As a sophomore at St. Lawrence University, I participated in the Adirondack Semester. This program offers an immersive place-based learning campus located in the Adirondack Park. With sustainable living in mind, a group of 10 students paddled via canoe to lake Massawepie’s Yurt Village. In our village, we had no running water, no technology, and our main mode of transportation was a canoe or kayak. We got weekly installments of fresh produce from Kent Family Growers located in Lisbon.
And as ten novices in the kitchen, our semester quickly adapted to utilizing every part of a vegetable. As students, we were accustomed to running to the supermarket for a spice you could not find in your pantry or fresh lettuce in the dead of winter. This was a luxury. These past few months our group meals were shaped around fresh, in-season vegetables. There was no “running to the market.” We ate what we had, and what we had was local. As a part of this program, once it gets too chilly to live in a yurt, the students move on to Capstone Internships.
During the turn of the seasons, we got parsnips, carrots, and beets. Although excited, no 20-year-old truly knows how to cook a parsnip. We put off using this pale pillar of winter, we waited a bit too long. In a mad dash to finish up our less than new vegetables, we decided to make a mixed roasted root medley.
How To Do It:
- Begin by preheating your oven to 450
- Prepare a 9×13 baking pan with olive oil
- Wash, peel, cut, and season veggies according to the recipe
- Place veggies in the preheated oven and remove after they have caramelized, around 45 minutes
Find the full master recipe for root vegetables along with 8 other tasty ways to use roots here. If you are looking for more cooking inspiration, check out the entire collection of Seasonal Recipes from CCE St. Lawrence here.
In a county with distinct seasons, supporting local farmers through the year depends on seasonal eating. Seasonality offers a constant influx of higher nutrient vegetables, water preservation, and a decreased use of pesticides. Throughout this semester, we would unpack our veggies with glee to see the offerings of the week. As summer shifted to fall the tomatoes were replaced by carrots.
With a variety of vegetables to choose from, seasonal eating is a better choice for farmers and you. In the Summer it is particularly easy to find tender tomatoes, lettuce, herbs, and zucchini. However, winter offers hearty carrots, brussels sprouts, spinach, onions, garlic, and squash. Through supplementing supermarket produce with local vegetables in the colder months the needs of farmers, community, and health all get met.
Roisin Creedy-Carey chose to intern at Cornell Cooperative Extension to focus on sustainable agriculture practiced through community living. This is the first installment of three blog posts in her experience embracing seasonal eating.