Winter Veggies Add Nutrition in Winter Months

From the Coloradoan. Beware of sugar content in some root veggies--especially onions!

"As the days grow shorter and the thermometer continues to drop, you may notice your body craving warm, nutritious foods.

Fortunately, seasonal vegetables are the perfect way to add color, variety and nutrients to your winter meals. From parsnips to winter squash, cold-season produce includes many unfamiliar yet incredibly nutritious and delicious foods.

In my last column, I talked about the root cellar. Traditional winter vegetables were stored in root cellars for use all winter. They're the forgotten vegetables that at one time sustained people through hard winters.

Included among them are root vegetables, which are plentiful this time of year and easy to store and prepare. Think beets, carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, turnips and daikon radishes when you're planning winter stews, soups and casseroles. Some people find these foods so tasty that simple roasting or steaming is enough to create a wonderful, colorful dish. Many of these vegetables also work well raw - julienned or diced in salads.

And you can't forget winter squash. Native to the Americas, this traditional food, available in wonderful variety, is an absolute must for winter recipes.

Here are some of the varieties of squash you'll find locally: acorn, banana, buttercup, butternut, delicata, Hokkaido pumpkin, Hubbard, pumpkin, spaghetti and turban. These are available in many supermarkets and at the farmers market in Fort Collins.

Winter squash are harvested in the autumn. Most varieties, if kept in temperatures 50 to 55 degrees, can be stored throughout the winter without canning or freezing. Squash meat is multifaceted, lending itself to savory, succulent or sweet preparations. Use it in every course of a meal: pureed in a soup, chunked in a stew, stuffed with grains as an entree or as a main ingredient in pies, cookies and breads.

Rounding out the winter vegetable options are Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and greens such as kale, collards and Swiss chard.

You can't go wrong using as many of these traditional foods as possible.

Some winter vegetables will be more familiar to people than others. Here are a few more details about these traditional seasonal staples:

»Parsnips are shaped like carrots with a pale, creamed-colored skin and a sweet, nutty flavor.

» Beets come in a variety of shapes and colors, including the traditional red beet. Variations include baby beets, cylindrical beets and golden beets.

» Turnips have sustained people since ancient times. They're best when - 2 inches in diameter or less.

» When selecting Brussels sprouts, look for small sprouts with tight heads. Small sprouts are more tender and the tight heads help indicate freshness.

» Rutabaga, also known as "swede" or yellow turnip, is the result of a cross between a turnip and a cabbage. It has a smooth, yellow-orange flesh that's sweet and flavorful.

» Daikon radish is hot like a red radish but much bigger. It's a popular item in Japan and also readily available here."

This is how to survive a Paleo winter...or spring...or summer, or fall! No starch in these foods, yet people gorge on starches any other time of year--what gives? I know: they need the sugar high.

Don't just eat these foods in winter months--they're good all year 'round, and cheapest when grown or bought when the demand is low. Get creative with them--grate parsnips and use in soups, "spaghetti", and in other places where you normally want pasta, grate raw Brussels sprouts in salads (they're just baby cabbages), mulch the leafy greens in the food processor and put in just about everything, use large collard leaves as tortillas for rolling burritos, the list goes on...