One of the things I forget about from time to time that I really love is Horseradish! It has been cited as including many beneficial compounds for boosting the immune system, treating cancer, clearing congestion caused by colds, illness, allergy, preventing osteoporosis, aiding in weight loss, stimulating urination, increasing energy levels in the body and improving concentration, and protecting against microbes and bacterial infections, among other things. Read more about its health benefits and some contraindications here.

Depending on where you live, you might have a difficult time finding pre-prepared horseradish without additives and preservatives in the grocery store. Since preparing foods from scratch will give you a fresher product, look for the horseradish root in the produce section (usually near the fresh ginger root, yucca, celery root, fennel root, beets, turnips, etc.)

You will need a food processor or blender. I use my Ninja. (First, I chop the root coarsely in the large receptacle then I place it in the individual serving glass. The second set of blades makes a really smooth and creamy sauce.) If you’d like to station a rotary fan so as to push the fumes generated from the preparation process away from you, do that before you begin. Otherwise have a hanky handy! Just peel the root, slice into chunks, and place in your food processor or blender with lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and water as needed. This will give you the raw material to use for mixing with steamed veggies or to make more complicated sauces. It will keep in the refrigerator for several months. If you use dairy products, you can play with the following recipes.

Recipe 1

Recipe 2

One of my favorite recipes with horseradish is found in the Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant cookbook (p. 104). In short, steam Brussels sprouts, carrots and leeks and toss in a sauce made of a healthy oil, a bit if butter (omit if desired), grated horseradish, apple cider vinegar, dill weed, salt and black pepper. I’ve been serving this for celebratory dinners for some time and it never fails to delight. During the winter months especially, horseradish can really brighten your day!