Epi Asks: What Out-of-Season Vegetables Are Okay to Cook With?

Cherry tomatoes in winter. Does that phrase make your mouth water or cringe into disapproving, pursed lips? Cherry tomatoes arefair game for winter pasta saucesfor some of us, sacrilege for others. And they aren't the only vegetables that are debated for their out-of-season viability.

So which fruits and vegetables are okay to eat out of season, and which aren't? I spoke to some food bloggers, a top chef, and our own food director to get their personal take on what’s in—and what’s out—when it comes to out-of-season cooking.

Chef Wylie Dufresne forged his reputation on using advanced techniques and gadgets to redefine ingredients, sometimes past the point of recognition. When they weren’t using liquid nitrogen on black beans ormarinating ribs in root beer, cooks at his restaurant,wd~50, would use frozen peas instead of the real thing. “We weren’t independent of seasonality, but you can’t have a menu of root vegetables for 4—6 months. The diners require more of a variety.”

Fair Game:“没有餐厅拿出大蒜即使它s out of season"

No-Go:"Tomatoes. I think it’s weird to get tomatoes even at a steakhouse. It’s like having apples in the summertime! And bay scallops. I get super excited about bay scallops from November to May (I’m from New England, after all), but I don’t want these farmed outside of season. That goes for any fish."

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Jeanine Donofrio, author of blogLove & Lemons, has a slightly unfair advantage with year-round produce: her zip code. Donofrio lives in Austin, where “many spring vegetables are in season while my dad is still shoveling snow out of his driveway in Chicago.” Right now, she’s using pea tendrils, leeks, and fresh herbs, while we’re biding our time until spring here in New York.

Fair game:"I use lemons, limes, and avocados year round. Lemons are an integral component to just about anything I make so I have them around always. Even though I have a black thumb, I’ve managed to grow a cute little lemon tree in my yard. A freshly picked Meyer lemon is the closest thing to heaven. So for the rest of the year, I’ll suffice with store-bought lemons."

No-Go:"By far, my biggest out-of-season no-go vegetable would have to be tomatoes—fresh tomatoes are an in-season-only fruit, period."

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Our very own Rhoda Boonemastered tikka masala in 20 minuteswith frozen peas and swears byfrozen fruit for smoothies. Boone believes even though they have a technical season, staples like root vegetables and alliums are fine all year-round. Like Dufresne, Boone sees frozen fruits and vegetables as representative of the height of their season and are better than the same out-of-season offerings.

Fair Game:"Apples, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, garlic, and onions. When properly stored, these fruits and vegetables can maintain their freshness and be eaten out of season."

No-Go:Fresh peas ("they are starchy and tough"), corn, and peaches. Also, "fresh berries are so delicate that they often don't travel well to their final destination, especially if it's half a world away."

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Tara O’Brady, of theSeven Spoons blog(and now cookbook), uses seasonality as a creative springboard. “When creating something new I'm honestly thinking about the food I'm craving at the time—sometimes it's healthful, sometimes not, but usually I'm looking at those same sources, what's available and around, and so it's easy to find inspiration in produce.”

Fair Game:"A lot of us don't think of the seasons to staples like lemons, carrots and onions, even though the time of year does change their flavor. My sons eat storage apples through the winter, even if we're already wishing for the truly crisp beauties of next fall."

No-Go:"Melons are pretty terrible out of season. Honeydew and cantaloupe are woody and flavorless, and watermelon is depressing, like eating wet styrofoam. I don't even look at peaches until August, and I'm not making marmalade in June."

Make no bones (or beets) about it: Elizabeth Stark ofBrooklyn Supperis devoted to cooking inside the season's lines, even as produce dwindles in winter and early spring. Now based in Charlottesville, Virginia, Stark and her husband Brian Campbell have been working with in-season foods with flavors at their peak. In winter, they created agolden beet and carrot dip; in February, Stark made a big butter lettuce salad—not a splurge, "but after months without it, it felt decadent."

Fair Game:"Lemons and limes are staples in my kitchen any time of the year, as are greens—though I typically opt for hardier leaves like arugula, radicchio, or kale in cold months and more delicate butter or green leaf lettuces in warmer months. I always have an eye out for great avocados. I also like to splurge on fresh herbs during the winter months."

No-Go:"I don't touch out-of-season tomatoes, asparagus, or zucchini—summer produce is for the summertime. Right now, I'm feasting on root vegetables, hearty greens, and all kinds of citrus. In the summer, I'm so overwhelmed with the local bounty, I don't really think about what I'm missing. But I do avoid oranges."