Newsletter: Winter salads, roasted vegetables and more recipes to kick start your new year

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 Don’t save salad for summer

As the new year gets underway our appetites change, from holiday feasting mode, to something a bit more invigorating. We need food to fuel a fresh start, food that will perk us up, not weigh us down. What could serve the purpose better than a salad. But it’s not summer, we hear you cry.
 
“A salad can be anything you want it to be, just put together what’s fresh and best in the season in a quick, delicious, way.” Fi Buchanan
In her new book Seasonal Salads, chef and food writer Fi Buchanan rewrites our assumptions about what a salad can be, and when you might want to eat it.

With 52 recipes, one for each week of the year, she truly does give us a salad for all seasons. With the focus on flavor she honed at legendary Glasgow café and deli Heart Buchanan, the book is a generous helping of tempting textures and fresh tastes. 
To start your exploration of winter salads why not try Buchanan’s own recommendations of Caesar Salad, or Spice-Roasted Carrots.

Seasonal Salads is live in full on ckbk on publication day: January 5. For more about the book and its author read our interview with Fi Buchanan
If you want more ideas for nutritious, satisfying winter salads check out our Winter Salads collection.
Find 475 lovely lunchtime salads
Pictured above: Pear, Chestnut and Gorgonzola Winter Salad from The Part-Time Vegetarian by Nicola Graimes

New Book: The Thrifty Veggie by Nicola Graimes

In the newly updated version of her book The Thrifty Veggie, award-winning health, cookery, and food writer Nicola Graimes brings us a wealth of knowledge and ideas on how to make plant-based cooking work all year round.
A former editor of Vegetarian Living, Graimes is well placed to embrace and support the growing enthusiasm for veg-centred cookery.

Her mission is to ensure her advice and recipes are practical, accessible and affordable for all. Try a warming bowl of Provençal Soup, with a Beetroot and Goats’ Cheese Muffin on the side. Or spice things up with Burmese Noodle, Tofu and Winter Greens Curry.

Heres to a Healthy New You

If you’re feeling inspired and want even more recipes centring healthy ingredients, take a look at our cookbook showcase for A Healthy New You. These four books have plenty of sound advice, a bit of encouragement – and great imaginative recipes for healthier dishes that taste good.
We all know that lentils are inexpensive and very good for you. For dozens of tasty ways to incorporate them into your meals The Lentil Cookbook is well worth exploring. Try Pancetta with Lentils and Potatoes, or an aromatic Pakistani Tarka Dhal.
Or if you want to go several steps further and go from healthy to peak performance level, the recipes in Eating Well to Win will take you there. Try Zucchini Pasta with Clams and Scallops, and how about Chocolate Smoothie Bowl for dessert.
What’s happening in #ckbkclub this month


January marks the beginning of the ‘get-healthy’ season for many, and a counterpoint to the feasting we all indulged in over the holidays. This month, our #ckbkclub focus is plant-based cooking. Doing without meat, fish or dairy means experimenting with all sorts of interesting, nutritious and great-tasting ingredients. 
 
ckbk has a huge range of recipes and resources to help your meat-free challenge. With more than 
23,000 vegan recipes, there’s plenty to explore. We would love to see what recipes you try this month, so be sure to share your photos and tips. To learn more join our Facebook group.

Tech tip: New ways to share

We've recently improved the sharing feature on the ckbk website and app. There is now a share button on all recipes, books, authors, collections and bookshelves, offering a range of ways to share your favorites with friends and family.

When it comes to collections, there are a couple of major improvements. Firstly, as well as Public and Private collections, you can now create an Unlisted collection, which can be viewed only by those with whom you share the link. Unlisted collections are perfect for sharing a menu of recipes, or a curated collection of books, with a specific group of people. 
 
Secondly, the new Embed option lets you easily add a collection of recipes to any blog post or web page, where it will appear as a scrollable carousel. Perfect for sharing your ckbk discoveries more widely. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

What to cook now: beets

Cultivated beet (or beetroot) is related to sugar beet, and Mangelwurzel – used to make sugar and feed animals, respectively. They are grown in a variety of colours – the candy-striped variety vying with the deep red for beauty. But the earliest varieties were yellow, and the dominant deep red only makes an appearance in the 1600s.
With their vibrancy and sweet earthy flavor, they add bright color and a burst of wholesome nutrition to your cooking. Whizz them into a smoothie or a broth. A classic Borscht is hard to beat. They also make salads pretty as a picture, try Roasted Beetroot Salad. And if you can get hold of a mixture of varieties, beets are absolutely stunning in a Beetroot Galette Pastry.
For more great beet recipes take a look at these 16 Ways with Beets.

6 of the best roast vegetable dishes

If you are keen to up your vegetable intake, but there is a chill in the air, what could be better than a warming plate of something temptingly roasted.

Miso Caramel Aubergine

from Jackfruit and Blue Ginger by Sasha Gill

Kale Caesar Salad with Roasted Brussels Sprouts

from I Can Cook Vegan by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Pumpkins Roasted in Almond Oil and Makrut Lime Leaf

from PLANTLAB by Matthew Kenney

Slow-Roasted Sweet Red Cabbage

from Celebrate by Bettina Campolucci Bordi

Roasted Young Carrots with Sesame, Chili and Nori

from Season by Nik Sharma

Tangy Roasted Cauliflower

from 30 Minute Mowgli by Nisha Katona