Used in culinary and medicinal applications for many years, parsnips are root vegetables that resemble large, white carrots. Parsnips have a long, tapering shape and are close relatives to carrots and parsley, exhibiting a similar nutritional profile to those vegetables. They are nutrient-dense, offering many antioxidant compounds that aid immune function, digestion, and weight loss efforts. 

The antioxidants in parsnips are of great interest to researchers. Antioxidants are compounds that fight free radicals, which contribute to oxidative stress. According to various studies, oxidative stress can increase the risk of many chronic and acute conditions that affect the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. It can also contribute to the development of neurodegenerative disease and cancer. Eating more foods that are rich in antioxidants, then, may help protect against these types of health conditions. 

That means that you should start eating more parsnips! They are rich in furanocoumarins, flavonoids, and polyacetylenes, which exhibit antifungal, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antidepressant properties. Continue reading to learn more about the health benefits of parsnips. 

Encourages Healthy Bones

Parsnips contain calcium and magnesium, two minerals that are necessary for bone development. One cup of parsnips provides over 45 milligrams (mg) of magnesium, which equates to about 10% of the recommended daily intake. Magnesium plays a role in the structural formation of your bones, making parsnips a great vegetable to include in your bone health diet. 

Supports Weight Management

Because parsnips are low in calories and high in fiber, they make for an excellent weight loss food. The reason dietitians say they can support weight management efforts is because they keep you full without filling you up with excess calories. One cup of parsnips provides 100 calories and 6.5 grams (g) of fiber. If you are trying to establish a caloric deficit, include parsnips in your meals to increase feelings of fullness. A review of 62 trials with nearly 4,000 participants found that increased fiber intake helped reduce body weight and waist circumference. That is completely separate from calorie restriction efforts!

Enhances Immune Function

One cup of sliced parsnips provided 22.6 mg of vitamin C, which equates to 25% of the recommended daily intake (RDI). Vitamin C is both an antioxidant and micronutrient that helps to enhance immune function by way of several cellular functions. Parsnips also contain quercetin and kaempferol, two phenolic compounds that exhibit anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and antiviral activity. All of that aids your immune system’s ability to fight off foreign invaders. 

May Reduce The Risk Of Breast Cancer

Researchers note that sufficient fiber intake during your early life (during adolescence and young adulthood) can significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer later in life. According to surveys, most Americans do not consume an adequate amount of fiber per day. Incorporating more parsnips into your diet can increase your fiber intake. Beyond the fiber, parsnips provide lots of antioxidants, which help reduce DNA damage that may increase cancer risk later in life. 

May Calm The Mind

Both carrots and parsnips contain falcarinol, which works to protect against fungal infections. Researchers note that you lose about 70% of falcarinol during the cooking process, but the remaining 30% is available to cross the blood brain barrier, where it can have an almost sedative-like effect. Falcarinol is serotonergic, which means that it influences serotonin (the feel good chemical) in the brain. Animal studies suggest that falcarinol may improve depression- or anxiety-like symptoms, however, it’s too early to know whether or not it has the same effect in humans.

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If you are looking for a few healthy options to have as side dishes at your Thanksgiving feast, welcome to your one stop shop. Not only are these recipes much lighter than traditional Thanksgiving sides, but they are also sure to impress your dinner crowd. We are all about easy, healthy, and foolproof recipes! There is no need to complicate things on a day that is bound to have a little bit of stress.

A perfectly golden, roasted turkey is typically the star of the show at the Thanksgiving table. The truth is, though, having a great assortment of side dishes can make or break your big meal. The best side dishes even outshine the turkey, provided they have the right amount of flavor! That is why executing your textures, flavors, and colors is paramount for the best Thanksgiving side dishes.

In this article, we will not provide mainstays like mashed potatoes or roasted Brussels sprouts. You probably have recipes for those items, or you already have your preference on how to make them. Instead, we want to lighten what is a classically heavy meal and provide you with vegetable-forward dishes that offer lots of nutrition, and even more flavor. Even though they may be root vegetable or squash dishes, they are still much lighter than fattening sides you usually see at the table.

