Mashed Parsnips and Cauliflower

Back in the day, when I had a wedding dress to fit into, and  photos that will be visible forever, I ate a mostly Paleolithic diet.  This meant that I stuck to vegetables, proteins, nuts and fruit - processed carbs were rare and usually only seen, if anything once a day in the form of "just a bite".  Post wedding - I was all like, "give me that bagel and sandwich it between some french bread" and like "where's the cheese, give me more", "beer? carbs? wheat? yes, please!".  Ok - so maybe not that bad, but you get the point.  I quickly disposed of my tiring bouts of cooking spaghetti squash and mashing cauliflower, roasting veggies and making veggie-any fritters. Why, though? I forgot how much I actually enjoyed those foods - no matter how much effort they might have taken. Its time to get back to the basics (or non-basics I guess) folks! A co-worker of mine had some mashed parsnips the other day and I remembered the days of mashed cauliflower, followed by leftover cauliflower pancakes - and they were great, satisfying side dishes.  But parsnips?! I have never thought to do anything with them but be disgusted by how ugly a vegetable they were...or eat them in soup when my mom randomly threw them in there. 

I wish I could take credit for this photo, but can't - you get the point of what it looks like

I was up for the challenge and excited to try them out.  I figured going full parsnip was a bit too adventurous for that hubby of mine and since he had had, and enjoyed, mashed cauliflower in the past, I'd combine the two. The taste was perfect and the two combined to make a great texture.  With the mashed cauliflower, I always found myself needing to add something to bind the puree together to give it more of a mashed potat texture, I did not find that necessary for the "mashed caulpar" (get it?). The best part? Super. Easy. Especially with my Ninja blender! They were so good I took the leftovers for part of my lunch, Steve enjoyed them, and I will definitely be making them again.

Ingredients

1 lb cauliflower (approx one head)

2-3 Medium Parsnips, peeled and sliced

1 tbsp butter

1/4 milk 

garlic, sea salt, cracked pepper to taste

parmesan and chives (optional)

Chop cauliflower, removing most of the stems and all greenery. Place cauliflower and parsnips in a large stock pot with water and bring to rapid boil cooking until vegetables are fork tender.  Drain and immediately add to food processor or high power blender.  Add milk and butter.  Puree until smooth adding more milk for preferred texture.  Remove from blender and add to bowl. Add sea salt, fresh ground pepper and garlic to taste.  For a little extra flavor - add parmesan and chives. 

I served this with some broccoli and some roasted chicken and it made a great side.  I think the texture was a little too pureed to re-serve in the form of pancakes like I have enjoyed doing with the cauliflower, but it was worth just having them plain.  I also did find a recipe in which the veggies were cooked in milk and then it was all added to the blender, pureed and then baked with a breadcrumb topping.  I think that would be a great suggestion for a party side! 

Here's a little extra reading for anyone who is interested in the health benefits of parsnips.  Turns out that they can help keep blood sugar on par and lower cholesterol and are high in fiber keeping you full longer! Looks like I'll be cooking with parsnips a lot more frequently!