6 Overlooked Superfoods You Need To Add To Your Weekly Shop

Bored of buying kale on your weekly shop? Well, you’re in luck, because you don’t have to go to a specialist greengrocers to get your hands on some of the most delicious, nutritious superfoods on the market. They have been under your nose, in your favourite supermarket, all along…

Here are six secret superfoods you should have on your dinner plate.

Turnips

Turnips just don’t benefit from the same kind of publicity as the other members of the root vegetable family (despite Michelle Obama’s best efforts). We’ve been baking, mashing and stuffing sweet potatoes for years and everyone indulges in a honey roast parsnip or two at Crimbo, but, until this year, turnips were just something I’d read about at primary school, in stories about farms.

Turnip for what? Well, for starters, gram for gram, they clock up just a quarter of the calories of standard potatoes. They’re also packed with vitamins, minerals and other nutrients thought to keep blood pressure down, fight cancer, protect vision, brighten skin and even eradicate B.O. Plus, with a little seasoning, they’re totally delish.

What should I do with them?

• Mash them with a little stir-fried garlic and ginger.
  

• Stick them in a curry.
  

• Roast them. Lightly tossed in olive oil, sea salt and black pepper before baking for 30 minutes, they make an awesome alternative to potato wedges. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkling of chopped herbs, chilli powder or your own preferred combo of spices for your own dash of fabulous.
  

• Stir fry the greens with a little garlic and ginger for a vitamin A and K-packed side dish. You can also throw them into soups, casseroles and even smoothies!

Blackcurrants

Be honest, have you ever had a blackcurrant that didn’t come out of a Ribena bottle?

Why should I be eating them? You might not know it yet, but blackcurrants are officially the new blueberries. Thought blueberries were good? Well, blackcurrants may contain more than six times as many antioxidants as their lil’ blue cousins. The anthocyanin pigments packed into these guys are thought to have a hand in everything from fighting cancer, heart disease, skin ageing and UTIs to boosting brain power and helping you recover from your daily workout.

What should I do with them?

• Blend them. Make blackcurrants the basis of your brekkie smoothie.

• Bake them. Well, if you’re going to eat cake anyway…

• Turn them into ice lollies.

• Spread them on your toast. Feeling lazy? Grab an off-the-shelf sugar-free blackcurrant jam.

Red Cabbage

Cabbage might not have the glitziest of associations: isn’t that what they dish up in the prison school canteen? But it’s all about what you do with it (and, it turns out, the colour of its skin).

Why should I be eating it? Red cabbage combines the benefits boasted by other members of the cruciferous family (including turnips) with a shedload of that lovely anthocyanin (the stuff packed into richly coloured fruit and veg like blackcurrants). Twofer alert.

What should I do with it?

• Braise it. Too festive? Try giving this Crimbo classic a Chinese twist.
  

• Stir fry it.

• Stick it in a salad.

• Whip up a batch of rainbow slaw.

Cavolo Nero

Also known as ‘black cabbage’, cavolo nero is kale’s Italian cousin. 6 out of 10 people haven’t heard of it, but it’s been grown in Leicester for more than 15 years and you can pick a pack up from Sainsbury’s.

Why should I be eating it? For all the reasons everyone on earth has been telling you you should be eating kale for the past billion years or so. Nutritionally speaking, its virtually identical but, taste wise, it’s a little sweeter. It’s also prettier.

What should I do with it?

• Stick it in a smoothie.
  

• Add it to a soup or stew.

• Stir fry it.

• Stuff a baked potato with it.

• Put it on a pizza.

• Add it to a pasta or gnocchi dish.

Beetroot

If, like me, you think beetroot juice is the devil’s milk, you might be tempted to skip this section. But hold up. Done right, turns out it’s pretty darn tasty.

Why should I be eating it? It can boost exercise performance, lower blood pressure and improve blood flow to the brain - and we could all use a little help now and again, right?

What should I do with it?

• Add it to pasta. This recipe knocked my beet phobia on the head. And not just because it turned my spaghetti a pretty pink colour.
  

• Soup it.

• Bake it. Beetroot cake is the new courgette cake is the new carrot cake. You heard it here first.

• Add (raw) beetroot to salad.

• Mash it. Just don’t let anyone mistake it for sorbet…

Bananas

No fruit bowl is complete without a couple of neglected bananas slowly turning to mush, am I right? As home decor goes, though, it’s not the best look, so I’d strongly advise you to put them to better use…

Why should I be eating them? They contain nutrients credited with boosting mood, maintaining youthful skin, fighting cancer and preventing stroke.

What should I do with them?

• Turn them into pancakes. All you need is an egg…
  

• Freeze them and turn them into ice cream…

• Make a smoothie.

• Mash them into porridge.

• Make banana bread.

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