting, are sweet and rich when properly cooked. To prepare them, wash and remove the roots and stem ends. Peel if the skin is tough. Many gardeners also love turnip greens prepared the same way as beet greens. Make sure to use the young, tender leaves harvested before they have been exposed to repeated frosts.

Traditional recipes use turnips, rutabagas and parsnips, quartered, in stews or mashed, often in combination with potatoes and cream. Wedges of turnips and whole parsnips were often roasted in the pan alongside beef or poultry. Cool feels the flavor of turnips is a natural with salmon and serves turnips steamed and stuffed with smoked salmon mousse or a mixture of cream cheese, dill and capers and topped with slices of smoked salmon. All benefit from slow roasting, which brings out their sweetness.

The vegetables mentioned in this article are not the only winter vegetables that are available for you to enjoy. Don’t forget this is the peak season for broccoli and cauliflower, the leafy greens like chard and mustard and a variety of cabbages such as savoy and red. They combine well with the root vegetables.

ROASTED WINTER VEGETABLES -- The following recipe is an easy and tasty way to serve winter root vegetables. This method of roasting vegetables is from Cool, and is a recipe I now often make for party potluck dinners. It’s so easy and healthful, yet rich, nutty and satisfying. The recipe is infinitely flexible -- go to the garden, root cellar or market and choose your favorite root vegetables in the proportion you prefer. The amounts given below are primarily a starting point. The important aspect of preparation is to cut the vegetable in sizes that make them all cook in the same amount of time. Roasted vegetables need to be well cooked, moist and well flavored. As Jesse says, “This is not a time for al dente cooking.”

ROASTED VEGETABLE APPETIZER -- Make up individual plates or, for a buffet, arrange vegetables out on a large platter. I like to arrange them in clusters of the same vegetable, alternating colors, then drizzle Dipping Sauce over the vegetables.

DIPPING SAUCE

Vegetables

Balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 loaf crusty French or Italian bread

Roast vegetables in oven, on grill or under broiler. Cool vegetables 10 minutes. Season to taste with balsamic vinegar. Let vegetables cool to room temperature. Combine olive oil and garlic. Apportion vegetables on small plates and garlic oil into 6 small bowls or drizzle over vegetables. Serve with bread. Makes 6 servings.

BAKED BEETS

If you like beets, you’ll love them cooked this way. If you’ve never tried it, do so and you’ll be pleased with the results. Scrub and trim fresh beets but leave whole. Place in a casserole or baking dish (do not add water) and cover securely. Bake at 300 degrees 1 hour or more, depending on the size of the beets, until just tender. Peel, if desired, and slice. Serve hot. Use leftovers cold in salads. Carrots can be cut into 2-inch pieces and cooked the same way.

John Downey, chef and owner of Downey’s in Santa Barbara, Calif., shares this recipe for a dish that is a holiday favorite in England, popular with roast turkey, but good any time of the year with roast pork or beef too.

ROAST PARSNIPS

6 medium parsnips

Water

1/4 cup meat drippings (turkey, pork or beef) or butter

Peel parsnips and cut into pieces about 3x3/4 inch. Blanch parsnips in pan of boiling water 1 minute. Drain well and spread out to cool and dry.

Heat oven-proof skillet, add drippings and heat until very hot. Add parsnips and saute few minutes over high heat. Then bake at 400 degrees about 30 minutes. Drain and serve. Or roast parsnips right in meat pan after parboiling. They will be tastier but will retain more fat. Makes 6 servings.