Squash-and-Potato-Free Winter Dinner

For us local-eaters, winter is a welcome borage of squashes and 'taters. But why not salad, still? Hydroponic sprouts, grown indoors on trays of water, are a crisp, tasty, extremely healthy and delicious option too. For dinner the other night, I made veggie crepes and a sprout-celebrating salad, as well as a sweet simple dish of roasted apples.

Salad (mostly from Windfall Farms, in Union Square)
Sunflower and pink-stemmed buckwheat sprouts
Fresh diced radish
Fresh diced purple carrots
Baby spinach
Lettuce

"Thai-style" Winter Veggie Toss
In a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil, toss, cover and steam:
Baby bok choi
Broccoli
Purple carrots
Turnips (ask your farmer; some turnips are better to stir-fry than others--I like the small, juicy ones from Hawthorne Valley over the larger, baking version at other stands)
Non-local ingredients: cashews and pineapple, a dash of organic, low-sodium soy sauce and about 1 Tbs. organic peanut butter)

Apple Bake
about 8 apples, diced
Grease a casserole pan with butter. Toss apples in pan with 2 Tbs cinnamon. Bake about 20 minutes or until soft at 350*F. If desired, serve inside of crepes with Hawthorne Valley biodynamic maple-vanilla yogurt.