Need winter vegetable ideas? Fennel Compote with Tomatoes and Olives

The vegetables in the produce section in January don't exactly tempt me. I wish I were more of a parsnip and turnip fan but I'm not. Mark Bittman's recent post on fennel compote caught my eye though - even if it's cheating a bit to call olives and capers 'vegetables.'

http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/1014477/Fennel-Compote-With-Tomatoes-Olives-and-Fish-or-Not.html

The compote is a basic mixture of fennel, tomatoes, garlic, olives and capers. He recommends it as a side dish or over fish. It packs quite a punch allowing you to be lazy with how you prepare your fish, potatoes, rice or whatever else you want to prepare to go along with it.

Mediocre winter tomatoes work well in this recipe but use decent olive oil and olives.