Almost everyone craves sweets. Rather than depend on sugar, candy bars and desserts, we found that if we add more sweet flavor into our daily diet, our craving for sweet treats is reduced.
Certain vegetables have a deep, sweet flavor when cooked, like corn, carrots, onions, beets, winter squash* and sweet potato. Then there are other, less popular vegetables that are semi sweet like turnip, parsnip and rutabaga. Then there are vegetables that don’t taste sweet, but their effect on the body is similar to sweet vegetables. These include red radishes, daikon radish, green cabbage, red cabbage, burdock, etc. Use one, two, three, four or five of the above vegetables. Chop the hardest ones, like carrots and beets, into smaller pieces. Softer vegetables, like onions and cabbage, can be cut into larger chunks.
Use a nice sized pot and add enough water to cover the bottom of the pot, you may want to check the water level while cooking. Remember, the vegetables on the bottom will get cooked more than the ones on the top. Cook until desired softness, the softer the vegetables get, the sweeter they become.
At the end, empty the ingredients into a large bowl and use the leftover cooking water as a delicious, sweet sauce.
** Winter squash include kabocha, butternut, buttercup, delicata, and hubbard.
