As weary as I am of the cold weather, it’s not going away just yet, so wintry dishes are still in play. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve amassed quite a selection of root vegetables, and on Monday night, I decided to combine them in a gratin. I was inspired by a recipe in the March issue of Food and Wine for a lightened version, though I used what I had on hand for my own.

Thin slices of peeled butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, turnips and sweet potato all went into a buttered baking dish, each layer sprinkled with salt and a little Herbes de Provence, and every other layer got a dusting of finely grated aged Patty Parker cheese from Narragansett Creamery. I poured in a half cup of white vermouth, and a half cup of heavy cream to which I had added a healthy amount of Colman’s mustard. I covered the baking dish with foil and placed it into a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, then removed the foil, added a layer of fresh breadcrumbs (a couple of slices of Seven Stars multigrain, pulsed in the food processor), another sprinkle of cheese and a few dots of butter on top, and returned the baking dish to the oven until the veggies were soft and the top crisp and browned (another 20 minutes or so).

The herbs, mustard, and flavorful cheese contrasted nicely with the sweetness of the vegetables, and despite the addition of the cheese and cream, this was not a heavy dish, just a richly flavored, satisfying one dish meal.

Turnips: aside from supporting roles in chicken soups and boiled dinners, or on a plate of pickles at a Middle Eastern restaurant, I can’t say I have a lot of experience with them. But I’m trying to challenge myself this year, and cook with things that are outside of my comfort zone, so when I saw the baskets of turnips at the Farm Fresh table on Saturday, I grabbed a couple.

One of my favorite ways to test drive a new ingredient is to prepare it in soup form. Soups are incredibly forgiving, as you can start with a pretty simple base and build from there, adjusting the seasonings as the flavor develops. My base was a white onion, sliced thin and softened in butter with a healthy pinch of salt added. I added about six cups of water to that, as well as one of my turnips, peeled and cubed (the medium turnip I used yielded about 3 cups of cubes). I added a parmesan rind as well, lidded up the pot and let it cook until the turnips were soft, then I squeezed in the pulp from a head of roasted garlic. I fished out the rind, pureed the entire thing with a stick blender until smooth, added more salt to taste, and then ladled the soup into our bowls.

I was really pleased with how the soup turned out: the texture was velvety and rich without being heavy, and the hint of roasted garlic was lovely against the backdrop of the turnip. Where I was less satisfied was with the garnish – I didn’t want to add another element that would overpower the soup, but unfortunately, the pieces of crisped garlic naan I added did just that. I added chives and curls of Parmagiano Reggiano as well, which were a better complement, so I think next time I’ll keep the chives and parm, but float a simple crouton on top instead.

After the long week we had, I was really feeling the need for some inspiration, so on Saturday morning Mike and I headed into the city to do a food safari. After brunch and a quick stop at Uva to pick up a good bottle of wine for our Valentine’s Day dinner, we went into the city to go to the Greenmarket at Union Square. With Mike working so close I don’t go there as often as I used to, so I was anxious to see what sort of treasures we could find at the winter market.

I was delighted to see Yuno’s Farm there on a one-off winter appearance. They weren’t selling a wide variety of things, but I was immediately drawn to these beautiful young mustard greens with their spiky green and violet leaves (which reminded me of a Disney villainess). I filled a bag and moved on, already beginning to change my plans for our meatless Monday dinner.

By the time we finished our shopping, we had a beautiful selection of root vegetables, grass-fed Angus fillets and pork sausages for later in the week, and those beautiful greens. We headed home with our bounty, ducking in to Essex Market to visit our favorite cheese goddess, and I revamped our meal plan for the week.

Since my recent experiments with roasting beets have been so well received, I decided to roast them again along with some multicolored potatoes and carrots and Silver Queen turnips from Windfall Farm. I tossed my roasted vegetables with a mustard vinaigrette and placed them on a bed of our mustard greens, then topped them off with a poached egg.

I was pleased enough with how these salads came out – they were certainly pretty to look at and the texture of the roasted vegetables and creamy egg worked well together – but I would have liked a little more flavor contrast, perhaps from a bit of sharp or tangy cheese or a punchier vinaigrette. This is definitely a dish we’ll have again.