the Right Choice: Go Beyond the salad... - by Samantha Abbott

When you think about healthy eating, salads and green vegetables usually come to mind. But how about adding a little more variety to your plan?

Roots like carrots, sweet potatoes, and turnips, are a rich source of nutritious complex carbohydrates. Instead of upsetting blood sugar levels like refined sweet foods do, they help regulate them.

Why eat more root veggies?

Long roots – carrots, parsnips, burdock and daikon radish – are excellent blood purifiers and can help improve circulation in the body. Round roots – turnips, radishes, beets and rutabagas – nourish the stomach, spleen, pancreas and reproductive organs.

Which root vegetables do you eat most? 

If you’re like most of the world, it’s carrots and potatoes. Here are a few others to explore:

Beets contain an abundance of antioxidants and are highly detoxifying. 

Burdock is considered a powerful blood purifier. This long, thin veggie is a staple in Asian and health food stores. 

Celeriac, also known as celery root, is rich in fiber and with a respectable amount of antioxidants.

Jicama is crunchy and refreshing and contains a generous amount of vitamin C. It’s a favorite in its native Mexico and South America.

Onions are rich in antioxidants and other phytonutrients, making them prized for their ability to strengthen the immune system.

Parsnips, which look like giant white carrots, boast a sweet, earthy taste. They’ve also got plenty of fiber, vitamin C, folic acid, niacin, thiamine, magnesium and potassium.

Radish is an excellent source of vitamin C. It’s also rich in calcium, molybdenum and folic acid. 

Sweet potatoes contain unsurpassed levels of beta-carotene and are also rich in vitamin C, phytonutrients and fiber. 

Excited to add more roots to your diet? Here’s a fun, easy recipe:

Roasted Root Vegetables
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25-35 minutes
Serves 4 to 6

1 sweet potato
2 parsnips
2 carrots
2 turnips or 1 large rutabaga
1 daikon radish (or substitute/add in other favorites, like squash)
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
herbs: rosemary, thyme or sage (fresh if possible)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Wash and dice all vegetables into bite-sized cubes.

Place in a large baking dish with sides.

Drizzle with olive oil; mix well to coat each vegetable lightly with oil.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs.

Bake uncovered for 25-35 minutes until vegetables are tender and golden brown, checking every 10 minutes to stir and make sure veggies are not sticking.

Tip: Any combination of vegetables will work. Roasting only one kind of vegetable also makes a nice side dish.

ABOUT ME

Samantha Abbott works at Personalized Nutrition and Fitness as their Certified Health Coach. She received my training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where she learned about more than one hundred dietary theories and studied a variety of practical lifestyle coaching methods. She also graduated from the University of Maine with my BS in human nutrition.