Eating Seasonally: Root Vegetables

February 2021

Root vegetables are often considered winter foods, hearty fare for cold days. Hidden from the sunlight, root vegetables have reached deep into the earth to pull out nutrients. They bring resources from the underground in a season short on light. They are solid, tough and sometimes bitter, similar to Life in the Time of Covid. They are also versatile and can be roasted, baked, mashed or sautéed, either alone or as a seasonal collection. Some root vegetables, like beets and burdock, have an affinity for the liver, helping to clear toxins from our bodies. Other root vegetables, like carrots and sweet potatoes, offer sugar molecules as a quick source of energy while the weather and Covid conspire to keep us in an indoor funk. Turmeric and ginger roots add spice and antioxidants to our diet.

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Root Vegetables include 

  • potatoes

  • yams

  • carrots

  • beets

  • onion

  • turmeric

  • ginger 

  • rutabaga 

  • turnips

  • sun chokes (Jerusalem artichokes) 

  • celeriac 

  • garlic 

  • leeks

  • burdock



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Nutritional value of root vegetables:

  • Fiber

  • Vitamin C and a mix of other vitamins

  • Potassium and a mix of other minerals

  • Sun chokes, leeks, garlic, and fennel are especially high in the fiber inulin to feed the live gut bacteria

 

Fiber 

  •  Cleansing, especially for the liver 

  •  Moves bile

  • Improves digestive health and elimination.

  • May decrease cholesterol and blood pressure

  • Important in balancing blood sugar.

  • Helpful for heart health.

 

 

Sun Chokes, aka Jerusalem Artichokes (neither from Jerusalem nor an artichoke), are inulin stars and a feast for the microbiome. That makes them nurturing to the G.I. tract. As with most fiber sources, start with smaller servings to allow yourself to adjust to the hyped-up life of a well-fed microflora. 

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Sun chokes are easy to grow; almost too easy. To keep them from taking over the garden, they are best contained in pots. They look like short sunflowers.

 

No matter how they’re cooked, sun chokes mix well with most other root vegetables.  This recipe for sun chokes can be used as a snack, an appetizer or a side dish. These taste like the best homemade potato chips, and even kids want more.

 

Sun chokes 

 

         ½ Fennel bulb, cut into strips

         3-4 large sun chokes, sliced thin       

         1 tbsp turmeric, chopped very fine or grated, including peel

 

1.   Pre heat oven to 400 degrees.

2.   Wash sun chokes, removing any dirt. Slice thinly, including the peel. 

3.   Place on an oven pan covered with parchment paper. Add fennel. Drizzle with oil. Salt and pepper to taste.

4.   Check and stir occasionally. Cook until sun chokes are browned and slightly crispy. 

5.   A few minutes before taking the sun chokes out of the oven, add the turmeric. Stir together, heat evenly and remove from oven.

6.   Serve with mustard sauce

7.   Other options include onions, garlic or curry powder.

  

Mustard Sauce

         1 tsp finely chopped ginger

         ½ cup Honey mustard (or mustard of choice)

         1 cup Olive or avocado oil

         Juice of favorite citrus fruit

 

1.   Place mustard in a bowl. Gradually whisk (or stir) in oil. A tasty alternative is a combination of about 3/4 cup oil, and about 1/4 cup of the juice of an orange and/or Meyers lemon. Adjust citrus/oil ratio to taste.

2.   Add ginger. Stir. Other options include finely chopped fennel, onion, garlic greens, leeks or turmeric.

3.   This is a delicious sauce for salmon, other root vegetable dishes, beet salad, or as a dipping sauce for other appetizers.

 

  All images from my latest masked & socially-distanced outing to my neighborhood co-op

marilyn walls