Rainbow Roasted Carrots With Maple Tahini Sauce

What a great side dish for the upcoming holiday feast! These roasted rainbow carrots with maple tahini dressing boast big time flavors! Don’t forget the freshly chopped parsley and pomegranate arils for extra flavor and flair.

Click here to make the recipe. 

Baked Butternut Squash Fries

Crispy on the outside and sweet and soft on the inside, baked butternut squash fries are a great low-carb, healthy side dish to bring for Thanksgiving. Don’t forget to make the lemon garlic dipping sauce that accompanies the fries!

Click here to make the recipe. 

Herb-Roasted Acorn Squash

We don’t want to sound overconfident, but this is a near perfect recipe. Roasted to perfection, you just can’t get enough of this squash, which goes above and beyond the typical combination of butter and brown sugar. This recipe takes an herbaceous turn to play off the squash’s inherent sweetness.

Click here to make the recipe. 

Sautéed Garlic Green Beans

Get ready to experience green beans like you’ve never experienced them before. Perfectly blistered with an amazing garlicky punch, these green beans are far from that creamy, fattening casserole that grandma makes. Full of flavor and easy to digest!

Click here to make the recipe. 

Baked Parsnip Fries

Paleo, Whole30, and nightshade-free, these baked parsnip fries are the perfect side dish for your Thanksgiving spread. If you feel like going the extra mile, consider making your own ketchup or dipping sauce from scratch to pair with the fries. 

Click here to make the recipe. 

Holiday Honeycrisp Salad

It’s rare that a salad makes it to the Thanksgiving spread, but let’s change that this year. Gorgeous, refreshing, crispy, zesty, and slightly sweet, this holiday Honeycrisp salad will go great at your big holiday feast, or even a regular weeknight dinner.

Click here to make the recipe. 

Mashed Butternut Squash

You’ve never seen a butternut squash recipe like this one! This mashed butternut squash is creamy, comforting, and exhibits subtly sweet and earthy flavors. This is an excellent last-minute dish because it requires very little cooking effort on your part. Just have a sharp knife and be careful when cutting the butternut squash in half.

Click here to make the recipe.

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Roasted root vegetables can be an incredible side dish. It’s often a colorful medley ingredients, including squash, potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, turnips, parsnips, or beets. While this soup doesn’t use all of those ingredients, it does use a few winter staples, some of which exhibit impressive antioxidant properties. In fact, three of the ingredients in this soup are excellent sources of beta-carotene!

Although we have a list of ingredients, you can take a little creative liberty with your root veggies. We don’t recommend using beets because they will turn your soup red quickly. The combination of sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, and parsnips is quite tasty and the ingredients complement one another. If you want your soup to be more peppery, swap out the parsnips for some turnips. Just make sure that you always include red onion in the roasting pan, in addition to the onion you’ll sauté for the the soup base.

After the vegetables are nicely charred and fork tender, you’ll need to transfer them to a blender, along with your soup base. Now, if you have an immersion blender, you can pour the roasted vegetables into the large pot with your soup base and blend that way. Choose your own destiny, but make sure to savor the flavors along the way!

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The parsnip is a delicious root vegetable that resembles a carrot. They are long, cream-colored, and exhibit a nutty and sweet flavor profile. An interesting fact is that parsnips that grow in colder climates, or where a light snow covers the ground, are inherently sweeter. They also happen to comply with paleo and Whole30 diets, making them an excellent potato substitute.

Parsnips contain a diverse mix of nutrients, including fiber, vitamins C, E, & K, magnesium, folate, zinc, phosphorus, and vitamin B6. Additionally, they exhibit impressive antioxidant activity to help reduce oxidative stress. Increasing the amount of antioxidants you consume is beneficial for reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Some test-tube studies found that the polyacetylene compounds in parsnips may anti-cancer properties.

