
Escarole looks a lot like a head of light green lettuce. It has thicker, sturdier leaves than lettuce, and you can use it as a salad green or a cooking green. But it's bitter. I like bitter greens, but escarole is usually unpalatably bitter until after a hard freeze has worked its magic on the leaves. And it's the same story for Black Spanish radishes. In warm weather, these are strong and spicy enough to clear your sinuses. In the cold of winter, they're still a little more assertive than your average red radish, but that freeze transforms it into something utterly different than it was a few weeks ago. Was September's arugula too spicy for you? It is still peppery, but the cold has mellowed it. Winter carrots get sweet as candy. And the flavors of these veggies just continue to get sweeter, crunchier, and more complex as winter wears on.