Locavore’s Delight: Local Recipes for Winter

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apples, Dried Cranberries and Sage can play the role of a hearty main course or a nutritious side dish. Photos by Joe Lavine

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Chef Michael Leviton lives in New England, where winters are famously long and the growing seasons short. But Leviton is a creative genius when it comes to using what’s at hand—even during the cold seasons.

Chef Leviton, owner of Lumiere Restaurant in Newton, Massachusetts, and executive chef of Boston’s Persephone organic bistro, is a locavore—someone who eats foods grown and raised locally, usually within a 100-mile radius. Though it’s easier to eat locally in the summer months, reducing meat and dairy intake and using easy, age-old produce storage techniques make it possible to eat a low-carbon diet year-round. “I created this vegetarian menu for Natural Home using the abundance of local produce and flavorings,” he says. “The squash and brussels sprouts were picked in late autumn but stored in root cellars. I get my mushrooms from a local producer who raises cultivated exotic mushrooms all winter long; if they’re in a dark, moist climate, they’re fine!”

Benefiting the environment is not the chef’s only motivation to eat local foods. “Local food tastes better!” Leviton says. “Why eat something that traveled thousands of miles when we can opt for food that has been recently harvested and handled with care?  Even our maple syrup, apple cider and cranberries are local.” 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apples, Dried Cranberries, Sage and Cider-Maple Vinaigrette 

This hearty first course also can be served as a side dish with roasted chicken, turkey or pork chops.

Roasted Squash with Mushroom Stuffing and Mushroom Gravy  

Exotic mushrooms, locally grown, lend this recipe protein and immune-boosting properties.

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Bourbon-Orange Glaze