A water chestnut salad

We now know that when your mother said to eat your vegetables, she was right on. But maybe the limp beans and overcooked corn turned you off. Perhaps if she presented veggies to you in a better form, you’d have gobbled them up.

This brings us to the humble water chestnut.

Rather than pushing those water chestnuts around on your plate, you would have loved them if your mom took advice from someone like Rachael Ray and stuck ‘em in stuffing. The Food Network says, courtesy of Ray, that by adding those airy discs to turkey cutlets, rye bread, chicken stock, celery and a handful of other ingredients listed on the network’s Web site, these veggies are a great accent to stuffing.

Water chestnuts are the roots of an aquatic plant found in freshwater ponds, marshes and lakes. They are mostly grown in Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand and Australia, says Bellybytes.com, a nutrition resource Web site. Bellybytes also notes that water chestnuts store carbohydrates for plant growth and are a good source of potassium. It may be hard to admit, but your mother was right: Eat your veggies.

You can pick up these tasty delights at your local grocery store in the canned food section or at Oriental grocery stores such as Am-Ko Oriental Foods and Gifts in Champaign. They are sold in a mixture of other vegetables or on their own. But be careful; you’re going to have to slice them yourself if you buy them on their own since they are typically sold in their spherical form.

Are you already a fan? Try water chestnut powder next time you’re making a delightful Asian dish to thicken the sauce. This substance is a powdered starch dried from ground water chestnuts that are sure to add a zing to any dish.

You probably know water chestnuts as the common accent vegetable in Chinese and Thai food. Look to restaurants such as BoBo China in Champaign to find them as a common ingredient.

“Our most popular dish with water chestnuts is the garlic chicken,” says Iaojing Sun of BoBo China. “It’s not like a regular vegetable or fruit, so it adds a good texture to the dish.”