Chilling out during winter

and a recipe for a celery root and every-fall-vegetable-you can-find chowder to warm you through

When it’s dark by 4:30 pm, the last thing I want is a leafy salad for dinner.

Science tells us that as the temperature drops, our bodies naturally adopt insulin resistance, a clever adaptation that enables us to thrive on reduced food intake while enhancing fuel efficiency. The downside? It’s also a seasonal signal for our bodies to store fat during the winter.

Maybe that salad is a good idea.

But the sun dipping down in the middle of the day has a soporific effect. Cozy socks, an oversized fluffy sweater, a plate of pasta and a glass of wine sounds just about right. And—let’s face it—cold hands feel best when they’re wrapped around a steaming cup of cocoa.

No wonder we want to crawl beside the bears and hibernate until the crocuses poke their heads out of the frozen ground.

Cold comfort

So what’s a person to do?

One way to battle the winter blues may actually be to embrace the cold. Brown fat, usually the domain of babies, is both heat-producing and calorie-burning. As the Cleveland Clinic explains, brown fat regulates our body temperature in cold conditions, and gets activated right before we start to shiver.

It may not be our first tendency, but there’s evidence that turning down the thermostat, taking a cold shower or an ice bath can produce and activate brown fat to help us burn more calories. It’s a practice long enthusiastically endorsed by northern European countries, where the first ice bath houses started to proliferate in the 1800s.

You may not be ready to do your first Polar Dip, but even a 30 second cold shower can have health benefits.

Warming up to the cold

The good news is that there are other ways we can up the ratio of brown fat in our bodies. Brown fat is rich in iron, so adding iron-rich foods like leafy greens, meat and seafood, whole grains and beans to our diets is a great place to start.

And while it may not be exactly brown, exercising does activate the blood hormone irisin, which tells white fat in your body to burn like brown fat and creates “beige fat.”

It’s tempting to succumb to the seasonal chill, pull the covers over our head, and wish like hell it was spring again. But I’m resolving to try and embrace my inner Canadian, and not give winter the cold shoulder.

Celery root, farro and every-fall-vegetable-you-can-find chowder

Six Seasons, Joshua McFadden

serves 8

While I may have cold feet about starting a regime of two-minute ice cold showers a few times a week, I’ll ease into the brown zone with this whole grain and chock-full-of-veggies chowder from Joshua McFadden. The beauty of this delicious dish is that it adapts to whatever winter vegetables you have on hand; this version made use of mushrooms and parsnips. And it’s vegan to boot, making it a perfect recipe to suit everyone’s taste.

Made with love by Richard, the soup and stew master of the house, it gets better with time and freezes beautifully.

Wait, did someone say freeze? I may have time for a quick shower before dinner after all.

Note: Step 4 calls for water to finish cooking the vegetables. You can sub in vegetable stock here for more depth of flavour.

Ingredients

1 small celery root, about ¾ of a pound

½ onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup farro or cracked wheat

Several sprigs fresh thyme

1 stalk celery, diced

1 medium carrot, diced

1 medium potato, unpeeled and diced

1 parsnip, peeled and diced

1 cup assorted mushrooms, sliced

2 cups shredded kale

1 big handful of arugula, optional

1. Cut away all of the tough exterior of the celery root, including any dark spots. Cut into chunks.  Put the celery root, onions, 1 garlic clove, butter, 1 teaspoon salt and 20 grinds of black pepper with ½ cup water in a medium pot. Cover and bring to a simmer until all the vegetables are very soft.  Cool for a few minutes and then puree in a blender or food processor.

2. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add the remaining garlic clove and cook for a couple of minutes to soften the garlic. Add the farro and toast for 7 to 8 minutes more. Add the thyme sprigs.

3. Add the celery, carrot, potato annd parsnip and 1 teaspoon salt.  Cover and cook for 8 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for two minutes more, or until the vegetables are soft.

4. Add just enough water or vegetable stock (see Note) to cover by ½ inch, adjust the heat to a lively simmer, cover and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10-15 minutes. Add the kale and cook for a few minutes more.

5. Stir in the celery root puree.  The finished soup should be thick; if it seems too thick add more water. Taste for seasoning, adding more pepper if desired.

6. Right before serving, heat the soup and toss in the arugula.