Buy Maritime-grown potatoes all winter long

Believe it or not, even in our climate you can eat fresh local vegetables all winter long. The large grocery chains and smaller markets usually carry Maritime-grown root vegetables and onions throughout the year but to find them you have to take a minute to read the labels. Maritime potatoes are usually the easiest to find locally.

I prefer potatoes when they're crispy, which is why this recipe caught my eye. Tossed with onions, herbs and oil, it bakes torte-style and can be sliced for serving. Sweet potato would also be tasty mixed in.

Potato torte

4-6 potatoes, scrubbed

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1-2 tsp dried herbs (sage or oregano)

melted butter &/or olive oil for tossing

sea salt & pepper

Slice the potatoes thinly with a mandolin or the slicing edge of a box grater. In a bowl toss with 1-2 T of oil (or melted butter). Season with salt & pepper, add the dried herbs and toss again.

In another bowl toss the onion with 1-2 Tsp of olive oil or butter

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and sit on it a ring from a 10" spring form pan.

To assemble the torte, lay down a layer of potatoes followed by a layer of onions. Ration your portions so that you end up with four layers of potatoes and three layers of onions (so begin, and end, with potatoes). Discard the water left in the bottom of the potato bowl.

Carefully remove the spring form rim and bake at 425 for about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and drizzle with a bit of oil or melted butter (I used lemon-infused olive oil) and bake for another 5-10 minutes.

Remove from oven and slice into wedges.