Rooting for root vegetables: a feature on winter vegetables (roots and friends)

February 14, 8:48 AMDC Farmers Market ExaminerTiffany McGettigan

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It’s wintertime and the growing season in our area is something the seasonal ingredient finder on Epicurious refers to as “dormant.”

Dormant.

Despite this pessimistic label, there truly are a lot of locally grown fruits and vegetables we can enjoy this winter. These items are primarily root and storage vegetables.

That’s right: little wonders like celery root, parsnips, turnips, carrots, potatoes, gourds, apples, and pears (!).

Okay, okay. So maybe winter produce doesn’t feature the sorts of things we generally get excited about or drool over (like juicy summer tomatoes, peaches, or watermelon), but you have to hand it to them for being so practical. After the fall harvest, they seem to wait around patiently until you decide you’re in the mood to eat them. For example, I just recently cooked an acorn squash I bought in November. It was amazingly still fresh and delicious.

What’s more- winter produce features many health benefits. Apples have high amounts of vitamin C and dietary fiber.

Carrots boast very high amounts of vitamin A and beta carotene. You can also often find them in lovely multiple colors, like these yellow and orange ones I bought at the DuPont Circle Fresh Farms Market.

Turnips provide high amounts of vitamin C and some potassium and iron.

Squash provides vitamin A and C, and some B vitamins too. Squashes with deep colored flesh have higher amounts of beta carotene. Cooked, one cup of squash only contains 100 calories.

Finally, winter vegetables are more versatile than you might think. Although many of us may simply add these vegetables to a roast or cook them in a gratin (both delicious options), there are many other ways to prepare them—including soups, vegetable purees, and healthy raw salads.

This week, in "Rooting for Root Vegetables (and other winter produce)" I will feature several delicious winter recipes. Who knows? You might decide you like winter so much that you're sad when the weather warms up and things like strawberries and asparagus take our growing season out of its dormant phase. 

Stay tuned!

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