Beets

Avoid

Avoid beets that are shriveled, soft, or have rough or flabby skins.

Varieties

Detroit, Ruby Queen, Crosby, Early Wonder

Selection Tips

Choose small to medium-size beets with firm, smooth skins and purple-red color.

Storage, Ripening (if any) & Handling

Refrigerate

Nutrition

• Low Fat
• Low Sodium
• Saturated Fat Free
• Cholesterol Free

Health Benefits

• Reduce risks of birth defects by increasing folate

Serving Tips

Smaller sizes yield a more tender cooked product.

Slice cooked and chilled beets and add to fresh vegetable salads.

Fun Facts

In Elizabethan England, it was recommended for best preparation to wipe the root with fresh dung before cooking.
Blue Corn & Square Tomatoes, page 140.

Exclusive European spas offer fresh beet juice to their patrons as a tonic for weight loss.
The Great Food Almanac, Irena Chalmers. Collins Publishers, 1994. Page 56.

Carrots

Avoid

Avoid flabby, soft, or wilted carrots or product that shows any mildew, decay, growth cracks, or splits.

Selection Tips

Good quality carrots should be well-shaped with firm, smooth exteriors. Color should be vibrant orange to orange-red. For best quality, tops should be closely trimmed since they tend to decay rapidly.

Storage, Ripening (if any) & Handling

Refrigerate

Remove green tops and store unwashed in a plastic bag.

Nutrition

• Low Sodium
• Saturated Fat Free
• Cholesterol Free
• Good Source of Fiber
• Good Source of the antioxidant Vitamin C
• Fat Free
• High Potency Vitamin A

Health Benefits

• Reduce cancer-risk with more fruits & vegetables
• Reduce cancer-risk with high-fiber fruits & vegetables
• Reduce cancer risk by decreasing fat
• Reduce risk of coronary heart disease with high-fiber fruits & vegetables
• Reduce risk of coronary heart disease by decreasing saturated fat and cholesterol
• Reduce risk of hypertension by decreasing sodium

Serving Tips

Add crunch and color to pasta or potato salad with carrot slices.

This versatile vegetable may be used raw or cooked.

Fun Facts

Roman citizens ate their carrots only when they weren't feeling well. They were supposed to keep the digestive tract neat and clean, aid in lowering the level of gas in the large intestine, and improve night vision.
The Carrot Cookbook.

Carrots have more beta carotene when they are mature. An added benefit is the fact that their carotene content may increase as much as 55% after harvest.
Fresh Facts Ed Kit, 1993.

Celery Root / Celeriac

Selection Tips

Celery roots should be firm with tender flesh. Avoid celery roots with a spongy texture.

Storage, Ripening (if any) & Handling

Refrigerate

If used raw, celery root must be peeled first. If cooked, celery root may be cooked whole and then peeled.

Serving Tips

Raw celery root may be grated, julienned, or shredded and added to fresh vegetable salads.

Cooked celery root can be cubed or pureed and added to soups and casseroles.

Fun Facts

Northern European countries traditionally serve a first course consisting of shredded celeriac in mustard mayonnaise sauce.
Kraft Newsletter, 10/31/88, page 4.

Parsnips

Avoid

Avoid misshapen parsnips or those that exhibit growth cracks, bruises, cuts, or discoloration.

Selection Tips

Choose parsnips that are clean, firm, and have smooth white skins.

Storage, Ripening (if any ) & Handling

Refridgerate

Nutrition

• Saturated Fat Free
• Cholesterol Free
• High in the antioxidant Vitamin C
• Fat Free
• Very Low Sodium
  

Health Benefits

• Reduce cancer-risk with more fruits & vegetables
• Reduce cancer risk by decreasing fat
• Reduce risk of coronary heart disease by decreasing saturated fat and cholesterol
• Reduce risk of hypertension by decreasing sodium

Serving TIps

Parsnips are generally cooked and may be served as a side dish.

Parsnips may be chopped up or pureed and added to soups.

Fun Facts

The parsnip used to be the star of European dishes but was replaced by the potato.

Recent medical research has found that the parsnip is a source of psoralens - agents once used in the treatment of psoriasis, but now known to be photocarcinogens.
Blue Corn & Square Tomatoes, Rebecca Rupp. Storey Communications Inc., 1987. Page 104

Potatoes

Varieties

Russet, Round Red, Round White, Long White, Yellow Flesh, Blue/Purple

Avoid

Avoid potatoes with wrinkled skins, soft dark spots, cut surfaces, or green appearance.

Selection Tips

All potato varieties should be uniformly sized, fairly clean, firm, and smooth.

Storage, Ripening (if any) & Handling

Countertop

Nutrition

• Saturated Fat Free
• Sodium Free
• Cholesterol Free
• High in the antioxidant Vitamin C
• Good Source of Fiber
• Good Source of Potassium
• Good Source of the antioxidant Vitamin C
• Fat Free

Health Benefits

• Reduce cancer-risk with more fruits & vegetables
• Reduce cancer-risk with high-fiber fruits & vegetables
• Reduce cancer risk by decreasing fat
• Reduce risk of coronary heart disease by decreasing saturated fat and cholesterol
• Reduce risk of hypertension by decreasing sodium

Serving TIps

Potatoes must be cooked.

The round white potato is good for steaming, roasting, mashing, and using in salads.

Fun Facts

Brown areas on sliced potatoes mean that the Vitamin C has been destroyed.
4001 Food Facts and Chef's Secrets, Myles H. Bader. Mylin Enterprises, 1993.

Regular potato chips are 61% fat; each ounce of potato chips contains 2 1/2 pats of margarine.
4001 Food Facts and Chef's Secrets, Myles H. Bader. Mylin Enterprises, 1993.