Ask a Dietitian

Feel as though you are stuck in a rut with your choice of winter vegetables?  Maybe it’s time to switch things up a bit.  Each day we need to have at least one green and one orange vegetable and there are lots of choices out there.  Some of the local winter vegetables that pack the most nutrients include broccoli, carrots, kale, rapini, winter squash, onions, cabbage, beets and Brussels sprouts.   If you could only have 4 vegetables to live on this winter which ones would you choose?

My top picks for winter vegetables include:

Winter squash: These orange vegetables are packed full of beta carotene, a potent antioxidant known to help fight cancer and heart disease.  ½ c of winter squash contains just as much blood pressure lowering potassium as a medium banana, not to mention the fibre, calcium and magnesium.

Buy a butternut squash with a long neck and cut it into rounds. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with thyme and roast in the oven while you cook your chicken.  Serve them hot as a side or cold under salad greens topped with dried cranberries, toasted walnuts and goat cheese.

Rapini: AKA broccoli rabe, part of the brassica family.  This locally grown leafy green vegetable is a great source of a potent anticancer agent called indole-3-carbonol which helps neutralize free radicals.  It also contains calcium, magnesium and vitamin K involved in making strong bones.  Rapini is also a source of folate, vitamin C, beta-carotene and iron. Lightly sautéing or steaming leafy greens helps make the minerals more available.

Try blending cooked rapini into a vegetable soup or serve it sautéed with garlic and olive oil in the traditional Italian way.

Cabbage: This cruciferous vegetable is ranked right up there with Brussels sprouts and broccoli when it comes to its’ cancer fighting phytochemicals; indoles and isothiocyanates. Cabbage is also a great source of vitamin C.  In fact you can get 25% of your daily vitamin C from 1/2c of cooked cabbage.  Cabbage also contains fibre, potassium, vitamin K, calcium and folate, a delicious vegetable for heart health.

Cabbage is great shredded or thinly sliced and eaten raw in salad with Asian sesame soy dressings or for extra crunch in a sandwich with yogurt and lemon juice.  However, slightly cooking cabbage makes some of the nutrients more easily absorbed.  It can be a very economical ingredient to use in soups, as a filler for stir fry and in wraps.

Onions: This bulb is a good source of vitamin C, folate, B6, potassium and manganese.  It also contains fibre and is low in calories.  Not to mention onions, from the Allium genus, are a source of potent antioxidants called flavonoids and phenolic compounds which have been studied for their anticancer and heart health benefits.

Onions are such a versatile vegetable and impart great taste to any dish.  They are economical, keep well in a cool dry place and are easy to prepare.  Use them raw in salads, burgers and sandwiches or cooked as a base for curries, soups, pasta sauces, stews and stir fries.

Carrots and Beets also top my list as being top winder vegetables to eat more often but you can’t name them all.

Enjoy.