From farm to table

Peg Sheaffer of Sandhill Organics Farm in Grayslake gets creative preparing meals with midwinter vegetables like her butternut squash soup.

Turning midwinter vegetables into exciting meals is a welcome challenge for Peg Sheaffer, co-owner of Sandhill Organics farm in Grayslake.

"Because I'm a farmer, this is really a fun time of year," she says. "There isn't as much variety, but I have the most free time to be creative."

Peg and her husband, Matt, operate a 40-acre consumer-supported agriculture site; members pay in advance to receive a box of produce every week from May to mid-December.

In operation since 2004, Sandhill Organics already has 275 members for 2008, and inevitably some of them will be puzzled when kale, kohlrabi, fennel or parsnips arrive in their kitchen.

To help them figure out how to use their vegetables Peg publishes a weekly newsletter stocked with four to six home-grown recipes.

At this time of year, "I am taking what people think of as boring, like carrots and potatoes, and making them more interesting with fun spices," says Peg.

Just for their family -- Avery, 5, and 2-year-old twins, Ruby and Laurel -- Peg and Matt continue to grow greens in their "hoop houses," plastic tentlike structures that make it possible in the dead of winter to cultivate lettuces, green onions, cabbage and other veggies.

"I pair those beautiful tender green things with storage crops, root vegetables like parsnips, carrots and potatoes. I take great pride in dressing them up and making them fun.

"I use a lot of bold, spicy flavors in winter," like Mexican sausage in a kale and chickpea soup, plus curries and tangy vegetable slaws that veer away from mayo-based dressings.

"For a lot of people vegetables are a side, my vegetables are almost always incorporated into the main meal."

Peg and Matt met while working on a Wisconsin farm during the summer after they both graduated from college.

"It was an idyllic setting. We fell in love there, and with farming."

Peg was particularly inspired by the chef who prepared meals for all the farmhands.

"They were so different from the kind of meals I had grown up with; every meal was a stunning, artistic creation. I ate chocolate beet cake; I thought I had died and gone to heaven."

By summer's end, Peg and Matt knew they were made for each other and for farming. They found a place in East Troy, Wis., in 2000, and moved in 2004 to Prairie Crossing, a "green" community in Grayslake, where they started Sandhill.

It's a satisfying way to farm, being connected to the people who eat their crops, and it's a great way to cook.

"Cooking begins with the seeds for us, not when I go to the grocery store," says Peg. "For me cooking is not about feeding my body but feeding my soul."

Red Cabbage Slaw with Peanuts and Cilantro

½ cup rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 medium head cabbage, sliced thin

½ cup chopped green onion

Peanuts and cilantro for garnish

In a small bowl whisk together vinegar, soy sauce, lime juice, sesame oil and ginger. In a large bowl combine cabbage and green onion; toss with dressing. Garnish with peanuts and cilantro.

Serves eight.

Cook's note: This would be a wonderful accompaniment to stir-fried pork, chicken or tofu.

Nutrition values per serving: 70 calories, 3.5 g fat (.5 g saturated), 9 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 2 g protein, 0 mg cholesterol, 190 mg sodium.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

6 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot, melt the butter with the oil and cook the onion until soft and translucent. Add curry powder and stir one minute. Add the squash and broth; cook over medium heat until squash is tender. Add coconut milk and lemon juice.

Puree the mixture in batches using a food processor or blender. Heat through and season with salt and pepper.

Serves six.

Nutrition values per serving: 380 calories, 23 g fat (16 g saturated), 40 g carbohydrates, 6 g fiber, 10 g protein, 15 mg cholesterol, 360 mg sodium.

Kale and Chickpea Soup with Chorizo

1 bunch kale, stems and center ribs cut out and discarded

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup)

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon salt

teaspoon black pepper

2 cups chopped potato

3½ cups (28 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 cups water

1 can (14 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained

¼ pound chorizo, casing discarded, cut into ¼-inch dice

Chop kale leaves in a food processor and set aside. Heat oil in a 4- to 6-quart heavy pot. Cook onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until onion and garlic are softened and beginning to brown, 5 to 7 minutes.

Add potato, kale, broth and water and cook, partially covered, until potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Reduce heat to low, add chickpeas and chorizo and gently simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Discard bay leaf and adjust seasoning to taste.

Serves four.

Cook's note: Chorizo, a mildly spicy Mexican sausage, is readily available in most supermarkets.

Nutrition values per serving: 470 calories, 22 g fat (6 g saturated), 53 g carbohydrates, 9 g fiber, 23 g protein, 25 mg cholesterol, 1160 mg sodium.