It’s time for root vegetables! These hearty, underground dwellers symbolize the start of fall, and they stay front and center throughout the cooler winter months. One of the best things about root vegetables is that they’re cheap. You can whip up hearty, tasty, filling meals without having to take out a second mortgage for groceries! Root vegetables include familiar produce like carrots, and sweet, red, or white potatoes, but don’t overlook those veggies that you’re not quite sure what to do with. Now’s the time to work with some of these lesser-known players from the root vegetable world like turnips, parsnips, kohlrabi, celery root, beets, and rutabaga. Grab a peeler and let’s get started!
Cheesy Root Vegetable Gratin
This stunning root vegetable gratin from Spoon, Fork, Bacon tastes just as good as it looks! The vibrant colors of the sweet potatoes, beets, and parsnips pop. The earthy flavors of the veggies with the creamy gruyere cheese mixture is comfort food at its best. Tip: wear gloves when handling beets to prevent staining your hands!
Roasted Root Vegetables with Goat Cheese Polenta
Delicious, comforting, creamy, and … healthy? Yes! This roasted root vegetable dish with goat cheese polenta from Eating Well is a veggie- and nutrient-packed dish that will leave you feeling good all over. You’ll tick all the vitamin boxes with carrots, parsnips, beets, and sweet potatoes. Sage, garlic and pesto add depth and zing!
Root Vegetable Soup
If you’ve never cooked with rutabaga before, now’s your chance! This hearty root vegetable soup from The Rustic Foodie is made with parsnips, potatoes, and wonderful (and underrated) rutabaga. The combination of these winter root vegetables pack a whole lot of flavor into this soup. It’s warm, hearty, and vegan too. Whip up a batch and eat it throughout the week or freeze some for later.
Sheet Pan Roasted Chicken with Root Vegetables
We love sheet pan dinners for their ease and convenience and this one from Cooking Classy doesn’t disappoint. It’s a one-pan wonder with Brussels sprouts, carrots, red potatoes, shallots, garlic and more. The herb-butter brushed chicken thighs make this a complete meal, but you can keep it vegetarian and omit the chicken if you’d like. Tip: Keep the Brussels sprouts in the center of the pan when this dish is in the oven as the center of the pan isn’t as hot as the outer portions. This will keep the Brussels sprouts from over-cooking.
Root Vegetable Lasagna
We’ve heard of eggplant lasagna, four-cheese lasagna, and vegetarian lasagna, but root vegetable lasagna is a new one for us. This recipe from Cooking on the Weekends raises the interest bar for us by using turnips, carrots and parsnips as a sauce base for this lasagna. The root veggie sauce is rounded out with onion, garlic, thyme, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, roasted red bell peppers, and crushed tomatoes. It’s then layered with (easy!) no-bake lasagna noodles and a creamy ricotta cheese mixture for a lasagna that will have you coming back for seconds!
Fall Veggie Hash
Hash is a feel-good, comfort dish on the weekends for a late breakfast or brunch. Sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and turnips are the stars of this fall vegetable hash from Crunch Time Kitchen. This is gluten-free, but not exactly ‘healthy’ as it’s cooked with bacon fat, which makes it that much tastier if you ask us! Serve it with over easy eggs for a tasty brunch to remember.
Leave a Reply