Parsnips are underutilized, mainly because people don’t know what to do with them. Once you unlock the secrets of parsnips, though, you won’t stop. The creations are endless and you’ll have them as a featured item on your shopping list during the fall season. They are available throughout the year but are freshest during the fall and winter months. We hope you love these parsnip fries, so much so that you make them instead of regular potato fries in the future!

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If you’re into nutrition and know what’s good for you, the shorter, darker, and colder days mean all of the best superfoods have arrived. From plump squash varieties and leafy greens to delectable apples and peppery rutabagas, there is no shortage of superfoods during the fall and winter.

When you increase your consumption of fruits and vegetables, especially the ones in this article, you get in better nutritional shape. Consuming a wide variety of different, colorful fruits and vegetables means that you eat more antioxidants and phytonutrients, both of which are important for immune health. Keep your body in optimal nutritional shape by eating the following fall and winter superfoods. 

Apples

You cannot have a fall and winter produce list without apples. With so many varieties and health benefits, it’s hard to go wrong! One medium apple offers 16% of your recommended daily intake (RDI) of fiber, and the polyphenols help to decrease your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. According to a 2017 study in the European Respiratory Journal, the polyphenols in apples helped repair lung damage from excessive smoking. From Honeycrisp and Gala to Granny Smith and Pink Lady, make sure to pick up different apple varieties this fall and winter. 

Leeks

Belonging to the allium family, leeks have a less intense flavor than onions, but they can be used interchangeably in dishes. People classically add leeks to soups, stews, and stocks, but you can add them to lasagna, breakfast casseroles, stir-fries, and more. Leeks contain lutein and zeaxanthin, both of which are antioxidants that help fight eye diseases like macular degeneration and cataracts. A 2019 study found that the allium in leeks helped decrease the risk of colorectal cancer in men and women. 

Cranberries

The bittersweet taste of cranberries lends them to fall salads with arugula and pomegranate arils, or breakfast puddings and tart smoothies. According to several studies, cranberries exhibit antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. A 2009 review found that they can fight cellular inflammation, which is typically caused by cancer or heart disease. A 2016 review of preclinical studies found that the antioxidant compounds may slow cancer cell growth, and possibly kill cancer cells altogether. They are only in season for a short time, so get your hands on them before they leave grocery shelves. 

Parsnips

They look like large, white carrots, but they have a light peppery and sweet flavor. If they get exposed to cold weather, they are often sweeter and more delicious. Parsnips contain a lot of folate, a necessary B vitamin that helps your cells divide to make DNA. One cup of parsnips provides 25% of your RDI of vitamin K, which contributes to bone health and helps your blood clot. You can roast parsnips, add them to soups, or thinly slice them for salads. Try them out as a potato alternative next time you want to make fries!

Quince

Native to certain parts of the Mediterranean and Asia, the quince is a close relative to apples and pears. They contain a lot of vitamin C, quercetin, and kaempferol, all of which help to reduce free radical damage and inflammation. Several studies suggest that quinces may alleviate allergic reactions or allergy symptoms. They do this by suppressing the activity of certain immune cells that cause these reactions. You can only find them at certain grocery stores between October and December. Note: You cannot eat them raw. You have to cook them to enjoy them.

Pumpkin

Pumpkins are not solely meant for carving or seasonal decor, people. You can roast them, steam them, puree them, add them to oatmeal, or make them into dips. One cup of raw pumpkin cubes offers 55% of your RDI of vitamin A and 3,600 micrograms of beta-carotene. They are also rich in potassium, fiber, and B-vitamins. Keep in mind that the the larger pumpkins are less flavorful than the smaller pumpkins (pie pumpkins), which offer a sweeter, more appetizing flavor. 

Persimmons

Beautiful, bold, wonderfully orange, and incredibly nutritious accurately describe persimmons. In season from October to early January, these fall/winter fruits are rich in vitamins A and C. The two most popular and delicious varieties include Hachiya and Fuyu persimmons. They are incredibly tasty and contain shibuol and betulinic acid, which exhibit anti-cancer properties. Several studies found that persimmons help combat breast cancer cells without affecting healthy breast cells. 

