In summer I like to buy varieties of smaller eggplants at the farmers market and cut them into wedges to roast with butter or along with a small steak, like "eggplant fries."

I like to stay local/organic when possible and options are very limited during winter here. My current favorite is celeriac (celery root), great roasted with meats. I've simmered cubes with a little shallot or onion for a soup, adding sour cream before serving. Saw a recipe on Marks Daily Apple recently for celeriac lasagna, using slices of celery root as "noodles" to bake with meat sauce.

I regularly buy plastic bins of baby kale and add it to everything, right into the pan when I take meats from the oven so it wilts or added to hot sausage or bacon. Bacon fat and any kind of greens is always wonderful, the greens take on a sort of nutty flavor that way instead of seeming bitter.