Horseradish cream makes a tangy topping for these sweet potato pancakes.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—The spicy, sinus-clearing horseradish plant most likely originated in Eastern Europe, but today it’s cultivated and enjoyed around the world. This sturdy root has been used for centuries both as a culinary ingredient and for medicinal purposes. The white root releases its heat when grated or ground. When preparing horseradish recipes, you can sometimes find a whole horseradish root to grate yourself, but year-round you can rely on your supermarket’s refrigerated section for jars of what’s known as prepared horseradish, which has been mixed with vinegar. Fiery wasabi, a Japanese horseradish, can also be ground fresh from its root, but is most commonly found in stores in a paste or powder form. Wasabi and horseradish both belong to the Brassicaceae family, which also includes mustard, cabbage, and broccoli.

Horseradish recipes not only add a bit of bite to early-fall meals, they also may be able to help fight tumors. When Michigan State University researchers applied extracts from both horseradish and wasabi roots to several cancers, cell growth diminished by as much as 70 percent. The plants, like their cruciferous cousins, contain sulfur compounds that have been identified as cancer fighters. In fact, horseradish contains up to 10 times more glucosinolates—compounds that increase your liver's ability to detoxify carcinogens and help suppress the growth of tumors—than broccoli, the next-best source of these compounds, according to a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Horseradish goes great with roast beef, shrimp, fish, and veggies, and it adds tons of flavor to sauces. To make a simple cocktail sauce, just mix horseradish into ketchup until the sauce reaches your desired level of heat. Or, make a zesty Cajun cocktail sauce by combining ½ cup of ketchup, 5½ tablespoons of prepared horseradish, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 5½ teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce, 1 clove of minced garlic, and 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh dill, tarragon, or thyme; mix well. Alternatively, mix up a creamy, delicious horseradish sauce that’s great with meat or seafood: In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of low-fat sour cream, 2 tablespoons of minced fresh parsley, 1 tablespoon of prepared horseradish, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, and 3 drops of hot pepper sauce. Mix well, and refrigerate for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.