Common root vegetables, onions and winter squash are allowed to simmer gently, perfumed with spices, until they are not common at all but tender and full of delicate flavor, both sweet and earthy.

To make this into a more substantial one-dish meal, you could add cooked or sprouted garbanzo beans to the stew, and serve it in generous bowls over couscous.

2 lbs. turnips
12 oz. parsnips
12 oz. carrots
12 oz. potatoes
1 medium butternut squash (about 1 1/2 lbs.)
1 medium fennel bulb
1 Tbs. cumin seed
3 large onions
3 cloves garlic
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt, more to taste
1/4 tsp. cayenne
2/3 cup raisins
2 cups vegetable broth
1 or 2 fresh green chiles, seeded and chopped
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice, more to taste
1 small bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped

Toast the cumin seed lightly in a pan, until it releases its fragrance, and grind it roughly in a mortar.

Cut the onions in 1/2" pieces and chop the garlic. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick sauté pan and add the onion and garlic, stirring over medium heat for about five minutes or until the onion softens. Add the cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, salt and cayenne, and stir over heat for another minute.

Add all the prepared vegetables and sauté, stirring and turning often, for about ten minutes. Then stir in the raisins, vegetable broth and chopped green chiles, lower the heat to a simmer and cover the sauté pan. Leave the vegetables simmering for about half an hour, or until they are tender.

Add the fennel, check for salt, and add a little more broth or some water if the mixture seems dry. There should be some rich broth around the vegetables, lightly thickened with the squash which begins to soften and come apart at this stage.

Continue simmering the stew for another ten minutes or so, then add the lemon juice and cilantro just before serving.

Serves 6.

SWEET AND SOUR CABBAGE SLAW

Be sure you get a dense, sweet green cabbage for this slaw. You can eat this hot, warm or cold, and it lasts in the refrigerator for about a week.

1/3 cup sherry wine vinegar (or cider vinegar)
2 1/2 Tbs.sugar
3/4 tsp. salt, more to taste
1/2 cup raisins
1 green apple, cored, peeled and diced
1 large green cabbage (about 1 1/2 lbs.)
1 small onion
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. mustard seed

Combine the vinegar, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, the raisins and the diced apple in a stainless steel pot. Heat the liquid to a simmer and stir until the sugar is dissolved and then for about another 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the mixture to macerate for at least fifteen minutes.

Meanwhile, quarter the cabbage, core it and slice it very thinly. You can do this with a mandoline or with the slicing blade of a food processor, but I like to do it by hand with a good, sharp chef's knife, which only takes a few minutes. Halve the onion and cut it in paper thin slices.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan or wok. Add the mustard seed and the moment it starts popping, add the onion. Stir over medium heat for about a minutes, until the onion barely begins to soften. Add the cabbage and stir fry for about five minutes, until the cabbage wilts - but do not brown the cabbage or onions. Add the vinegar mixture and toss everything over the heat for another minute.

The slaw can be served hot or warm, or left to cool for a while. The flavor deepens and improves for several days.

This serves 6 - 8.