A Unique Child: Nutrition - How to make the most of ... root vegetables

Our great variety of root vegetables can be put to good use in the winter months. There are all kinds of delicious-tasting things that we can do with them, and children who are wary of green vegetables may well find the golden colours of root vegetables more attractive!

Nutritional value

As always with all fruits and vegetables, the stronger the colour, the greater the nutritional content. Thus beetroot and sweet potatoes are more nutritious than, say, turnips, so going for colour is beneficial all round.

Fortunately, both beetroot and sweet potatoes are sweet-tasting and so easy for children to like. Carrots are, of course, an especially nutritious, colourful vegetable which should be served often (see 'Make the most of carrots', Nursery World, 19 March 2009).

Cooking root vegetables

In general terms, scrub well, peel only if necessary, and use in various combinations in braises, stews and tray roasts.

Concentrate on the more colourful roots such as sweet potato, swede, carrot and beetroot, but include onion for flavour, especially red onion. Pumpkin and butternut squash can be added, too, for their bright colour and plentiful nutrients.

At snack time, raw/lightly steamed vegetable chunks or sticks can be served with dips or on their own.

Using onions

Chop or slice onions very finely so they virtually disappear into the rest of the food. A series of short bursts on a food processor gets good results without producing lots of liquid. Red onions are sweeter and more nutritious than white.

When cooking onion in olive oil, allow it to colour slightly, then add water. The onion can now be slowly cooked until completely soft and sweet. Including a bay leaf adds flavour. This almost-puree can be used in a range of foods for adding great taste as well as extra nutrients.

For example:
- make white sauces on top of it
- stir it into scrambled egg
- use lots in tomato sauce
- put lots in soups and stews
- puree it into gravies, mashed potato and pasta sauces.

Using leeks

- Slice almost in half, lengthways, and wash thoroughly under the cold tap to remove all the soil or grit. Save the tougher, dark green parts for stock.

- Slice the rest very thinly and add to a range of soups and stews.

- Cook soft, as for onions, above, then stir into mashed potato and cook as for bubble-and-squeak; serve as the Irish dish, colcannon.

- Very thin slices can be simply steamed or simmered until very soft, perhaps with cabbage, or cabbage and apple.

- A puree of leeks and a little potato is delicious and, with stock or water, can be served with toast as soup.

Using parsnips

- Peeling parsnips is wasteful and unnecessary; just scrub them well.

- Roast them around meat or on their own - just toss in little olive oil, and turn once or twice.

- Roast diced parsnip and carrot in a little olive oil until soft and lightly caramelised, turning occasionally.

- As a treat, fry rounds of par-boiled parsnip in a little butter and a sprinkling of caster sugar until golden brown, turning once.

Using beetroot

Round ones have the best colour and taste. Scrub, then boil whole in a small amount of water until very soft; top, tail and peel. Bake, boil, braise or roast.

Using sweet potato

Scrub, then bake whole. Or boil peeled cubes and make a golden mash with a little potato, butter and black pepper; or 'ripple' into mashed potato. Good diced in a tray-roast.

Using swede

Scrub, then peel thickly. Chop up roughly, then boil to soft; crush with cooked carrot, with butter and plenty of black pepper. Or cut up and braise, stew or tray-roast.

Using celeriac

Celeriac is good raw, but the convoluted roots need thorough scrubbing and peeling. Delicious in a celeriac-potato mash.

Curried roots

Cut equal quantities of beetroot, sweet potato, parsnip, and butternut squash into 1.5cm dice and toss in olive oil, garam masala and black pepper in a baking tray; roast to soft in a hot oven, turning once, about 45 minutes. Mix in a little coconut milk or yoghurt.

Roasted roots and sausages

First, roast some sausages, then slice. Meanwhile, saute 1.5cm-diced, mixed root vegetables in olive oil to lightly brown for 20-30 minutes; add water to prevent sticking. Boil some small waxy potatoes to just done.

Put the sauteed vegetables and potatoes in a roasting dish. Mix in the sausage slices and pour over a little hot stock or water. Lightly cover with foil and cook at gas mark 6, 200 degsC for 30 minutes or until soft.

Borscht

This recipe makes a thick broth which can be turned into a main meal. Almost any vegetable can go into borscht - sweet potato, squash and pumpkin are all tasty and suitably colourful.

Ingredients

1 kilo raw beetroot; 2 onions; 2 carrots; 2 stalks celery; half a small cabbage; 1 potato; 2 cloves garlic; 500g tin tomatoes; small tube tomato paste; 2 pinches mixed herbs; 1.7 litres (3 pints) meat or vegetable stock.

Method

Cook the beetroot in the stock until soft, then peel, shred and set aside. Slice the other vegetables thinly and cook in the stock with the tomatoes. Return the beetroot to the mixture and add the tomato paste and black pepper. You should have a thick, brightly coloured broth. Have plenty of creamy yoghurt or fromage frais to stir in at the table.

For a main meal: crumble in some minced beef at the end, then stir over heat for a few minutes until it is thoroughly cooked. Serve with hunks of good bread or plain boiled potatoes.

Quick borscht

1 kilo raw, round beetroot, scrubbed; 1 large onion, sliced; 500g tin tomatoes, mashed; black pepper; dash of tomato ketchup.

Cook the beetroot and onion in saved vegetable cooking water until the beetroot is soft. Top, tail and shred the beetroot and replace in the water. Reheat with the tomatoes, pepper and ketchup.