A zesty vegetarian holiday: globe-traveling chef Michael Gentry shares creative cuisine for the season.

The kitchen is the natural place to find friends and family this time of year. Holidays are a perfect time and setting to share old and new favorite cooking stories and recipes. My most favored new culinary treats include many vegetables I had not eaten until this season:

Tokyo Turnips, those globe-shaped, bright white veggies that taste sweet and mild, are delicious raw or steamed with their green tops to make a tasty addition to stir-fry.

Lemon is a staple in most kitchens, but I have found that the recipe for Preserved Lemons included in this article makes it easy to make, so many recipes sparkle anew with just a bit of pickled lemon zest.

Raw foods recipes are found in all cuisines (guacamole, tapanade, tsatsiki), and I have found and modified a squash and fig soup to share this season.

Another hot tip to share is using Sprouted Quinoa. It provides a complete protein and makes a healthful raw addition as a garnish, in soups, on salads, or at the center of your table in your favorite Tabouleh recipe.

Preserved Lemons

8 organic lemons
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cups sea salt
1 clean quart jar with lid

Scrub lemons and cut into quarters. Pack quartered
lemons in jar. Add lemon juice and salt to cover, and
seal jar. Place on kitchen counter and, each day for
fourteen days, swirl jar to coat lemons with sea salt
and lemon juice mixture.

Refrigerate thereafter until needed.

Be sure to use only stainless steel utensils to remove
lemons.

To use preserved lemons, place lemon on cutting
board and cut away the inside and the pith, leaving
the peel. Proceed to cut peel into fine dice and add to
any recipe calling for fresh lemon, lemon peel or zest. I
wait until this step to taste and decide whether to add
any salt to the recipe.

Delicata or Butternut Squash
Soup with Figs

3 cups grated squash flesh
1 cup fresh mango (or 1/2 cup dried mango and
  1/2 cup mango pulp)
2 teaspoons curry powder
4 cups orange juice
1/2 cup dried figs, soaked in water for 1 hour
Mint sprigs

Mix ingredients in food processor or blender until
  creamy. Serve garnished with mint.

Chinese Quick Pickle

2 cups Bok Choy (Pak Choi, or
  Chinese Cabbage)
1/2 cup brown rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 drops Shoyu
1 teaspoon local honey

Julienne stems of greens of your choice. Blanch
  stems for two minutes or less and drain. Mix other
  ingredients and add to blanched stems.

Serve immediately or chilled.

Michael Gentry is a retired food service professional who has traveled the globe, studying and teaching the cuisines of the world. Michael shares his love of cooking and life as a Sustainable Gourmet at "Everyone Cooks" classes and tastings, offered in western NC at Warren Wilson College, the Downtown Farmers' Market in Asheville, and at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts. Call 828-669-3826 for class schedules.