Parsnip: The Sweet White Carrot You Never Knew You Needed
Most people walk right past parsnips in the grocery store, assuming they’re just pale, sad carrots. But here’s the thing – parsnip, one of the root-crop vegetables, has incredibly high amounts of vitamin C. Think of parsnips as carrots’ sophisticated older sibling, with a subtle sweetness that develops when roasted.
When roasted in the oven, parsnips caramelize beautifully, creating crispy edges and a creamy interior that rivals the best potato dish. You can mash them like potatoes, slice them into chips, or throw them into winter stews. I use red beets, golden beets, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, and turnips. They fill this simple side dish with bold color and sweet, earthy, bitter, and nutty flavors. Their natural sugars make them perfect for those who want to reduce refined sugar in their cooking.
Jerusalem Artichoke: The Underground Powerhouse with a Misleading Name
The Jerusalem Artichoke is not actually an artichoke but a member of the sunflower family. It looks nothing like an artichoke but is actually a dark brown, lumpy looking tuber. It also does not originate in Jerusalem, its name comes from the Spanish and Italian word, girasol/girasole, which means sunflower! Also known as sunchokes, these knobby tubers pack a nutritional punch that’ll make your taste buds dance.
What makes Jerusalem artichokes special is their low glycemic index – This particular tuber has a very low glycemic index: it’s perfect to replace high-starch potato for people who have diabetes. These oddly shaped root vegetables have a nutty and sweet flavor. Sunchokes (aka Jerusalem artichokes) are an excellent source of fiber. You can roast them, turn them into soup, or even eat them raw in salads for a crunchy texture similar to water chestnuts.
Celeriac: The Ugly Duckling That Tastes Like Heaven
Don’t let its bumpy, alien-like appearance fool you – celeriac is culinary gold waiting to be discovered. Often referred to as celery root, celeriac is a close relative to the common celery you know. A bumpy, pale yellow veggie, it tastes somewhat like celery, with a more earthy and intense flavor. You may have trouble peeling this knobby vegetable, but its smooth and creamy texture makes the hassle worth it.
Celeriac boasts an impressive nutrient profile, with vitamins K, C and B6, phosphorus, fiber, potassium and manganese. When mashed, it creates a luxurious alternative to mashed potatoes with roughly half the calories. Celeriac is a nutty-tasting, hardy winter root that can be used in many ways: grated raw, boiled or braised, mashed like potato, or added to stews or soups. Try it roasted with garlic and herbs – you’ll wonder why you ever bothered with regular potatoes.
Rutabaga: The Hardy Root That Survived Wars
Rutabaga got a bad reputation because it was often the only food available during tough times in history. As with rutabaga, the hardy topinambur was a staple food in France during the Second World War and has thus inherited a bad reputation. However, this purple-topped root vegetable deserves a second chance in modern kitchens.
What makes rutabaga special is its incredible versatility and storage life. It can be mashed, roasted, or added to stews, providing a slightly sweet, earthy flavor that’s more complex than turnips. Try swapping out half the Yukon golds for rutabaga in your basic mashed potato recipe. The result is a more nutritious, flavorful dish that’ll have your dinner guests guessing the secret ingredient.
Kohlrabi: The Space-Age Vegetable That Tastes Like Broccoli Dreams
Kohlrabi is an absolutely delicious vegetable, often hard to find in the shops, but it’s easy to grow in the garden. This UFO-looking vegetable might seem intimidating, but it’s actually one of the most rewarding forgotten vegetables to rediscover. Kohlrabi is used in similar ways to turnip and tastes like tender broccoli.
The secret to kohlrabi is harvesting it at the right time. It’s delicious harvested at a much larger size than traditional kohlrabi varieties, which you don’t want to allow to grow much larger than a golf ball, or they become rather tough and woody. I’ve regularly eaten Galia melon sized ‘Gigant’ and have always found it to be delicious and very tender. Raw kohlrabi adds incredible crunch to salads, while roasted kohlrabi develops a sweet, nutty flavor that pairs beautifully with roasted meats.
Black Salsify: The European Delicacy That Americans Forgot
An example of this might be scorzonera root, also known as black salsify. Also commonly referred to as black salsify (Scorzonera hispanica), scorzonera root vegetables may also be called black vegetable oyster plant, serpent root, Spanish salsify, and viper’s grass. This long, dark root vegetable might look like a dirty stick, but Europeans have treasured it for centuries.
