Recipes for Spring Foods

Many spring foods are less well known, but still nutritious and tasty.

Parsnips are a white root related to carrots. They are sweetest when over wintered in the garden and dug in spring. They are high in minerals - especially potassium with more vitamin C than carrots. They are high in carbohydrates and vegetable protein. For recipes check the CSA Newsletter from April 4th in the From the Kitchen section.


Sunchokes are also known as Jerusalem artichokes. They come in different colors, but are round tubers with red or pink skins that don't need peeling; a good brushing to loosen dirt between the scales of skin will do. They are an indigenous food that is high in inulin, a cousin to insulin. Because of this, many people find they help with keeping blood sugar levels even. They are good raw, quick cooked and added to stir fry for a crunchy texture like a water chestnut. Check that same CSA Newsletter April 4th From the Kitchen for cooking ideas.

Gobo is a long thin root - a Japanese treat that is considered a tonifier for the liver and blood. In Japan people add small amounts to stews and soups. We cut roots lengthwise and dry in the oven at lowest possible heat. Once the pieces snap, we cool and store to grind with other roots like dandelion and chicory for a roasted herbal tea. The most common way to eat gobo in Japan is cooked kinpira style. This style is used for matchstick gobo and carrots in spring, and again with thumb sized slices of green pepper and Japanese eggplant in summer, and also with thin crescent slices of squash like our buttercup varieties. For the kinpira recipe check the 8/31/10 CSA newsletter From the Kitchen section. Just use the gobo and carrots cut into matchsticks in place of the peppers and eggplant.



Mizuna is a very mild Japanese mustard that most people recognize from salad mixes. It is nice in salad and great braised or added to clear broth soups just before serving. Ken places chopped mizuna in the bowl and puts the hot soup on top - that is all the cooking it needs. Like all brassicas, mizuna is a power house of nutrition with many antioxidant properties. For other mizuna ideas, check the 7/08/10 CSA newsletter From the Kitchen section.


We also recommend the Madison Area CSA Coalition's cookbook called Asparagus to Zucchini. It has a section on each vegetable with history, storage and general cooking instructions along with recipes from several different sources.