Winter Produce Recipes To Get You To Spring

The last few weeks of winter are slowly dragging on. Spring is right on the horizon, but it's not here yet, and you'll need some sustenance for trudging through another month or so of what might well be (depending on where you live) miserable single-digit temperatures. Make the most what's left of winter with some comforting, vegetable-based dishes sure to make you less miserable until spring arrives.

Click here to see Winter Produce Recipes to Get You to Spring (Slideshow)

At this point in the season it's hard to get as excited about winter produce — like celery root, parsnips, turnips, and beets — as you were in November. Back then, they were a nice change from a summer full of tomatoes, asparagus, and zucchini. While those summer vegetables are generally available year-round, it's just wrong to jump the gun and eat tasteless tomatoes when the ground is still frozen.

Soon your fridge will be full of fresh fruits and vegetables, so you'd better use up everything you've stocked in your emergency blizzard pantry. This means it's time to use dried fruit, beans, legumes, and any other canned goods that have earned a spot on your shelf. These pantry foods normally do well in soups, stews, and one-pot meals that you crave over the winter.

If your normal arsenal of winter recipes just isn't cutting it, and you've already cooked your way through some other warm and easy winter weeknight meals, take a look at some vegetable-based dishes that will carry you through until spring produce arrives.

Butternut Squash Soup with Sausage

Prepare this simple slow-cooker soup in the morning and it'll be ready to eat by the time you come in from the cold. Hard-shelled and resilient, butternut squash, packed with vitamins A and C, can keep in a cool, dark place for up to a month. Click here for the recipe.

Carrot Cake Bites

Who says desserts can't be healthy and delicious at the same time? Carrots are available year-round, but these vitamin A-rich root vegetables are hardy enough to endure winter storage. Click here for the recipe.