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Parsnips are not carrots! Now that we’ve clarified that, we can say that they are a rustic fall and winter produce items that have a slightly bitter flavor with a hint of sweetness. The flavor is like a cross between a carrot and a turnip. When you add the flavors to the rice, you won’t even know that you are eating parsnips.

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St. Patrick’s Day is filled with libations and festivities, and a whole lot of green. In fact, St. Patrick’s Day cookies, clothes, decorations, clover-shaped sunglasses, and plastic leprechaun hats hit store shelves immediately after Valentine’s Day. Outside of all the St. Patrick’s Day paraphernalia, most people don’t indulge in old-fashioned Irish food. People usually just consider Guinness or Jameson their meal for the evening.

Traditional Irish food is notoriously hearty and dominated with meat. Contrary to popular belief, a lot of Irish meals can be just as delicious if made without meat. A lot of dishes include nutritious vegetables that can do a world of good for you overall health.

Cabbage

Cabbage is one of the most featured items in Irish cuisine. When it comes to weight loss, cabbage is a great food choice because it is extremely low in calories. There are almost 20 different flavonoids and 15 polyphenols in cabbage, all of which help fight free radicals in the body. Additionally, cabbage helps lower bad cholesterol (LDL) levels!

Potatoes

Potatoes don’t often get credit for their nutrients, but they should! They are loaded with vitamin B6, potassium, copper, vitamin C, and many other nutrients. If you are eating potatoes in the form of oily French fries or in buttery mashed form, you should not expect to reap the health benefits. Potatoes even have blood-pressure lowering compounds, but you it is best to roast or sauté them with a little olive oil for those to work.

Parsnips

Parsnips often get mistaken for white carrots, but they are not. They are root vegetables that have a slightly bitter yet sweet taste, almost like a cross between a carrot and a radish. You can eat them raw or cooked in a stew or mash. They can help decrease your risk of diabetes, reduce cholesterol levels, and improve your digestion.

Those three ingredients are the power trio in Irish cuisine, but there are many more ingredients that you can use. To enjoy a healthy, vegan St. Patrick’s Day, we have three recipes below that’ll put you in a festive mood!

Roasted Cabbage with Lemon

You may never have thought to roast cabbage, but it is a classic Irish that is low in carbs, ketogenic, gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan. You can vary the amount of lemon, depending on how much you like a vibrant, citrusy dish.

Click here to make the recipe.

Vegan Irish Stew

The best thing about using the crockpot is that you can just throw every ingredient in there in the morning, come home from work, and have dinner ready for you. It’s like you parented for yourself. Go you!

Click here to make the recipe.

Vegan Shamrock Smoothie

To avoid going to that unhealthy fast food place that shall remain nameless, here is a super tasty, superfood St Patrick’s Day Smoothie.

Click here to make the recipe.

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Winter is a time for curling up by the fire with warm cup of herbal tea. As the fire crackles and you look out at the falling snow through your frosted window, provided you live in a place that’s cold. Not everyone has that winter experience, but everyone does get to experience some incredible winter produce options. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best fruits and vegetables you should be eating this winter.

#1: Cabbage

Cabbage is one of the best foods for naturally lowering cholesterol. It is one of our winter favorites because it is loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and anti-carcinogenic compounds. It is affordable and very versatile. You can sauté it, eat is raw in a coleslaw, or cook it in soups.

#2: Brussels Sprouts

These guys are not-so-distant cousins to cabbage. They even look like mini cabbages! Some people aren’t fond of Brussels sprouts, but they obviously haven’t tried roasting them with olive oil, garlic, chopped onions, sea salt, and black peppers. Brussels sprouts are high in antioxidants, which help fight free radicals in the body.

#3: Beets

Beets are the ultimate detox food because they help cleanse the liver. These vibrant red root vegetables are loaded with antioxidants and rich in vitamins A, B, C, and potassium and folate. Beets are rich in natural sugars, so they are great for people looking to cut down their sugar intake.

