How to warm up and brighten winter

Me and Frankie before the Cracker Incident

Winter in New York state is a good time to make lists. Not normally a big list person, I find that putting a pencil to paper and planning for warmer days (garden plans, summer travel and such) and making dreamy lists of what was good in winter, helps. Those lists make me feel good when the wind blows its wicked winds, when the sky is dark and grey, when Martha won’t walk for the icy streets and bitter cold. Martha is a Black Lab and if she won’t walk, it’s a sure sign that the weather is right for list making, cooking (and eating), and dreaming. 

I’m assuming that your winter is as long and cold and suited for staying inside as mine and Martha’s, and so here goes my latest list, the one where I’m counting up all of the wonderful things that happened during this long, cold winter. This is, I suppose, me counting my blessings. On this list is a bit of this and that, people and food, sun and snow. Maybe, you’ll be inspired to make your own list and find good reason to survive—and maybe even enjoy—six more weeks of winter. 

A wintertime Buddha bowl

1. Pine Bush Skiing
My oldest son and I spent an afternoon cross country skiing at the Pine Bush Preserve. It’s a gem, that place, and I always forget to go there. We pulled out skis and swooshed quietly, with not another soul to be seen, through its hilly trails. The snow sparkled and shone blue in its shadows and we reveled in the beauty. 

2. Frankie’s Cracker
A few weeks ago, my 14-month-old granddaughter Frankie sat on my lap while we read a book. She turned pages, munching on a cracker. I read, she ate, pages were turned and it was an altogether quiet scene. Without warning, she turned around and shoved the cracker she’d been licking and sucking on, into my mouth. It was one well-loved cracker: soggy and crumbling. Now, it might not sound that great, to have a small person push a sucked-on cracker between your lips, but I loved the gesture. She doesn’t have much to share so when she chooses someone, well, it feels special. I felt the love. Her timing was great and that cracker, well, it went right in. If love can be measured in wet crackers that are shared between people, my cup overflows. 

3. Pots of Warm Soup
We couldn’t have winter without soups and stews and brothy bowls and anything and everything that warms us from the inside out. A few weeks ago, I made a pot of chili, the kind without tomatoes and with white beans swapped for kidney. I cooked up some onions and garlic and chopped up poblano for a little bit of bright, acidic heat. It was a total scratch soup, meaning I made it from a bird, not from a supermarket box of chicken broth. Cooking the whole bird creates a rich broth with lots of flavor and it’s a whole lot cheaper that way. Seasoned with a whisper of cumin and a chile for gentle heat, it’s a recipe that can feed a crowd or a family for a couple of nights. I simply put the pot on the back deck after dinner, then brought it back to the stove the next day. Serve it up with cilantro, grated cheese, chips, sour cream and hot sauce and everyone can doctor it up as much as they like.

Chicken soup from scratch

4. A bowl of clementines
That’s all: a big sunny bowl of citrus fruit, set on the kitchen counter, shining up a cold day. In winter, we eat clementines like crazy. I could write many odes to the sweet, juicy clementine, because we love them so. Instead, I’ll tell you that in addition to eating out of hand, they go in salads and on yogurt. They even stand in for dessert when there’s no cake around. Here, I’ve included a recipe for a pudding made from chia seeds and clementine juices, that’s creamy and sweet and makes for an excellent wintertime breakfast. Clementine juice is sweeter and less acidic than orange juice and so is good for flavoring the pudding. Chia seeds are packed with good stuff: protein, calcium, fiber and the list goes on and on. Combined with a bit of liquid, they become gelatinous, making plain old milk into a thickened, textured dish. All you need to do is stir it up and wait. Then, top with more citrus and anything else you like: coconut, banana or berries work well. Eat it up and glow from the inside out. 

