Root Vegetables

I am a big believer in the "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants" approach. (Believer, not always a practitioner) It's not exactly hard in the summer, when farmer's markets and roadside stands are piled with vegetables that actually look more appealing than anything you see in a fast food commercial.

Winter is a little different. Not that I can't find tomatoes and eggplant and corn. And they're good. I mean, there's nothing wrong with them. They're probably 90% as good as the real thing, but the lacking 10% is noticeable. People got through winters before they had fresh spinach and tomatoes from Costa Rica, and they didn't do it eating starch and meat. What were they eating?

I had forgot about root vegetables! Yup, the botanical underground nutrient storage bin, the un-glamorous peasant fare unnoticed in the grocery store, rarely seen in a cookbook and never rearing its head on the restaurant menu.

Potatoes get such a bad rap. Yeah, carbs, glycemic index, whatever. It's almost miraculous, that you can dig this lump out of the ground and it's such an accessible source of nutrition ( alittle too accessible as for as blood sugar is concerned, but, you know, moderation....). Cool story- potatoes are indigenous to Urugay and Chile, close enough to the equator that there are basically no seasons, but mountainous (cold). Their indifference to the lengths of days, hours of sunlight, dramatic temperatures is unique- they grow anywhere, any time. Potatoes are a genetic rockstar. I think I've rhapsodized about my love of sweet potatoes before. It's like if you took a potato, carefully seasoned it, and added a multivitamin.

Carrots are the first thing you think of when you think of root vegetables. They're tasty, versatile, and full of vitamins. But there are these things, that look like carrots, except they're white, a fat.... Parsnips sound pretty lame and they looks like they couldn't possibly taste good.

I had dinner at a friend's house, and she made coq au vin with a parsnip purre. What a lovely healthy alternative to mashed potatoes! I thought. Jumping in to help peel, I realized that I haven't ever cooked and probably never eaten parsnips. Just peeling them, I couldn't beleive how aromatic they were- they smell like thyme, and fenel, and gin, and some kind of flower... How could some knoby sad looking root that grows deep underground taste so fresh and bright?

The puree was so much better than mashed potatoes. I had to investigate this. I had a recipe for a chicken braise with Brussels sprouts, carrots and parsnips. I meant to try it leaving out the parsnips (oh no!) but instead I doubled it up. It was great. I saw a few recipes for roasting parsnips. (I think all winter vegetables are better roasted, especially brusselss sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, squash...) I liked the idea of cutting it into matchsticks and eating them like fries. I cut the core out of a few parsnips, cut them into sticks about 2 inches long, 1/2 inch thick, and tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper and cayenne. Roasted at 425 for about 15-20 minutes, the sitcks got a little brown and caramelized around the edges. I curled up in an armchair with a plate of parsnip fries, a bit of balsamic vineagar to dip them in, and an episode of Mad Men. Best snack food ever.