I keep a list of potential ingredients I might want to write about in my ‘Seasonal cooking’ posts. Swede was sort of penciled in for January, and then I ended up getting distracted by the honey badger. So I decided to re-visit it for March, even though it must be on the brink of going out of season. The message? Buy more swede while you still can!

For the first time, I tried using swede raw. Rather like coleslaw, I finely sliced the swede and kohlrabi using a mandolin, and then mixed them with dried cranberries, capers, parsley, garlic, mustard, lemon juice and olive oil. It’s an adaptation of an Ottolenghi recipe (surprise, surprise) and I served it with a steak one night and salmon fillet two days later (it actually improved with the keeping – as though the lemon juice helped to break down the  rawness of the vegetables).

With the rest of my swede, I made rösti (it fell apart somewhat as swedes are more watery and less starchy than potatoes) with homemade beef burgers and a dollop of horseradish sauce. One recipe I saw served swede rösti with crispy bacon, poached egg and Hollandaise, which sounded like a perfect breakfast dish, but I was using up leftovers and those weren’t in my fridge… Not wanting to delay this post any longer than it’s been already, however, this version worked just as well!