Often known as Black Salsify (Scorzonera and Salsify are closely related), this really is an interesting vegetable which should be better known and more widely grown – as it is on the Continent of Europe, where it is treated as a gourmet vegetable, as they appreciate and enjoy its unique oyster like flavour. Black salsify is considered nutritious: it contains proteins, fats, asparagine, choline, laevulin, as well as minerals such as potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, and vitamins A, B1, E and C. The flavor is subtle yet distinctive – imagine a cross between asparagus and oysters without the fishy taste.
Cardoon: The Giant Thistle That’s Actually Delicious
You’ve heard of artichokes and pricked your finger on gnarly thistle, but have you heard of artichoke thistle? Also known as cardoon or Cynara cardunculus, this edible Mediterranean vegetable is closely related to both plants but has more prized culinary uses in southern Europe and North Africa. Don’t let its intimidating appearance scare you away – this is fine dining material.
The inner leaves and stalks are usually blanched, yielding a mildly sweet, earthy bite with a flavor similar to celeriac, sunchokes, or artichoke hearts. You can also enjoy them raw as a crunch celery-like appetizer with dip. French chefs often serve olive-oil marinated cardoon stems instead of artichokes in many dishes. The key is proper preparation – blanching removes any bitterness and reveals the tender, flavorful heart beneath.
Amaranth: The Ancient Superfood That’s Actually a Vegetable
While most people know amaranth as a trendy grain, the leaves of this plant have been feeding civilizations for thousands of years. Amaranth is an eye-catching plant that produces seeds which are full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. There’s also a variety called ‘Red Callaloo’ which is grown for its versatile and nutritious leaves.
Some forgotten varieties were unfairly considered “weeds”, prime examples being stinging nettle and white goosefoot: a pity, since they’re loaded with protein and vitamins! Amaranth leaves fall into this category – they’re incredibly nutritious and have a mild, spinach-like flavor that works beautifully in stir-fries, soups, or simply sautéed with garlic. The young leaves are tender enough to eat raw in salads, while mature leaves benefit from cooking.
Turnip Greens: The Leafy Part Everyone Throws Away
Here’s a secret that’ll change how you shop: when you buy turnips, you’re actually getting two vegetables for the price of one. A member of the cabbage family, turnips look like a mix between a radish and beet. Not only can you eat the bulb, but the turnip greens are edible too. Packed with vitamins and minerals, the greens have a taste similar to kale.
The turnip bulb is a good source of potassium, a nutrient known for lowering blood pressure, and the greens contain calcium, vitamin K and vitamin A. Eating the entire turnip is a surefire way to get your daily dose of nutrients. The greens have a slightly peppery bite that mellows when cooked, making them perfect for Southern-style preparations with bacon, or as a nutritious addition to smoothies and soups.
Sea Kale: The Coastal Vegetable That Grows in Your Backyard
Seakale is a perennial plant that is forced into growth from late winter using special forcing pots for a super-early harvest. Cook the pale, tender stems like asparagus. Seakale needs free-draining soil. This forgotten coastal vegetable offers gardeners something truly special – a perennial crop that comes back year after year.
What makes sea kale fascinating is its traditional growing method – it’s “forced” in darkness to produce tender, blanched shoots similar to Belgian endive. For example, toss up a salad with sea kale or crystalline ice plant, and bake a delicious cheese-lathered dish of crosnes. The flavor is delicate and slightly nutty, with a texture that falls somewhere between asparagus and broccoli stems. Once established, sea kale produces crops for decades with minimal care.
These ten forgotten vegetables represent just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to rediscovering our culinary heritage. In the age before industrial agriculture, there were over 1000 varieties of vegetables in people’s gardens… an incredible heritage which has now been forgotten! Today, at best, only 60+ different vegetables are grown overall! Each of these vegetables offers unique flavors, nutritional benefits, and cooking possibilities that can transform your kitchen adventures.
The beauty of forgotten vegetables lies not just in their novelty, but in their resilience and nutritional density. Actually, these are very often the plants in the vegetable patch that contain the highest amounts of vitamins and trace elements. By bringing these vegetables back to our tables, we’re not just expanding our palates – we’re reconnecting with agricultural biodiversity and supporting more sustainable food systems.
What would you try first – the sweet crunch of raw kohlrabi or the earthy luxury of celeriac mash?
