Alkalizing Root Vegetables

During the holiday feasting season, I encourage you to remember that many of the healthiest traditional foods —yams, carrots, sweet potatoes and beets — aren’t just for the holidays and should be added to your menu whenever possible.

That’s because root crops are always high in alkalizing potassium and often carry abundant bone stabilizing carotenoids as noted by their colors. The other Thanksgiving favorites squash and all other gourds also are highly alkalizing for the same reasons.

Enjoy one or more of these alkaline root crops and gourds every day:

Beets
Burdock
Carrots
Daikon radish
Jícama
Kohlrabi
Lotus root
Onion
Parsnips
Potatoes
Rutabaga
Squash
Sweet potatoes
Taro root
Turnips
Yams

Alkaline foods aren’t just for Thanksgiving…

One of the best ways to alkalize is to substitute root crops for refined grains. I think you’ll be surprised how simple it is to alkalize your body by replacing pasta, pizza, pastry, rice or bread with dishes made from root crops several days a week. Here are some of my other favorite ideas:

Leftover potatoes, sweet potatoes, and squash can be added to your breakfast in place of toast or other baked goods.
Warming and filling root crop soups also make wonderful alkaline breakfasts.
Try adding a bit of daikon radish to your dishes to not only alkalize, but also improve digestion.
For an alkalizing chip alternative, try thinly slicing sweet potatoes or beets, cover them with olive oil and bake.

Recipe: Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

(Servings: 8 potato halves)

4 sweet potatoes, unpeeled

1 Tbsp clarified butter

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ C unsweetened almond milk

1/8 C cream cheese

4 scallions, finely chopped

½ tsp paprika

1. Preheat the oven to 400ᴼ F.

2. Pierce the potatoes a few times with a fork and arrange them on a 9” x 13” baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour, or until fork-tender. Remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 350ᴼ F.

3. Slice the potatoes lengthwise and carefully scoop the flesh into a medium-sized bowl, leaving 1/4” of flesh on the skin. Set aside.

4. In a 1 ½ quart saucepan, combine the butter, coriander, salt and cinnamon over low heat and cook for 30 seconds, stirring once or twice.

5. Add the milk and cream cheese to the saucepan and mix until well blended.

6. Add the milk mixture to the reserved potato flesh, fold in the scallions and mix well until combined.

7. Use a spoon to fill each potato skin with a portion of the mixture and transfer them to the baking sheet. Top the filled skins with paprika, and bake for about 20 minutes or until the filling begins to brown, and serve.

Recipe courtesy of The Amazing Acid Alkaline Cookbook by Bonnie Ross

Want to learn more about an alkaline diet for bone health?