18 Inventive Ways To Cook With Parsnips

In the past few months, I’ve been writing articles that highlight seasonal produce. They’re filled with the basics: How to buy, store, clean and cook produce X,Y or Z. I also like to give you recipes featuring seasonal produce to help inspire you to incorporate more vegetables into your diet. This week I want to talk about one of my very favorite root vegetables, parsnips.

Parsnips are botanically known as Pastinaca, which is part of the larger Umbelliferae family and includes vegetables such as carrots, chervil, parsley, fennel, celeriac and celery. The word pastinaca comes from the Latin word pasatinare, which means ‘to dig up the ground’ and the “nip” suffix is derived from nepe, an Old English world for turnip.

Eating parsnips can do your body good. One cup of raw parsnips contains more than six grams of dietary fiber, at just 100 calories. The high-fiber content may help prevent constipation and reduce blood cholesterol levels. Parsnips are rich in potassium, calcium, iron, vitamin C, manganese and folate. They also contain a compound called falcarinol, which is being studied for its cancer-fighting properties.

Beyond the health benefits that parsnips offer, they simply taste good. Let’s take a look at parsnip basics and then I’ll share 18 recipes that’ll get you cooking with parsnips in no time.

How to Buy, Clean & Store Parsnips

If you’re like me, you like to save money on groceries every place you can. Parsnips are really budget-friendly. They’re a hardy winter vegetable that is suited for storage, just as long as you keep them dry. Unwashed parsnips can be stored in a paper or plastic bag in the fridge for up to several weeks. You’ll be able to find parsnips year-round, however their peak season is from fall to spring,

Look for parsnips that are small-to-medium size and pass up parsnips that are enormous. Larger parsnips are woody and tough, while the smaller parsnips are tender and sweet. Choose parsnips that are firm, avoid those that are rubbery or soft. You’ll also want to avoid parsnips with lots of tiny, feathery micro-roots on the end. If a parsnip is grown without adequate access to water, it will sprout these micro-roots to seek more water. These roots can burn when roasting.

Good news, because they’re not grown on a massive scale, parsnips are excluded from the Environmental Working Group Dirty Dozen Guide to Pesticides in Produce and have an excellent rating in the EWG’s Food Score for Pesticides in Produce. Since most of the vitamins and minerals are found close to the skin, many will be lost if the parsnip is peeled so a good scrub before using is all you need to do. If you must peel your parsnips, don’t discard the peelings! Save them to make a batch of homemade vegetable broth!

A Note About Parsnip Greens

Parsnips are rarely sold with their green tops still attached. In fact, you’ll almost never see this in a traditional grocery store. This might be due to the confusion over whether or not the green tops are toxic. Cultivated parsnips (the type sold at grocery stores) have green tops that taste similar to carrot greens when eaten. Wild parsnip on the other hand (the kind you’d find when romping through woods or fields) contains chemicals in the juices of its green leaves, stems and fruits that can cause an intense, localized burn, similar to a sunburn. This has to do with a chemical compound called psoralens that causes what dermatologists call “phyto-photo-dermatitis.” Ouch!

How to Cook Parsnips

Much like carrots, parsnips are an incredibly versatile vegetable and benefit from a variety of cooking methods. You can juice, press, roast, fry, bake, mash, puree, braise and grill them or you can bake them into sweet treats. They can also be thinly sliced and eaten raw in salad.

Here are a few basic recipes to get you started.

Basic Parsnip Mash

Parsnips add a nutty earthiness and a big dose of nutrition to ordinary mashed potatoes. This recipe is quite basic, but feel free to mix things up based on your own mashed-potato style.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Wash and cut parsnips and potatoes into pieces.
2. Add parsnips and potatoes to a boiling pot of water and cook for 10 – 15 minutes or until fork tender.
3. Remove from heat and drain. Place potatoes and parsnips back into the pot.
4. Add remaining ingredients. Using a hand masher, mash the entire mixture until you have the texture you prefer.

Roasted Parsnips

Roasting parsnips helps to bring out their delicious sweetness. This recipe utilizes a basic roasting method that you can use to experiment with different herbs and spices. Once you feel comfortable with the roasting process, try new flavors. Mix and match, experiment. Have fun in the kitchen!

Ingredients

• 1 – 2 pounds of parsnips
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 – 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary
• Salt and peper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Wash parsnips. Trim tops and tips as needed. Cut parsnips into long pieces.
3. Line a rimmed baking tray with parchment paper. (Optional but helps with clean up.)
4. Place parsnips on rimmed baking tray and drizzle with olive oil, taking care to coat as evenly as possible.
5. Sprinkle the fresh rosemary (or other herb- thyme would work well here too) on top. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Bake for 25 – 35 minutes or until just tender.

Are you ready to get cooking with parsnips? Here are sixteen recipes that are sure to make you a parsnip fan.

16 More Inspired Parsnip Recipes to Try

Related at Care2

Are you a parsnip fan like I am? Do you have a favorite parsnip recipe?  Do you have a favorite vegetable that I haven’t covered yet? I want to know! Tell me in the comments!

Source: http://sherevealed.com/daily-activity/18-inventive-ways-to-cook-with-parsnips/