#4: Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are the staple spud for the holiday season. They are incredibly versatile and are rich in fiber, vitamins, and beta-carotene. Since they are relatively low on the glycemic index, they help you feel full without actually making you sluggish.

#5: Citrus Fruit

Citrus can add brightness to these short, dark winter days. Citrus fruit like lemons, tangerines, orange varieties, grapefruit, and limes have their shining moment during the winter months so get them while you can. Because they are rich in vitamin C and flavonoids, they can help lower a person’s risk of diabetes, gingivitis, cataracts, Crohn’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.

#6: Parsnips

While these may look like white carrots, they are most definitely not. Parsnips are root vegetables that taste like a cross between a carrot and a radish, which makes them great for stews, soups, or roasting. They are rich in potassium, vitamin C, folate, and fiber.

#7: Winter Squash

To round out the list, we have the collection of winter squash. Since there are so many colors and varieties to choose from, where do you start? You can’t go wrong with butternut or spaghetti squash, and kabocha and golden squash are loaded with carotenoids, vitamin A, and potassium. We like these roasted, but you can incorporate them into many recipes.

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As the weather gets a little cooler, we start to see new and exciting produce items in stores and farmers markets. While you may see these items here and there throughout the year, they hit their peak during the fall season. Some items are vibrant and refreshing, while others are hearty and comforting. It makes for a wide range of recipes that continually interest your taste buds.

Apples

Almost as classic as pumpkins, apples are a staple produce item of fall. Whether you eat them raw, baked, sautéed, or juiced, apples are rich in healthy flavonoids, antioxidants, and dietary fiber. Apples emit ethylene, which speeds up the ripening process. Keep them away from other fruits like avocados, bananas, or citrus to keep everything fresh.

Pears

From Anjou to Bartlett, or Sugar Pears to Forelles, pears are actually a lot healthier than people think. They are rich in pectin, a complex carbohydrate, that helps promote healthy digestion, boosts the immune system, and acts as a detox agent.

Brussels Sprouts

Some people don’t like these because of the smell, taste, or both. Made the right way, though, Brussels sprouts taste incredible. Sauté them with onions, garlic, sea salt, and pepper, and finish them off with a few dashes of balsamic vinegar. Plus, Brussels sprouts are rich in vitamin K, folate, and iron!

Grapes

The best grape varieties are harvested in the fall, so you know they are fresh, juicy, and delicious. Eat them as a healthy snack, add them to your salads for sweet bursts of flavor, or freeze them to eat as a guilt-free dessert. Grapes actually have a lot of vitamins K and C, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory properties that help keep your skin healthy.

Parsnips

These may get mistaken for white carrots, but they are most definitely not. They have a nutty flavor with hints of sharpness similar to a radish. They go excellent in stews, or you can roast and then puree them for a soup.

Persimmons

Persimmons may be a love/hate fruit for some people. Resembling small orange tomatoes, this East Asian fruit has a sweet and spicy flavor and is rich in beta-carotene. Go for the Fuyu persimmons because they are usually sweeter. You can sauté them for a sauce or eat them fresh in a dessert.

Cranberries

Yet another fall favorite, cranberries are in season for a short amount of time, so get em’ while the gettin’s good. This holiday staple is rich in phytonutrients, vitamin C, and dietary fiber. They can keep for a long time if you buy them fresh and freeze them. Save them for that Thanksgiving cranberry sauce!

Rutabaga

This purple and white root veggie is a cross between a turnip and cabbage. You can cut them like fries and roast them, add them to casseroles, or puree them with carrots and sweet potatoes after roasting them for a sweet soup.

Squash

It’s all about squash for fall and winter. The most popular variety is butternut squash, but you can create some awesome dishes with spaghetti squash and pumpkins. They are great sources of omega-3s and vitamin A.

Sweet Potatoes

We couldn’t make a list of fall produce items without including sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes can be uses for so much more than Thanksgiving casseroles or pies. Roast them to make fries, boil them to make a sweet potato mash, or grate them to sauté them as hash browns. You can’t really go wrong eating these.

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