When you think about healthy eating, do salads and green vegetables usually come to mind? How about adding a little more variety to your plate?
Root vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, and turnips are a rich source of nutritious complex carbohydrates & a great way o add a healthful variety to your diet. Instead of upsetting blood sugar levels as refined sweet foods do, these power-packed root vegetables help regulate your blood sugars.
Why Eat More Root Veggies?
Long root vegetables – carrots, parsnips, burdock, and daikon radish – are excellent blood purifiers & can help improve circulation in the body. Round root vegetables – 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, you probably eat carrots and potatoes the most. Here are a few other root vegetables to explore and add to your dinner plate!
8 Types of Root Vegetables to Add to Your Plate (+ Delicious Root Vegetables Recipe)
Beets - beets contain an abundance of antioxidants & are highly detoxifying
Burdock - considered a powerful blood purifier, this long, thin veggie is a staple in Asian and most health food stores
Celeriac - also known as celery root, is rich in fiber and has a respectable amount of antioxidants
Jicama - crunchy and refreshing & contains a generous amount of vitamin C - it’s a favorite in its native Mexico and South America
Onions - 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 - an excellent source of vitamin C, it’s also rich in calcium, molybdenum, and folic acid.
Sweet Potatoes - contain unsurpassed levels of beta-carotene & are also rich in vitamin C, phytonutrients, and fiber.
Roasted Root Vegetables Recipe
Excited to add more roots to your diet? Here’s a fun, easy recipe…
Prep time: 10 minutes - Cooking time: 25-35 minutes - Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
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)
Directions:
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.
COOKING TIP: Any combination of vegetables will work in this recipe & if you’re short on time, roasting only one kind of vegetable also makes a nice side dish!
GET EVEN HEALTHIER!
Are you curious about how to choose root vegetables and other nutritious foods? Would you like help being as healthy as you can? Let’s talk! Schedule an initial complimentary consultation with me today—or pass this offer on to someone you care about!
Pin It to Pinterest?
Don’t forget to save this article to Pinterest for healthy living tips you can come back to again & again! Click the “share” button below or simply click the “pin it” button in the top left corner of any photo to save it.