The Chef: Michael Schwartz
His Restaurants: Michael's Genuine Food & Drink (in Miami and Grand Cayman) and Harry's Pizzeria (in Miami)

What He's Known For: Bringing modern dining to Miami's Design District; supporting Florida farmers with menus that showcase the state's bounty.

Miami, acclaimed for its beaches and nightclubs, isn't exactly a hotbed of the local-food movement. But chef Michael Schwartz is doing what he can to change that. Since he arrived in 1994, the city's locavore scene has come a long way. Today, through his restaurant venture, the Genuine Hospitality Group, Mr. Schwartz partners with Florida farmers to introduce fresh produce to a growing audience.

For his third Slow Food Fast contribution, Mr. Schwartz shares a recipe that illustrates his affection for seasonal produce. Though the medley of root vegetables gives the dish heft, the parsley sauce is his favorite element. Resembling a salsa verde, the green, herbal dressing is prepared with an Italian-inflected combination of capers, parsley, anchovy and garlic and speaks to Mr. Schwartz's 10-plus years cooking Italian food in New York and Philadelphia. A cinch to pull together (just blitz it in a food processor until it's thin enough to dribble off a spoon), the sauce has become a staple at both the Miami and Grand Cayman locations of Michael's Genuine Food & Drink. At the former, it is spooned over roasted local breadfruit or cassava; at the latter, it's a popular brunch ingredient, topping a dish of slow-roasted pork, grits, pickled onion and fried egg.

In this arrangement, the condiment's herbal-salty punch adds dimension to the sweet, charred carrots, parsnips and rutabaga. To infuse the vegetables with as much flavor as possible, toss them with the sauce while they are still hot. At his restaurants, Mr. Schwartz likes to roast vegetables in a wood-burning oven, but at home he just cranks his ordinary oven up and lets the vegetables blister until they turn tender.

Served over or alongside a simple salad flecked with semi-firm aged goat cheese, the vegetables, Mr. Schwartz said, make a light main dish or can be part of a larger holiday spread.

Yield: 4