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Beets present big obstacles for the home chef. Stained counter tops and chopping blocks, as well as a somewhat lengthy preparation process, cause many of us to leave beets to the restaurants. But beyond these hurdles lie tender, sweet roots that stay firm and moist through cooking, nutritious chard-like leaves and dazzling colors when winter has bled the land of all pigment.

Some species are grown and processed commercially for their high sugar content, and some for their characteristic red dye. In the grocery store you will usually find the common red beet, with its sweet and strongly earthy flavor. Also common is the golden variety, whose earthiness is less pronounced, and occasionally the sweeter but slightly less firm white-fleshed variety.

At one point considered an aphrodisiac, beets have been forsaken by many home chefs who associate the red root with bland, thin soup recipes from Eastern European great grandparents. But there is no need to banish these vegetables to the culinary calaboose. A natural pairing with acidic flavors, they make a great addition to salads with endive, goat cheese, hazelnuts and a balsamic vinagrette. They can be pickled with vinegar and sugar and stored for summer months. In our favorite recipe, given below, they are steamed and paired with the flavors of fennel, rosemary, cracked pepper and gruyère.

Beet juice can blemish wood, so use a plastic cutting board to minimize kitchen pigmentation. Betanins, the chemical group responsible for the beet’s striking colors, are water soluble; just wipe away any spilled juices with a sponge. If you’re squeamish about colored hands, use thin latex gloves.

Gougères Stuffed with Beets and Fennel

Prepare a pound of beets by chopping off all but two inches of the leaves, place in a deep baking dish with an inch of water, and cover with foil. Place in a 400° oven until tender in the center (note: smaller beets cook quicker, and often taste better), approximately 30 minutes for two-inch wide beets. After cooling the cooked beets, slip off the skin under cold water and set aside.

Make the gougères: bring a cup of milk and a stick of butter to a near boil. Add a teaspoon of salt and half a tablespoon each of freshly cracked black pepper and crushed rosemary. Add a cup of white flour and beat over low heat for two minutes (it will be thick). Add 3/4 cup of grated gruyère and mix until you have a homogeneous, gooey dough. Remove from heat and add four beaten eggs, stirring until the dough comes together. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spoon balls of dough 1.5 inches thick, 3 inches apart. Wipe with egg wash and bake at 425° until golden brown, around 12 minutes.

After the gougères cool, slice them in half into top and bottom. Fill with a mound of thinly cut fennel, a few slices of beet, and a few drops of lemon juice.

One of the best ways to make great food affordably is to cook seasonally and locally. By choosing produce during the peak of its local harvest (which will change from region to region), we can make food that’s good for us, good for farmers, easy on the wallet, and tastes wonderful. The Budget Gourmet Kitchen series Cooking Seasonally will discuss recipes, kitchen lore, and frugal practices about a highlighted seasonal ingredient.

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Winter may seem like the least fruitful season, with its gloomy skies and bare trees. During the cold weather, many plants save energy by dropping their leaves and sending sugar underground where the energy will be stored until sunnier weather. Not surprisingly, some of the best produce this time of year is root vegetables, which are full of life while many fruit trees are sleeping.

One of the few non-root vegetable families that can hold up to the heavy rains and frost of harsh winters is the cabbage family. This familly includes broccoli, cabbage, kale, and today’s special guest, kohlrabi.

While kohlrabi is not quite a root vegetable, its bulbous stem makes it look like a close relative. The stem has a hard green or purple skin, with a sweet, earthy, pale center similar to celery root or parsnips. The leaves can grow two feet tall, and are close in consistency and flavor to swiss chard.

Thanks to enzymes common in the cabbage family, you can play with the spiciness of kohlrabi by blanching. If desired, dunk slices of the peeled stem into boiling water for a few seconds immediately after cutting to subdue the spiciness. This will kill the enzymes responsible for developing spiciness and the kohlrabi will taste less like a radish and more like a celery root.

Our favorite kohlrabi dish, Kohlrabi Gratin, is made with the peeled and sliced stem, but make sure to keep the leaves handy for a side dish of sautéed greens. Gratin purists will be horrified by our use of a white sauce flavored with spices and - gasp! - cheese.

But here at the Budget Gourmet Kitchen we’ve found that Kohlrabi releases so much water during cooking that, without the thickness of a white sauce, the gratin can fall apart between the oven and the dinner table. The herbs and spices in the sauce help complement the earthy and spicy flavors of kohlrabi. And the cheese? Gratin purist or not, you’ve got to appreciate the salty crunch and gooey creaminess of melted, slightly browned cheese.

Kohlrabi Gratin

Peel and slice 3 - 4 kohlrabi bulbs and set aside. Make a roux with 2 Tbs. each of flour and butter, and add a cup of warm milk to make a white sauce. Flavor with salt, herbs and spices — our favorites for this dish are usually some combination of nutmeg, white pepper, ginger, rosemary, and Dijon mustard. Add a sprinkle of emmenthaler or gryuère to thicken the sauce if needed.

Preheat the oven to 400°. Cover the bottom of a deep baking dish with slices of kohlrabi, and spoon enough sauce to nearly cover. Continue alternating kohlrabi and sauce, and finish with a shredded handful of emmenthaler or gruyère. Bake until the cheese on top is brown and the kohlrabi pieces are tender, around 40 minutes depending on the thickness of the slices.

You can also experiment by adding other sliced vegetables to the mix, like potatoes and celery root.