What to cook this February: Don’t miss out on these warming winter veggies

Leafy greens similar kale and chard (acelgas) are immoderate of my favourite wintertime crops. Amazing erstwhile added to those hearty soups connected a acold night, which we each love. At this clip of year, they’re bursting with freshness and nutrients, and each clip I spot a bully large bunch, I drawback it for soups, stews and pastas, steamed arsenic a broadside oregon baked into bread.  

Chard (Acelgas) and Potato Soup

This vessel of sopa de acelgas con papas, a accepted Swiss chard and murphy soup, volition support you lukewarm connected a acold wintertime night! (Bel Woodhouse)

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups diced murphy (approximately 1 ample potato)
• 1 clump acelgas (chard)
• 2 mean tomatoes, chopped
• ½ cupful achromatic onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 cups broth (vegetable oregon chicken)
• 8 oz queso fresco (optional, but I emotion it)
• Salt and capsicum to taste.

Instructions:

Peel and dice the murphy earlier adding it to a mean saucepan. Cover with acold h2o and bring to the boil implicit a medium-high heat. Once boiling, trim to a simmer and navigator for 10 minutes. (Don’t overcook, they volition decorativeness with the remainder of the soup.)

While potatoes are cooking, chopped the chard. Remove the stems, chopped into 2-inch pieces. 

Heat lipid successful a ample cookware implicit mean heat. Cook the bulb until transparent (2–3 minutes). Add the ail and navigator for 2 much minutes until the bulb is somewhat browned. 

Add chopped tomatoes and navigator until they merchandise their juice, astir 5 minutes. Add successful the potatoes and navigator for 2 minutes, past disturbance successful broth and chard leaves. Season with brackish and pepper. 

Reduce the vigor and simmer partially covered for 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender. 

Serve successful bowls, apical with food and lukewarm crusty breadstuff oregon tortillas

Mexican squash (calabacitas)

Similar to zucchini successful appearance, Mexican squash is 1 of the astir beloved Mexican veggies. With a milder, sweeter flavor, it’s precise versatile. This look is simply a crowd-pleaser —  quick, casual and truthful good, you’ll privation to adhd it to your play rotation. Really large ones I marque into Parmesan-crusted fries, truthful driblet a remark if you privation the recipe! 

Mexican Squash with Cheese 

If you can’t get Mexican grey squash for this dish, zucchini volition enactment conscionable fine. (cookingwithcurls.com)

Ingredients: 

• 1 tablespoonful olive oil
• 3 tomatoes (about 11oz)
• 2 mean calabacitas 
• ¼ cupful achromatic onion, diced
• 1 tiny clove of garlic
• ¼ cupful water
• 1 tablespoonful butter
• 2 sprigs cilantro
• ¾ cupful panela cheese, diced
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

Roughly chop the tomatoes and garlic, past adhd to a blender with ¼ cupful water. Puree until it’s a creaseless salsa, past acceptable aside.

Heat the lipid oregon food successful a medium-sized skillet implicit medium-high heat. When hot, adhd the bulb and navigator for 3 minutes. While that’s cooking, dice the squash, making definite they’re each adjacent successful size. Set aside.

When the bulb is transparent, determination successful the herb sauce. Add the cilantro sprigs and navigator for different 3 minutes. Then disturbance successful the squash, a pinch of brackish and navigator for 10–12 minutes until tender. 

Just earlier serving, mildly disturbance successful the diced panela cheese. 

Enjoy arsenic a meal, successful tacos oregon arsenic a broadside dish.

Peppers

I’ll admit to going a small capsicum brainsick astatine this clip of year. Sweet oregon savory peppers, which bash you prefer? No substance your preference, each peppers are successful abundance and highest freshness close now.

I emotion them earthy and roasted, marinated and mashed into a spread, but this nice, hearty crockery is conscionable the happening for brunch!

Creamy Poblano Potatoes

This hearty blend of roasted poblano strips and tender potatoes — with conscionable a small footwear of spice — is cleanable for warming up connected acold wintertime nights. (Bel Woodhouse)

Quick, casual and amazing, erstwhile you’ve had these poblano potatoes, you won’t beryllium capable to halt eating them.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons rootlike oil
• 1 lb potatoes diced 
• 2 poblano peppers
• ½ mean achromatic onion 
• ½ cupful crema
• Salt and capsicum to taste

Instructions:

Add the peeled and diced potatoes to a mean saucepan. Cover with h2o and bring to a boil implicit mean vigor until cooked but inactive firm, astir 15 minutes. Check astir the 10-minute people to guarantee you don’t overcook them. Once cooked, drain and acceptable aside.

While the potatoes are cooking, roast the peppers implicit an unfastened flame, successful the oven oregon nether a broiler. Cook, turning present and past until the tegument is blackened successful places. Remove from heat, spot successful a vessel and screen with a sheet oregon aluminium foil to fto them steam for 5 minutes truthful the skins loosen. 

Remove the skins, past chopped unfastened to region seeds and veins. Cut into strips. 

Heat the lipid successful the ample skillet implicit medium-high heat. Add the bulb and navigator until transparent and turning golden. This gives them much flavor.

Add the potatoes, stirring for 3 minutes earlier stirring successful the capsicum strips and pouring successful the cream. 

Cook for 2–3  minutes to lukewarm the peppers and cream. Season to sensation with brackish and pepper, past service with lukewarm maize tortillas. 

Mexico Correspondent for International Living, Bel is an experienced writer, author, lensman and videographer with 500+ articles published some successful people and crossed integer platforms. Living successful the Mexican Caribbean for implicit 7 years now, she’s successful emotion with Mexico and has nary plans to spell anyplace anytime soon.