The best part of winter is all the lovely fruits and vegetables that adorn the market stalls now. This is the time to buy luscious strawberries, tart gooseberries, bright red cherries, purple plums and orange persimmons shaped like tomatoes. And then you have the vibrant greens - tender green peas, crisp beans, bright green lettuce and Popeye's spinach, not to mention mint, parsley and all those other fragrant short-lived herbs. So let's put nature's bounty to good use. Team YOU put together for you a handful of easy recipes where seasonal flavours are the stars.

STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE

• Wash a cup of strawberries, cut off the top part with the green sepals and halve the fruits. Peel and slice a ripe banana and add it to the bowl of the mixer-grinder along with the strawberries, a cup of milk and half a cup of hung curd. Mix it all into a frothy pink drink. Add a teaspoon or two of honey if you like. You can also add a few drops of vanilla to gild the pink lily. This drink will be welcome anytime, at breakfast, as a quick snack or even as a dessert. If you want to make it even more luxuries, add a cup of vanilla ice cream instead of the yogurt and the essence.

CREAMED SPINACH

• Wash and pick through the leaves from four bundles of spinach. Bring an inch of water to boil in a pan, heap in the spinach leaves and cover. Boil for a few minutes until the leaves are wilted. Rest them for 10 minutes, then drain and chop coarsely. Melt a tablespoon of butter and fry one chopped onion in it until translucent. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste along with a dash of nutmeg. Mix in 200ml Amul fresh cream. Boil for 5 minutes. Now add in the chopped spinach and cook until heated through. Grate two cubes of cheese and mix it in.

GOOSEBERRY CLAFOUTIS

• Clafoutis is the French name for a baked custard. Clean about 2 cups of gooseberries and pour them into a 9-inch baking dish. Beat 3 eggs and 100gm sugar until creamy in colour. Mix in 6 tablespoons of melted and cooled butter. Beat in a cup of flour and a couple pinches of salt and then a cup of milk. Pour the custard over the fruit. Preheat oven to 200°C and bake clafoutis for 25-30 minutes until slightly browned and nearly set in the middle. Let it rest for 15 minutes, then cut it in wedges and serve it warm, preferably with a generous sprinkling of icing sugar.

GREEN PEA SOUP

• Shell half a kilo of peas. Wash the pods and pressure cook them until soft. Push the mashed pods through a sieve to collect the green puree. Cook the peas separately, whiz them in the mixer and add to the puree. Slice a medium onion. Melt butter in a saucepan and sizzle a bay leaf and a cinnamon stick. Add the sliced onions and fry till translucent. Now pour in the pea puree and season it with salt and freshly ground pepper. Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat and bring it down to a simmer. Add a generous cup of milk. Remove the foam formed on top of the soup. Taste for salt and pepper, add more if needed. Pour the soup into cups and add a bit of butter. Serve steaming hot.