Parsnips : Perfect For Autumn and Winter Months !

The fact that the parsnip is a member of the carrot family comes as no surprise - it looks just like one, aside from its creamy white colour. It has an earthy but sweet flavour and is great used in hearty winter roasts, soups and stews.

Availability
Parsnips are in season between September and March making them the ideal winter vegetable.

Choose the best
Go for small to medium parsnips, as larger ones can be fibrous, and always choose firm, rather than limp or shrivelled examples. Avoid those with lots of whiskers or brown patches as this indicates that they may well be rotten.

Prepare it
Young, small parsnips don't really need peeling - just scrub clean and serve whole. Older parsnips should be peeled very thinly with a peeler or sharp knife, then chopped into evenly sized chunks. If the central core is very fibrous, this should be cut away.

Store it
In a perforated bag in the fridge - they'll last for around a week.
Cook it

Chop into chunks and roast (40-55 minutes). Cut into chunks and boil (15-20 minutes).

Alternatives
Try carrot or turnip.

The above words from an article here

Health benefits of parsnips
Generally, parsnip contains more sugar than carrots, radish, turnips. It has calories (100 g provide 75 calories) equal to that of some fruits like banana, and grapes. Nonetheless, its sweet, juicy root carries no cholesterol, is rich in several health-benefiting phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals, and fibre.

It is one of the excellent sources of soluble and insoluble dietary fibre. 100 g root provides 4.9 mg or 13% of fibre. Adequate fibre in the diet helps reduce blood cholesterol levels, obesity, and constipation conditions.

As in carrots and other members of Apiaceae family vegetables, parsnip too contains many poly-acetylene anti-oxidants such as falcarinol, falcarindiol, panaxydiol, and methyl-falcarindiol.

Several research studies from scientists at the University of Newcastle, Tyne found that these compounds possess anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and anti-cancer function and offer protection from colon cancer and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Fresh roots are also good in vitamin-C; provide about 17 mg or 28% of RDA. Vitamin-C is a powerful water-soluble antioxidant, readily available to us from natural sources. It helps the human body maintain healthy connective tissue, teeth, and gum. Its anti-oxidant property helps protect from diseases and cancers by scavenging harmful free radicals from the body.

Further, the root is rich in many B-complex groups of vitamins such as folic acid, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamine, and pantothenic acid as well as vitamin-K and vitamin-E.

Further, it also has healthy levels of minerals like iron, calcium, copper, potassium, manganese and phosphorus. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure by countering effects of sodium.

The details regarding the health benefits of parsnips taken from article here

You may also like to see this Parsnip & Cauliflower Soup, Recipe here

or this Spiced Parsnip Soup with Coriander and Chilli Pesto, Recipe here 

We bring a variety of articles and recipe ideas to this blog, but please note, not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter.

All the best Jan