Healthy and tasty, winter’s bounty of that which grows underground provides comfort and joy for an arsenal of cold weather dishes. Zest up everything from stews to salads with veggies from the new harvest.
Parsnips
It looks like a carrot that’s seen a ghost. But the much misunderstood parsnip is anything but hollow. It’s even sweeter than its orange ancestor, and even higher in both vitamins and minerals. It’s also rich in potassium and dietary fiber.
Very popular this time of year as part of a roasted vegetable medley, parsnips are also an outstanding addition to anything stewed or braised, as they act both as an aromatic for your dish and as a delicious accompanying vegetable.
Turnips
Often confused with parsnips, but let’s “nip” that in the bud right now. They are a member of the cabbage family and the flavor is zesty and savory (like a radish) vs. sweet. They provide a different range of aromatics to stews and roasts and actually marry handsomely with the parsnip for that purpose.
White turnips are the best known, although two-thirds of their surface is usually purple-tinged. They are smallish, easy to use, can be scrubbed instead of peeled for your recipe.
Rutabaga, or waxy yellow turnip (or Swedes), are much larger and thicker skinned, as well as waxed for preservation. They have a harder flesh and stronger flavor. Rutabaga is ideal for stews that take an especially long time.
Jicama
A root vegetable still somewhat of a mystery to many U.S. consumers, yet so popular in its native Mexico and South America that it’s sold as street food, usually with a squeeze of lime.
People here confuse it with everything from turnips rutabagas to celery knob and water chestnuts. A customer once asked us if it was a grapefruit.
That said, the jicama is tender, sweet and versatile. It can be sliced into strips for a green salad and will add zest and crunch to a fruit salad. As a cooked vegetable, you can treat it like water chestnuts in a stir-fry, steam it with green beans, sauté it with carrots or roast it with the ubiquitous parsnip.
Our favorite quote comes from food writer Louise Fiszer: “Jicama is satisfying, flavorful and nowhere near as strange as it looks.”
