Vegetable Series: When we changed our eating two years ago, I resolved to be afraid of no vegetable. Not knowing how to cut it or cook it was NOT going to keep it out of my cart. For a long time I’ve wanted to do a series of posts on all the different vegetables we have tried and what we do to the poor things. May you, too, vow to try any and all vegetables in your supermarket! Go get ’em, tiger.

 

“I LOVE those French fries!”

Have you tried parsnips?  Have your kids tried parsnips?  Do you or your family like parsnips?  Do you have a great parsnip recipe?  Do you know what parsnips are?

For my kids, I often find keeping dishes simple and flavors not too complex suits their taste buds more at this young age.  Plus, when you’re eating a whole, real foods lifestyle, faster and easier is much better for the cook, too!  We made parsnip “fries” to prepare for this post.  When my husband and kids came into the kitchen, I was frantically grabbing fries to stash and hide behind the coffeemaker so I wouldn’t have to make more to photograph!  I was glad the “fries” were a gastronomical success!  M5 year-old daughter said, “I love those French fries, Mom.”

This wasn’t always the case.

If you can do it with a potato…

As I’ve pointed out, we’ve only been eating this way for about two years now.  The word out there is:  If you can do it with a potato…you can do it with a parsnip.  So I tried parsnips in soups, roasts, mashes, and casseroles.  (“What is this, Mom?”  As in, they didn’t approve.)  I even made parsnip fries, which you could tell they didn’t mind, but they didn’t really eat many.  My kids were just too close to their potatoes.  Near removal of the potato and addition of parsnips on occasion, and my kids can now tally parsnips to the growing list of vegetables they’ll eat!

What am I saying?  If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!  Kids need repetitive exposure and a great example.  Persist in a vegetable-rich diet for your family.  Understand it may take years.  Accept it and don’t give up.  In the meantime, just be prepared to eat a lot of vegetables yourself…

What is a Parsnip?

It is a root vegetable which looks like a fat, white carrot (one of its relatives).

• Commonly cultivated and eaten in Europe before the potato was introduced.  (Do you know where potatoes originated from?  The mountains of Peru.)
• Usually thought of as a fall and winter vegetable, but since it stores so well, it is available year round.
• It is a starchy vegetable and has a sweet, nutty taste and a potato-like texture when cooked.
• Frost and refrigeration bring about a sweeter taste.
• Neck to neck, there’s not much nutritional difference between a parsnip and potato.  Parsnips have a little more calcium and a little more fiber.  Parsnips are a little (not much) lower on the “net carb” ladder than a potato.  The only real difference I can think of is that a potato belongs to the family called a “nightshade” and a parsnip doesn’t.  (Nightshades are excluded for people who follow an anti-inflammatory diet because some minor research indicates they may be detrimental to the lining of the GI tract, may increase the body’s production of inflammation-producing chemicals, and increase arthritis and achiness in people.  So someone on an anti-inflammatory diet could easily replace the potato with the parsnip.)

Parsnips are nice because they keep in your refrigerator forever.  I choose them and store them like I do carrots.  Often they come coated in a waxy material, so I always peel my parsnips with a potato peeler before using them to get this strange stuff off.

Then, do what you’d do to a potato!  Here’s one to try, but don’t stop here!

 

Family “gustar” report: 5/5 ate these fries all gone. Will definitely try to include these more in our repertoire.

Note: Parsnips are discouraged for the GAPS/SCD diets.

So what vegetables are YOU all eating?  ~~Terri

Other vegetables in The Vegetable Series:  Rutabagas, artichokes, kohlrabi, and jicama.