Easy Root Vegetable Recipes

Don’t throw those carrot greens away: They make the perfect bright and fresh garnish to these delicious sweet and tangy roasted carrots from chef Hugh Acheson.

Beets have a strong presence in the cuisine of almost every ethnic group in Jerusalem, Yotam Ottolenghi explains. They color pickling juices on the Arab table and form the basis for a soup of Jewish, Iraqi and Kurdish origin. Ottolenghi purees them for this luscious spread.

The chopped carrot greens turn into a tasty topping (along with cilantro, lemon zest and jalapeno) for sweet roasted carrots and shallots.

Emeril Lagasse sautes radishes and their greens with bacon, shallots and orange juice until they're perfectly crisp-tender.

Food & Wine's Kay Chun sneaks a small piece of Parmesan cheese into this lovely soup, giving it a flavor boost. To make it extra special, she serves the silky bisque topped with a nutty, crunchy and vibrant walnut-and-parsley gremolata.

While traveling through Mexico, chef Patricio Sandoval discovered the ubiquitous snack of thinly sliced mango and jicama spiked with lime and chile. Sandoval used the dish as inspiration for this guacamole, one of the most popular of several on the menu at Mercadito.

We love the earthy porcini topping on this rich and creamy turnip gratin, but it would also be fantastic on mac and cheese or other root vegetable gratin.

"I love that root vegetables are so rustic," says chef Marcus Samuelsson about this earthy, Indian-spiced soup. "I add pear and walnuts for sophistication and crunch." He says that if you can't find sunchokes (also called Jerusalem artichokes), simply use all parsnips instead. The recipe is adapted from his book Marcus Off Duty.

This sweet-and-tart salsa, which is nicely cooling with the fiery pork, is rich in immune-boosting vitamin C and the essential mineral manganese. The crunchy jicama delivers lots of fiber but not many calories.

Many bottled salad dressings are loaded with fat, as well as preservatives that keep them shelf-stable. Plus, they often just don't taste very good. F&W's Grace Parisi makes a simple, creamy dressing by whisking fresh goat cheese with vinegar and oil; she tosses it with a salad of warm roasted beets and beet greens, which brings us to another good rule: Eat vegetables from root to leaf when possible.

Laurent Tourondel grew up in France eating his mother's carrot salad. His Asian take is a little different: The sesame oil, fresh ginger and cilantro add vibrancy to sweet, crunchy carrots.

Tangy lebneh is an excellent match with the sweet roasted carrots in this great recipe from chef Hugh Acheson. It’s worth making the quick pickled shallots, too.

With this sandwich, chef Todd Ginsberg proves that vegetarian versions of classic meat dishes can sometimes be just as delicious. Here, in place of the pastrami, Ginsberg sprinkles roasted beet slices with smoked salt, then serves them on buttered rye toast with all the traditional condiments, like sauerkraut, melted Swiss cheese and homemade Russian dressing.

At Little Giant, Julie Taras and Tasha Garcia usually top stewy braised dishes with these earthy vegetable chips for a bit of crunch. They also serve them at the bar as a salty snack.

This delicious winter salad combines all kinds of flavors and textures: crunchy, juicy, earthy, nutty and toasty.

Most kimchi (Korean fermented pickles) use lots of red chile flakes and are bold and spicy. This is a white kimchi, which means it's made without the red chile. Some kimchi ferment for weeks, but Andrea Reusing lets these turnips pickle at room temperature for only two days. "It's really special to have something that's just starting to ferment," she says. "It's more about the flavor of the vegetable."

"It may not be widely known, but we have olive growers in South Texas, and they're making some great olive oil," says James Holmes. He drizzles that local oil on this simple mix of grilled beets, carrots and scallions.