November 15th, 2011
I have a love / hate relationship with parsnips. OK, it’s really more of a hate relationship. I really want to like them because they’re one of the few veggies that I can get locally in the winter, but no matter how I cook them, I’m just not a fan. Not even the
legendary nut butter parsnip fries could make them palatable for me. So, needless to say, I wasn’t exactly thrilled to see that the
Sweet or Savory challenge ingredient for this month was parsnips. I was planning on throwing in the towel and sitting this one out. But then, I happened to be watching Chuck’s Day Off on the Food network and he made a risotto that just featured root vegetables, no rice. One of the vegetables was parsnips. It looked so intriguing that I though, OK, I’ll give parsnips one last chance. So here is a rice-free, root vegetable risotto and my entry for the
Sweet or Savory Challenge. I decided a use another local vegetable that I’m trying to love – Jerusalem artichokes, or sunchokes. I included some potatoes to balance out the stronger flavours of the other two. I was definitely pleasantly surprised by this dish. I liked it a lot more than I though I would. It was also a lot quicker to make than I was expecting. However, I still would have liked it better if it was made with all potatoes!
Sunchokes, potatoes and parsnips
Diced up root veggies
Creamy root veggie risotto!
Root Vegetable Risotto (inspired from this recipe)
1 tbs olive oil
1 bunch leeks
2 medium parsnips
4 small potatoes
4 Jerusalem artichokes
3 cups vegetable broth
1 tbs nutritional yeast
1 tbs Earth Balance vegan butter substitute
Finely dice the leeks and rinse them well. Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat and sautée the leeks until tender, approximately 5-7 minutes. While the leeks are cooking, dice the root vegetables into 1 cm pieces. Meanwhile, heat up the vegetable broth in a small pot and keep it simmering. When the leeks are soft add the root veggies to the pan along with 2 ladle fulls of broth and stir frequently. Keep stirring often and add more broth as soon it has absorbed. Do this until the veggies are just tender but not falling apart. This should only take 20-25 minutes and you probably won’t need to use all the broth. Stir in the nutritional yeast and Earth Balance. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
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October 28th, 2011
I don’t have much time for a real post today. Dave and I are going to see Matt Good tonight. We have front row tickets and backstage passes – I’m crazy excited!!
Dinner is left over borsch. I don’t have a recipe for you because this is one of the few soups that I actually use a recipe out of a cook book for. I just wanted to share my love of borsht. I’m not sure if it’s because I went to a Ukranian babysitter for a large chunk of my childhood or because borscht is the one of the few meals I can make with local produce all year round, but I love it!
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March 10th, 2011
In my continued effort to eat more local veggies, I decided to try rutabaga this week. After not having much luck with previous local root veggies, I decided to use the rutabaga in a roasted root veggie soup where its flavor wouldn’t be too overpowering. I tried some raw rutabaga while I was chopping it and it turns out that it’s pretty tasty! But I’m glad it led me to make this super yummy soup!
I’m not usually a fan of blended soups. I’m more of a super chunky stew-like soup kind of gal. But both Dave and I loved this soup! The veggies, the roasted garlic, the subtle spices, yum! I added chickpeas to make this filling enough for a meal. If you plan to serve it as a starter or side then you can leave the chickpeas out. You can also use just about any combination of root veggies, just make sure to have a good balance of orange to white and yellow ones.
Roasted Garlic and Root Vegetable Soup with Chickpeas
2lb sweet potato
1 large rutabaga (not turnips, see here for the difference)
1 1/2 lb potato
3 large carrots
1 tbs and 1 tsp oil
4 cloves garlic (or more!)
1 tsp thyme
1 onion or 1 bunch of leeks
¼ tsp cumin
¼ tsp coriander
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup non-dairy milk.
2 cups chickpeas
Preheat oven to 400. Chop all the veggies into roughly equal size cubes and place on two baking sheets. Drizzle with 1 tbs oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir to get the veggies evenly covered with oil. Bake until the veggies are soft and can be easily pierced with a fork, this should take 40-50 minutes. When the veggies are almost done, heat the remaining tsp of oil in a large soup pot and add the onion or leeks. Saute until soft, then add the cumin and coriander. When the veggies are soft add them to the pot along with the broth and milk. Puree with a hand blender until mostly smooth but leaving a little bit of texture. Add the chick peas and heat until hot.
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February 6th, 2011
I’m a little behind the times. Nut butter parsnip (and other root veggie) fries made their rounds on the vegan/healthy food blogosphere a few months ago. I didn’t pay much attention because I hate parsnips. But, in an attempt to eat more local foods, I got a big bag of local, organic parsnips in my produce delivery this week. I figured these fries would be the best way to ease into them.
I won’t bother posting the basic recipe because you can find it here and here and here.
I used 1 tbs chunky peanut butter, 1 tbs almond butter and 2 lbs of parsnips. I found them to be too salty so I would recommend only using ¼ tsp salt. I would also suggest using smooth peanut butter. I found the large chunks of peanut didn’t stick to the fries.
Nut Butter Parsnip Fries
Sadly, I could still taste the parsnip flavour. And this confirmed that I definitely don’t like parsnips :0( But at least I gave them another try. I can’t wait to make these again with a root veggie that I actually like!
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February 1st, 2011
So I’m calling this Caramelized Shallot and Turnip Split Pea Soup but really, I’m not sure these were turnips.
I definitely believe that the way we eat has a huge impact on the environment. That is one of the main reasons why I eat a plant based diet. I also try to eat as much local and organic food as possible. Living in Ontario this is not always easy, especially in the winter. It is a further challenge for me since I really don’t like many of the few local veggies that are available in the winter. I really didn’t like many vegetables growing up. Even though I went vegetarian when I was 12, I was really more of a carbetarian than a vegetarian. But since going vegan, I’ve grown to love many of the veggies that I once hated. Certain veggies like turnip and parsnips are still on my hate list. They are some of the few veggies that I can get in the winter that are local and organic; so I decided to give them both another try.
Last week I tried turnips. At least I thought they were turnips. When I cut open the first one, it seemed very different than the one other time I tried cooking with turnips. So I took a pic and asked on twitter if anyone had ever seen a turnip like this. The unanimous reply was that it was not a turnip. But it did have a turnipy smelly so I think it was a turnip. The texture was sort of soft and spongy (think inside of a too large zucchini) not firm like a regular turnip.
Anyways, let me know if you have any idea what veggie this is! And I bet this soup will work with regular turnip! Dave swears these things tasted just like turnip.
Caramelized Shallot and Turnip Split Pea Soup
1 tsp olive oil
1 package shallots, chopped (I’m sure regular onions would work)
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 cups yellow split peas
6 cups water or veggie chicken stock
½ tsp thyme
⅛ tsp marjoram
bay leaf
1lb or 3 medium turnips, diced into ½ inch cubes
In a soup pot, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the shallots and stir them to coat with oil. The reduce the heat and them cook for about 15 minutes. Stir often. Then add the minced garlic and let it cook for another 5 minutes. Then add the remaining ingredients except the turnip. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer for 30 minutes. Add the turnip and cook for another 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
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