SEASONAL FRESH START
BBC Good Food ME|February 2022
Welcome February with bright, inspiring recipes from Esther Clark
Esther Clark
SEASONAL FRESH START
The beginning of a new year brings us a fresh batch of seasonal delights. Citrus comes into its own this month, bitter chicory leaves are ready and sweet leeks begin to pop out of the ground. Now’s the time to refresh your cooking routine.

Ruby red grapefruit doesn’t just make a healthy breakfast – it’s also a welcome addition in both sweet and savoury dishes. Try baking grapefruit into a polenta cake or adding the juice to mocktails. Or, try a bright salad with notes of tamarind, sesame and fish sauce. The tart grapefruit pairs so well with creamy avocado, sweet prawns and the salty, umami-rich dressing. Look out for other citrus fruits, including Italian lemons and Seville and blood oranges, all at their peak this time of year.

The humble leek is also ready for harvesting during the cooler months. These green-topped shoots can be whizzed into creamy soups with celeriac and mustard, or baked into a gratin with cheese sauce to serve alongside a roast dinner. Leeks turns deliciously sweet when fried until soft, making them the ideal addition to our tart which combines caramelised leeks with salty manchego cheese and smoky chorizo.

Chicory, with its striking leaves, sits somewhere between cabbage and lettuce. It can be eaten raw or cooked, and its veined leaves are tightly packed, with a white centre. There’s also a yellow variety and its sister veg, the radicchio. Chicory teams well with creamy, salty cheese like goat’s, so we’ve partnered the two in a roasted squash and herby couscous dish for a wonderfully colourful, fresh and satisfying supper.

This story is from the February 2022 edition of BBC Good Food ME.

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This story is from the February 2022 edition of BBC Good Food ME.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.