Firsts

If you can believe it this was the first time I had cooked with fennel and the first time I had baked sweet potato fries.

The soup is a parsnip and fennel soup from The Everyday Vegan. This soup turned out really good. I found it a little light for a main dish, but it would be nice to serve to company. The salad and sweet potato fries rounded out this meal. So why would you want to make sweet potato fries over regular ones? One of my favourite nutritionists (local Canadian) Joey Shulman recommends "Go for Colour! Nature is very wise and gives us clues about the health benefits of various goods. In terms of produce, the more colourful a fruit or vegetable, the healthier it is for us. The pigment of the skin or flesh of produce comprises nutrients called phytochemicals. These chemicals offer a multitude of disease preventing and health promoting effects." (Alive Sept. 2002 No. 287)

Sweet potatoes are an antioxidant-rich, anti-Inflammatory root vegetable with an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), a very good source of vitamin C and manganese, and a good source of copper, dietary fiber, vitamin B6, potassium and iron.

How does fennel score on the nutritional scale? Fennel offers antioxidant protection and immune support from vitamin C along with fiber, folate and potassium for cardiovascular and colon health.