Parsnip

Parsnip is a vegetable that might not sound exciting, but it's absolutely delicious in soups and stews, where it adds a sweet note. Parsnips are also great boiled and mashed up with potatoes, adding sweetness and depth to that classic dish.

For the sweetest, nuttiest flavor, allow the cream-color carrotlike roots of parsnips to mature in cool weather. Sow seeds two weeks before the average last frost date in your area. Grow parsnips in raised beds or deep, rich loamy soil to permit the long roots to develop fully.