Buying seasonal produce guarantees the depth of flavour nature intended. In November, make the most of root vegetables in their prime….
 |
| Good to eat in November |
Rich and earthy, root vegetables such as turnips, swede, carrots, parsnips, celeriac, potatoes and sweet potatoes make a meal satisfying without bumping up the fat and calories. They’re versatile and great value, too. Use them to make nourishing soups, stews and curries, or mash, bake or roast them to bring out their natural sweetness.
Choose
Firm, fresh-looking vegetables – avoid any that feel soft and limp. They should smell fresh and earthy, not musty.
Store
Carrots are best stored in the fridge and keep for several weeks, while other root veg keep well for a month or two in a cool, well-ventilated place. Brown paper bags are ideal as they allow a good airflow. Potatoes should be stored in a dark place to prevent them turning green.
Eat
Potatoes don’t count as one of your five-a-day (they’re nutritionally more similar to bread and pasta) but sweet potatoes and other root veg do. An 80g serving or 3tbsp cooked root veg counts as one portion.
Capture the flavour
BAKE
Scrub and prick the skin of a sweet potato, then bake in the oven until soft when gently squeezed. Split lengthways, then top with reduced-fat garlic and herb soft cheese or tomato salsa and chopped avocado.
SIMMER
Make a chunky soup with any mixture of chopped root veg (you’ll need about 500g per 1 litre reduced-salt stock), garlic and ground coriander. Cook until tender, then mash lightly to break up some of the chunks. Stir in chopped fresh coriander and season with black pepper.
MASH
Boil or steam sweet potatoes, or equal quantities of white potato and swede, until tender. Drain, then mash with grated nutmeg, black pepper and a spoonful of reduced-fat crème fraîche or milk. Serve as a side or use to top pies.
How does your body use the nutrients?
HFG expert Amanda Ursell says: ‘Although they taste like comfort foods, root vegetables are packed with incredibly useful amounts of all-important nutrients and often have far fewer calories than their reputation might suggest. A 175g portion of boiled potatoes, for example, contains just 126kcal, along with almost 500mg of our daily 3,500mg potassium needs, a mineral that helps maintain healthy blood pressure. They also pack in 10% of our daily vitamin C requirements, even once cooked.
Carrots have just 19kcal per 80g portion but manage to give us lots of beta-carotene, the pigment that helps keep our skin and eyes healthy. Swede is another great low-calorie ingredient, with only 9kcal per 80g serving, while celeriac has 14kcal for the same size portion. Both add fibre to meals, as well as bulking them out to help us feel full.
But pick of the crop are sweet potatoes – one of the few foods to give us a trio of antioxidants in one go. With a quarter of our daily vitamin C needs, more than the RDA for vitamin A, and a shot of vitamin E and potassium, you get a bumper hit of nutrients for just 109kcal per 130g portion.
