So I've been a 100% vegan for the past two weeks - feeling great! Planning on staying that way. And not just vegan - I only eat food that can be grown economically in
Coös County, which doesn't mean I abstain from any plants entirely, because you can grow anything in a
greenhouse, but it does add to the cost, so I try to limit things like tropical fruits, rice, and so on. I also avoid foods that have been processed, transported, and otherwise... taxed.
This has lead me to start eating foods I wasn't very familiar with (not to say I've never had them, just never spent much time thinking about what I'm eating). Today's great discovery - ye humble
turnip!
I don't know why potatoes replaced them in European cuisine so completely - sure, they have a much greater starch density (3x), but when
comparing calorie for calorie turnips have more everything: fiber, protein, calcium, vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, and so on! More importantly, they can be eaten raw or only lightly cooked, which means more vitamins stay in them! Turnips are also more
alkaline (less acidic) than potatoes, and most important of all - lower on the
Glycemic Index, especially when not overcooked! I cooked a spicy split-pea stew with equal amounts of similarly chopped potatoes and turnips (both peeled, the latter was added later in the cooking), and I could hardly tell which was which!
(TODO: insert witty
Baldrick joke here.)