"root vegetable" news and stories

Sometimes even farmers find new vegetables to add to their gardens and to their daily diets.

Carol Ann Sayle, co-founder and co-owner of Boggy Creek Farm, a five-acre urban, organic farm in Austin, Texas, grew beets, potatoes, squash, broccoli and green beans, to name a few. But only recently did she discover the root vegetable scozonera, she wrote at theatlantic.com.

What's a scozonera?

The name comes from the Italian "scorza" meaning bark and "nera" meaning black. It's a dark-skinned root vegetable that's similar to salsify -- called the oyster plant as it allegedly tastes like oysters. (We have never actually tried that one either.)

Beets are the new black. Research surveys show that beet salads are one of the biggest new restaurant trends. Whether red, gold, or candy striped, these wholesome and tasty root veggies are showing up on restaurant menus across the country and they are HOT, or cold, as the case may be. Folks these days don't make use of beets as much as our grandparents did, and many people haven't even tasted a beet that didn't come from a can. I know it wasn't until a few years ago that I started cooking up dishes using fresh beets, and I was amazed at how good they are.

One of my favorite dishes to make is a simple and absolutely wonderful roasted root vegetable soup. I think it may have been in Food & Wine magazine where I came across the original recipe, but after making it a few times and tweaking it I came up with the following. I like to serve this creamy, rich soup in coffee cups or tiny espresso cups as the first dish when I have a sit down dinner, or pass them around during a cocktail hour for a quick pick me up with a different twist.

Source