Most of us grew up hearing “eat your carrots (or beets, parsnips, turnips, rutabaga); they will make you see better, your hair curl, bring a rosy glow to your cheeks or the ultimate clincher, if you want dessert.” Eventually some children honestly like them; the rest of us want to love them but don’t know how to make them taste good without making them taste like something they aren’t.

First of all, your mother was almost right. Many root vegetables contain lots of healthful potassium and vitamins. I’m not so sure about the night vision or curly hair. Second, because root vegetables have a much longer shelf life than other produce in the market, chances are that mom’s and those you dutifully purchased and cooked for your own kids were old, dry and flavorless. Try buying root vegetables at a farmers market or a farmer supplied coop like PCC; you may be quite surprised at how sweet and delicately flavored they can be.

My Fresh Selection

Finally, because a little rutabaga, parsnip, beet or turnip flavor goes a long way with me, I often prepare several different ones together and include one or two non root autumn and/or winter vegetables. The flavors really complement one another.

Roots are characteristically dense and each vegetable has a slightly different texture, so unless they are very thinly sliced or julienne cut, most root vegetables require different cooking times. To protect the uniqueness of each vegetable’s flavor and to set their colors, I prepare them for cooking (peel, cut steam, rinse and drain) separately and then add a little fresh lemon juice and salt after each one is drained.

Peeled, cut and ready to steam.

At that point they’re ready to cook or can be covered tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 2 days.

The preparation may seem onerous, but it really doesn’t take more than about 30 minutes total.

The following 3 posts (Saute, Soup and Tex Mex Hash) will be recipes using a combination of Rutabaga, Carrots, Turnip, Celery Root, Yellow Onion, Fennel and Yam. My selection is arbitrary; choose the ones you want.