Every spring, when I’m planning the garden, I reach for this reference book to see if there is some new root vegetable I might like to try. Every fall, I pull it out again when I discover unusual root vegetables at the Farmer’s Market. You might find it an interesting book also!
This book, ROOTS: The Definitive Compendium with more than 225 recipes (2012) by Diane Morgan, has been on my shelf for several years and each time I look through it I find something new.
Granted, many of these vegetables will not grow in central Pennsylvania, but even the most common vegetables have varieties I’ve never seen before. Who knows, maybe I’ll discover one that would be interesting and delicious! Many unusual vegetables, often imported from other countries, can even be found in your local grocery store.
BEET, CARROT, CELERY ROOT
If nothing else, the photographs in this book are outstanding. Each section is devoted to one root vegetable, like the BEET, the CARROT or CELERY ROOT. At the beginning is a photograph showing several varieties of the vegetable along with an explanation of its history and where it is natively grown; a list of the many varieties available; nutritional information; how to store it and how to prepare it. Following this information are 8-12 recipes using the vegetable.
JICAMA
One vegetable I was excited to read about was JICAMA. I first had this vegetable as a kid when my family spent a year in the Philippines. (I was 9 years old…so this was 1955-56). It was a quite a treat to a kid who was missing familiar foods. It was crunchy and mildly sweet like an apple. When it showed up in our local grocery store a few years ago as a novelty item I wasn’t sure it was what I remembered, until I tasted it! Wonderful memory! Now I see it in almost every grocery store…often imported from Mexico. This book has seven recipes that incorporate Jicama…but chilled and peeled and sliced is still the best!
LOTUS ROOT
This time through the book, I took time to read about LOTUS ROOT. It is native to tropical Asia, the Middle East and Australia and has been cultivated for more than two thousand years. However, while it might be found in Asian markets, I’ve never seen it before. Apparently, it can also be canned or pre-sliced in vacuum-sealed bags and is usually imported from China or Japan. If you live on the West Coast you might see it more often than I might. Very interesting!
How to set up a Root Cellar
This book also has a two-page spread about how to set up a root cellar. These were often found on rural farms as a low-tech way to preserve root vegetables. I you’ve ever tried to save your winter squash, pumpkins or even carrots for a few months without canning or freezing them, a root cellar can provide the right conditions to keep them usable for several months.
Some root vegetables can even be left in the garden long past fall frosts. This last year, we left a whole row of carrots in the garden, dug them up as we needed them, and discovered they stayed quite nice for months.
As I said, the photographs in this book are outstanding. Who knew vegetables could be so interesting and colorful!
So, if you’d like an interesting colorful and useful book on your shelf, try ROOTS! You may discover a new vegetable or recipe along the way!
Please leave a comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.