Root vegetables are the buried treasure of the vegetable world, warming and essential for good health during cold winter months. These lumpen and misshapen veggies are often dusted with dirt and not as glamorous as their shiny and plump compatriots. Beets, turnips, carrots, parsnips, radishes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rutabagas–just to name a few–are sustaining and satisfying. Yet as incredible as they are, people are not as drawn to them as the more popular tomato or pea or pepper.
Many are grown and harvested deep in the earth, so these vegetables soak up earth’s grounding nutrients, like beta-carotene, vitamins A & C, calcium, and potassium among others, that supply us with energy to keep us healthy and functioning during the winter. Root vegetables are simply amazing. Roasting, sautéeing, pureeing, and baking are just some simple ways to turn these treasures into a hearty meal.
For a colorful variant on mashed potatoes, try the following:
1. Collect a potful of root veggies (feel free to use any single vegetable or a medley of your favorites). May we suggest: sweet potatoes, carrots, rutabagas, parsnips, celeriac, or yup, plain ol’ taters. (You might want to create a balance of sweet and savory roots.)
2. Peel the root veggies, chop up into golf-ball sized pieces, place in salted boiling water and cook till very tender.
3. Drain in a colander, then place the vegetables back in the pan and mash (as smooth or as chunky as you like).
4. Season with salt and pepper, then enrich the flavor with extra virgin oil or butter, or both, to taste.
5. If you like, experiment by adding garlic, milk/nutmilk, chives, nutmeg, mustard, or whatever you typically use to gussy up your spuds.
(Recipe courtesy of Jamie Oliver)