List all recipes for: Root Vegetables
Celery Root
Raw celery root, cut into matchsticks, stars in the famous French salad céleri rémoulade, with a mayonnaise-based dressing. I prefer to toss the same matchsticks with a Thai-style dressing of garlic, fresh green chile, lime juice, and sugar. Cooked, I like celery root rubbed with olive oil and roasted in a hot oven, or glazed on the stovetop with carrots or without.
Moscatel-Glazed Parsnips
Made from an amber dessert wine, Moscatel vinegar has apricot overtones and a faint, complex acidity. Parsnips and their earthiness pairs beautifully with this vinegar, the parsnips become caramelized and infused with an intriguing sweetness.
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 lb parsnips, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick sticks
1/4 cup Moscatel vinegar or balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
Heat sugar in center of a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it starts to melt. Cook, tilting skillet occasionally so sugar melts evenly, until golden brown. Stir in butter, then add parsnips and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add vinegar, water, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper.
Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until parsnips are just tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove lid and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to a glaze and parsnips are caramelized, about 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Parsnip mashed potatoes
Adding parsnips to potatoes gives an earthy sweetness to the dish
1 lb each parsnips and Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks (it’s your choice whether or not to peel the potatoes, I never do!)
6 tbsp butter melted
½ cup hot half and half
Salt and pepper to taste
Put parsnips and potatoes in a medium pot with enough water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and simmer until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain and return to the pot. Stir over the low heat a couple of minutes to reduce the moisture.
Mash parsnips and potatoes with a potato masher or put through a ricer. Stir in the butter, half and half and salt and pepper to taste.
Roasted Roots
Roasted roots can be served with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil or mash them coarsely and sauté briefly in olive oil, seasoned the way you like them. Or puree them and serve hot as an elegant side dish, adding a little cream or broth to make them the consistency you like. Or use them in the Root Vegetable Hash Browns. A good addition is some chunked onion (white or yellow onion, leeks, shallots) and some whole peeled garlic cloves.
1 to 2 pounds beets, washed and trimmed
3 pounds root vegetables, washed and trimmed. Choose a mix of carrots, rutabagas, turnips, parsnips, parsley, daikon radish, radishes, salsify or celery root
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Peel vegetables and cut in to 2 inch chunks. Some vegetables will need to be cut in to half or quarters. Try to make all pieces similar in size to ensure they roast at the same rate. Toss with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover two large baking sheets with aluminum foil. Spread all vegetables in a single layer on baking sheets. Cover with another sheet of foil. Crimping the edges to seal well. Roast until tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool in foil until cool enough to handle.
