Winter vegetable purées

Let's say you're serving scallops and you've figured out the bitter component, but you still need a second side. Let's try something else. Sweet potatoes are available all year and make an excellent sweet accompaniment to scallops. If you like sweet potato skin, this antioxidant-rich tuberous root can add a crisp bitterness to your meal. But nothing beats the candied goodness of butternut squash for our purposes.

Butternut squash is an excellent source of fiber and vitamin A, and it adds sweetness to any dish (via Verywell Fit). Butternuts are available all year, but they shine in the early fall and winter. Butternuts, like spinach, can be a great "sauce catcher" in the velvety form of savory mashed butternut squash purée. Although you're still pairing a saccharine squash with a sweeter variety of seafood, the textures complement each other well.