Even as the temperatures cool and the days grow shorter, fresh local produce continues to be within reach. Most grocery chains across the country now ensure there’s farm-fresh produce right at your fingertips, meaning those of us without a car—or perhaps no inclination to drive out of town—can still enjoy the best of what our farms have to offer.
Not Your Same Old Veggies
Yes, you’ll still find plenty of familiar staples, but fall also brings an abundance of vegetables that might not make it into your kitchen as often. These underrated picks are some of the most nutritious and flavourful of the year.
Fennel
Fennel is a bulbous vegetable that has a licorice-like (Anise) flavour and scent. It adds fibre, calcium, potassium and Vitamins C and K to your meals. Fennel also provides the body with a range of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant phytochemicals.
To use it, toss some sliced fennel bulb into salads to add flavour and crunchiness or shred it up into a slaw and serve as a topping on a burger. You can add chopped fennel to soups and stews too. If you’re serving a roast chicken or fish, place them on a bed of fennel and then bake. Alternatively, Fennel, grilled or baked with olive oil, is extra delicious served with other root veggies.
Celery
There’s more to celery than just being one of many vegetables (crudités) served with other raw vegetables and a dip at parties and get-togethers.
This crunchy, tangy vegetable is now taking centre stage when it comes to juicing. Believers in its health benefits claim that celery juice can balance blood sugar, heal eczema, restore fertility, promote weight loss and cure a myriad of illnesses. While there’s little, if any, scientific evidence to back up such claims, including celery in your diet does offer nutritional benefits. Read more about the benefits as well as the myths surrounding this process on Medical News Today.
At just 18 calories, two medium stalks provide a good source of folate, potassium and vitamin K. Celery also contains flavones, inflammation reducing antioxidants and phthalides, phytochemicals thought to relax blood vessels.
Mushrooms
Not just a pizza topping, or the main ingredient in your favourite soup anymore, one cup of raw mushrooms provides 20 to 25 percent of our daily requirement of niacin. This valuable B vitamin helps the body make hormones that counteract stress.
Eating mushrooms can also improve circulation and reduce inflammation in our body. As well, they’re an excellent source of selenium – a mineral that acts as an antioxidant. And on top of all that, mushrooms contain potassium, copper and iron.
Make a spinach salad – add either raw or sautéed mushrooms to a bed of baby spinach and top with toasted pine nuts and crumbled goat cheese. Stuff large mushroom caps with crab meat salad or grill a big Portobello mushroom on the BBQ just as you would a burger for a healthy alternative to meat. They’re very nutritious – one cup equals 4 grams of protein and 5 grams of fibre.
Green Peas
Although Spring is the usual time of year to find fresh green peas in the supermarkets and at farmside stands, they are generally still available come Fall. As plant-based eating becomes more popular, green pea protein is getting plenty of recognition. Pea protein can now be found as an ingredient in meatless burgers, non-dairy milks and smoothies. You can also find them in energy bars and pastas.
Increase your intake of plant protein, along with other key nutrients by including peas in your diet. One half-cup delivers 4 grams of protein along with 4 grams of fibre. Add to that, folate and vitamin K.
Another health benefit that green peas bring to the table is choline – a B-like vitamin that’s connected to memory and muscle function. Peas also contain lutein, a phytochemical that keeps your eyes healthy by protecting against cataracts and macular degeneration.
So, There You Go!
These four excellent vegetables are often overlooked and underrated when it comes to our nutritional needs. And they’re all available, all year round, in most parts of the country; however, getting them fresh from the farm at this time of the year makes them even more delicious.