I love winter cooking. On cold days, it's kind of nice to spend time in a toasty warm kitchen. Plus, having the stove and oven going often means that you can turn the heat down a bit.

For me, the linchpin of winter cooking is the soup and stew family. They take a while to cook (which keeps the house warm), they warm you from the inside out (especially nice after a day of sledding or shoveling), and they taste even better as leftovers (so you can parlay one snow day's worth of cooking into a full freezer and several meals). Think beef stew, chicken and dumplings, lentil stew, Afghani gulpi (an amazing stew of cauliflower and tomatoes served over rice). Or a hearty soup, like a squash bisque or vegetable barley soup or loaded baked potato or broccoli cheddar. Or one of the many varieties of chili.

Roasting is another great technique to use in the winter. I especially love to roast vegetables and potatoes. It's simple — cut into large pieces, place in a single layer on a pan, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and other herbs or spices if you'd like. Roast at 425 for 10-25 minutes, until soft and brown. Turn once during roasting. You can roast almost any vegetable. And they taste amazing as room temperature leftovers. I always make way more than I think I'll need because I know I'll eat some before they even get to the table. I treat roasted carrots and cauliflower like candy. Of course, you can also roast most cuts of meat or fish. 

Finally, braising sort of combines stews and roasting. Basically, braising means slow cooking meats or vegetables in liquid. The liquid can be most anything. Cider, beer, and wine are especially popular. When braising meats, I like to sear them first so that I get that yummy brown crust. The best thing about braising is that you mix your ingredients in an oven safe pot, turn the oven on, and go on your way. The magic of food chemistry turns your simple ingredients into a taste of heaven!