Meals don’t have to be dull because we are in the middle of winter. In fact, if you are prepared to use your imagination and stock your kitchen with an assortment of seasonal vegetables and fresh herbs, you can eat very well during January.

Herbs and spices are definitely the secret ingredient at this time of the year, as they can infuse some terrific flavours into vegetable dishes that might otherwise lack that certain something which encourages us to ask for more.

Let’s start with the humble cabbage, a winter vegetable that can be baked, braised, sautéed, stuffed or used as a base for a winter salad. Yet we seldom do more than steam or boil them Surprisingly, there are more than 400 varieties of cabbage. Some are conical in shape, others like tightly packed footballs. When preparing a cabbage for the pot, several tough outer leaves need to be removed (unless they have already been trimmed away by the supplier because they have wilted as a consequence of being stored on the shelf for too long).

These outer leaves need not be thrown away; they are often very beautiful and make very attractive food containers when serving a meal. I use them as a dish for the bread if I want to add a splash of colour to the table. You can also hollow out the cabbage, then use the centre pieces you have removed in a stir fry and the cabbage head as a container for a sauce or a dip.

One of the tastiest ways of cooking cabbage is to stir fry it lightly in a mix of oil and butter, having sliced the leaves very fine. Cook it over a moderate heat until it begins to soften, yet still retains its crunch.

Lemon juice can be squeezed into the pan just before it is ready to provide extra flavour. You can also cook it with juniper berries or finely-chopped fresh ginger root and chopped garlic. That mix is particularly tasty.

Other herbs or spices that can be added to stir-fried, sliced cabbage include celery seed, mustard seed, grated nutmeg, caraway seeds and fresh coriander leaves chopped fine and added just before serving. Finely-chopped onions enhance its flavour when cooked this way too, and a handful of crunchy bacon pieces and chopped parsley will do wonders for both its taste and appearance.

A winter vegetable dish that Delia Smith made popular is the oven roast, which really doesn’t require a recipe, just a good assortment of fresh root vegetables that can be cut into chunky pieces. All you need to do is mix the vegetable chunks with whole peeled cloves of garlic, chopped herbs and oil, then roast in a reasonably hot oven on a flat baking tray until cooked.

The humble potato begs to be flavoured with herbs and spices. My favourite way of transforming spuds into a tasty treat is to chop them into small cubes, leaving the skin on, as it is good for you. I then toss the cubes into a frying pan with a little hot oil, having added a generous handful of chopped sage leaves to the pan too. (Dried sage doesn’t really work with this recipe.) I often start this dish on the top of the stove, then allow it to brown in the oven. Rosemary works well in this dish too, but don’t mix rosemary and sage — they are such powerful herbs that their combined flavour just doesn’t offer anything special.

Curried potato wedges are tasty, too. Try frying potato wedges in a little oil until almost done, then scatter dry curry powder and chopped garlic cloves into the pan and cook until the mouth-watering aroma of garlic and spices fills the kitchen. This dish goes well with cold meats, and can be enhanced by pouring a little yoghurt over the top before serving.

Swede is one of those vegetables that people appear to tire of quickly, yet they are a very useful vegetable as they tend to keep quite a long time if uncut and stored in a cool dark place.

They are best served mashed. The secret to getting them right is butter — loads and loads of butter and a very generous amount of freshly ground black peppercorns to enhance its flavour. For extra flavour try mixing mashed swede with mashed carrot — a mix of about half and half works well.

Shallots are very useful, too, owing to their size. They are much smaller and sweeter than onions, though they still add subtle flavours to stews and casseroles. They are great when caramelised too.

For further inspiration when cooking winter vegetables may I suggest Vegetables (Collins, £25) by Oxford’s celebrity cook and food writer Sophie Grigson. Although it was first published in 2006, it is still available at all good bookshops, and invaluable if you want vegetables to play the lead role on your dining table.