5. The Troy Farmer’s Market 
We packed up and went to the Troy Farmer’s Market, in search of vegetables and lunch. The salad greens were gone by the time we arrived (you need to be early for that in the winter,) but I did find eggs and I stocked up on onions and garlic, a bag of microgreens, and a beautiful bunch of watermelon radishes. Those radishes are a sweet surprise in the winter: slice through the plain-looking outside, and you’ll be rewarded with a brilliant, ruby-red center. It’s kind of like stepping out on a cloud-covered day and finding the sun, pushing through the veil to shine on your face. Those radishes look like watermelons, but they taste like radishes: crisp and bitter. The bunch I bought will be roasted or sliced into salads, but I also pulled a few to make into pickles. Those thinly sliced, puckery radishes were the topping for a Buddha bowl: grains, legumes, vegetables, cheese, herbs (and whatever tasty bits you’ve got in your fridge.) Buddha bowls are vegetarian meals, made up of foods of varying colors, tastes and contrasts. This bowl dinner was a nice break from the warm, soupy winter dinners we’ve been eating. 
Once I started writing my list of winter highs, I found that there are many reasons to be joyful this season, more than I could fit into this column, for sure. There was a road trip down I-88 to have lunch with our youngest son Elliot at Oneonta. There was time spent building a snowwoman with Frankie and even the fuss and drama of putting her into a snowsuit couldn’t keep that event off my list. Like everyone else in Albany, I really look forward to spring, but if I read through my list, winter is looking pretty good, after all.

A sunny bowl of clementines makes me happy on a winter day.

Vegetarian Buddha Bowl With All The Toppings

Serves 4

For the radishes:
⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
⅔ cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups thinly sliced radishes (about 8)
Black peppercorns
For the chickpeas:
Neutral oil (see note)
1 small onion, peeled and minced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1” piece of ginger, grated
1 heaping teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon cumin
1-28 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1-14 ounce can full fat coconut milk
For the bowls: cooked quinoa, salad greens, avocado, lime, microgreens, feta cheese, cilantro, sesame seeds

Prepare the pickled radishes: Place the radishes in a glass jar. Combine the apple cider vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and stir, then pour the brine over the radishes. Add more water to the jar if the liquid doesn’t cover the radishes. Toss in a few peppercorns and close it up. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Best the next day, and keeps for three weeks, refrigerated. 

Prepare the chickpeas: In a medium-sized pot set over a medium low flame, heat a swirl of oil. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt. Add the ginger and garlic, cook for another minute, then add the turmeric and cumin. Cook until fragrant and toasty, another minute or so. Stir in the chickpeas and coconut milk and season with another pinch of salt. Fill the can halfway with water, add that to the pot and stir it all together. Bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 10 minutes to blend the flavors. Taste and add another pinch of salt, if you like. 

Build the bowls: In shallow bowls, arrange the quinoa, salad greens and a ladleful of the chickpeas. Top with radishes, avocado, lime, microgreens and sesame seeds. Drizzle the cooking liquid from the chickpeas over all and serve warm. 

Note: Use any flavorless oil here: vegetable, canola, safflower, sunflower, refined coconut or avocado

White Chicken Chili From Scratch

Serves 6

1 whole chicken (about 2.5 - 3 pounds)
1 head garlic, top sliced off
1 small onion, quartered
1 carrot, chopped into 1” pieces
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 bunch fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, etc.)
8 cups water
Olive oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped fine
1 poblano pepper, stemmed, seeded, diced
1-7 ounce can mild green chiles
Kosher salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1-28 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
For serving: cilantro, grated cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, pepitas, corn chips
Rinse the chicken, remove the gizzards if they’re included and place the bird in a large pot. Add the whole garlic, onion, carrot, salt pepper and herbs, then pour the water over all, making sure the chicken is completely submerged. Add more water if not. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for one hour. Allow to cool, then remove the chicken to a cutting board and strain the broth. Skim as much fat as you can. 
Pull all of the meat from the bird and set aside (see note about chicken bones). 
In the same pot, heat a swirl of olive oil over a medium low flame. Cook the onion until soft, then add the garlic, poblano and canned chiles. Season with salt and cook until fragrant. Add the cumin and cook for another minute. 
Stir in the strained broth, beans and the chicken. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for about 15 minutes, to let the flavors meld. Taste and season with salt, if needed. 
Serve warm with toppings. 
Note: You can simmer the bones again, with aromatics and herbs and salt to get another broth from that bird!

Clementine Chia Pudding

Makes 5 servings
5 tablespoons chia seeds
1 cup milk of choice
1 tablespoon honey
Juice of 3 clementines
Pinch salt
For serving: clementines, nuts, berries, seeds
Stir together all of the ingredients and either divide into small jars or one larger jar. Refrigerate for at least four hours and preferably overnight. 
Serve cold with your choice of toppings.