17.3 Roots, tubers and stalks

Roots and tubers

• Beets are linked with cold northern places, where they grow most of the year. Boil them, then peel them for salads, soups or baked dishes. Choose small to medium, firm beets with smooth skin; hairy root tips can mean a tough beet.
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• Carrots are among the most useful vegetables of all. The most common kind, the Imperator, is long and pointed, medium to dark orange, mild and sweet. Cut them into many shapes and eat them raw, use them in mirepoix, cook them in liquid, grill, microwave or roast them, or grate them into cakes and muffins. Choose firm, smooth, bright orange carrots; any green tops should look fresh. see chapter 4: Putting the cuts to work on vegetables
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• Celery root, or celeriac, is a large, round, knobby brown root, popular in northern Europe. It is not the same plant as stalk celery. Peel off the thick skin to reach crunchy, creamy white flesh with a mild celery taste. Eat it raw, or bake, steam or boil it for soups, stews and salads; it goes well with game and rich meats. Cut raw pieces can wait in acidulated water so they do not brown.
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• Jerusalem artichokes are not artichokes at all but the tubers of a kind of sunflower, and growers now sell them as sunchokes. The lumpy brown skin can be eaten but is usually peeled off. The white inside is crisp and slightly nutty. Cooking makes them easier to digest. Chop or grate them into salads, or boil or steam them for a side dish or soup.
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• Jicama is a legume that grows a tuber underground. Under its thick brown skin is crisp, juicy, sweet white flesh, low in calories, that keeps a long time. It is mostly eaten raw, in salads or with salsa, and also goes into stir-fries. Size tells you nothing about quality.
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• Parsnips look and taste like white carrots but have a texture like sweet potato. Good ones are smooth, with tapering tips, and 5 to 10 inches long (12.5 to 25 centimeters). Peel them like carrots, then eat them raw or cook them almost any way; steamed very soft, they mash like potatoes. Avoid large, woody parsnips.
• Radishes bring a peppery taste and a crisp bite. Their skins may be white, black or any shade of red, and most are white inside. The Asian radish called daikon grows 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) thick and from 6 to 20 inches long. Steaming and stir-frying both work, but radishes are mostly eaten raw, in salads or as garnish, and the leaves can be cooked as greens. Choose firm radishes that are not dry or hollow inside.
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• Rutabagas are roots from the cabbage family, with purple to yellow skin and yellow flesh that tastes starchy and cabbage-like. Cooked, they are close enough to turnips to swap with them. Peel them with a peeler or a chef's knife and cut them into quarters, slices or cubes. Bake them, boil and purée them, or slice and sauté them; caraway, dill or lemon juice suits them.
• Turnips are also cabbage-family roots: white skin blushed rosy red or purple, white inside, with a taste like radish that can be quite hot. Peel them, then dice, slice or cut them into julienne strips. Bake them or cook them in liquid; they are often puréed like potatoes. Choose small to medium turnips that feel heavy and firm, not rubbery.
• Water chestnuts are the tubers of an Asian water plant. Under the brownish-black skin is crisp, moist white flesh that stays crunchy even when cooked, which makes it popular in stir-fries. They also go into salads and casseroles, or are wrapped in bacon for the hors d'oeuvre called rumaki.

Stalks

Stalk vegetables are stems with a lot of cellulose fiber. Pick them young and tender, and trim off tough fibers before cooking.

• Artichokes are the unopened flowers of a kind of thistle. A young, tender globe artichoke can go into the pot whole; older ones need the fuzzy center, called the choke, taken out first. Simmer, steam or microwave whole artichokes, and serve them with hollandaise sauce, garlic butter or lemon juice. The heart can be cooked on its own for salads, fillings or a side dish. Choose tight, heavy heads, solid green to gray-green. Brown marks from frost do no harm.
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• Asparagus has bright green spears topped with a ruffle of tiny leaves. Thick spears are often woody and tough, but they still make soup or purée. Eat it raw, or steam it briefly, stir-fry, microwave or grill it. Spring asparagus needs only lemon juice or clarified butter, and asparagus with hollandaise is a classic. Choose firm, plump spears with tight tips, green all the way down. White asparagus is grown under soil, which keeps the light off and stops chlorophyll forming; it is milder and softer.
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• Bamboo shoots are the young shoots of certain bamboos, eaten once the tough brown skin is stripped away. They are good in stir-fries or served like asparagus. Canned shoots, in brine or water, are the usual form in the United States; rinse them well before use.
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• Celery was once a medicinal herb. Its pale green stalks are curved and stringy. It is often eaten raw, but a side dish of braised or steamed celery works too, and it is one of the three vegetables of mirepoix. Choose crisp stalks with no sign of drying.
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• Fennel has been eaten in the Mediterranean for thousands of years: the bulb as a vegetable, the leaves as an herb and the seeds as a spice. The bulb is made of short, tight stalks like celery, topped with feathery leaves, and tastes of anise or licorice; the taste softens when cooked. Eat it raw, or grill, steam, sauté, bake or microwave it. Choose a fairly large, bright white, compact bulb with fresh cut edges.
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• Hearts of palm are the soft insides of cabbage palm stems: ivory, slim and delicate, tasting a little like asparagus. Fresh ones are grown in Florida; canned ones are sold everywhere. They are usually served uncooked in salads or marinated in an herb vinaigrette.
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• Nopales are the pads of the prickly pear cactus. They taste like green bell pepper and have a slippery, jelly-like texture that thickens stews and sauces. To prepare one, hold the pad with tongs, cut away the thorns and the "eyes" with a sharp knife or peeler, and trim the edge all round. Cut the pad into julienne strips or cubes, then boil or steam them, chill them for salads, or sauté them with onions and peppers. Choose stiff, heavy pads that are neither dry nor soggy.
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Baby vegetables

Baby vegetables appear in many fine restaurants: miniature carrots, tiny turnips, squash no longer than a finger, little heads of cauliflower. Some are true miniature breeds; others are ordinary kinds picked before they are grown. They are often sold with their flowers or leaves still on. They bruise easily and spoil fast. Many can be eaten raw, but most often they stay whole and are steamed or lightly sautéed, and set beside meat, fish or poultry. see chapter 9: Steaming vegetables