Week 2 - Return to Our Roots

Yes, this is the time of year we need to return to our Roots. The green leafy things are mostly done for, except for Napa, cabbage, collards and kale. Most root vegetables are biennials: they spend their first growing season storing away lots of energy, so that the second year they can pour it all into sending up a seed stalk and making lots of seeds.

Familiar and not-so-familiar root vegetables include carrots, onions, beets, turnips, rutabagas, radishes, and parsnips. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are tubers, rather than roots. Tubers are also storage organs, providing the plant a head start next spring.

Garlic is special: the bulb is also a storage organ, but it wants to be planted in the fall and harvested in mid-summer. Well-stored garlic can last at least six months, and I have stored my garlic from one harvest to the next.

In temperate climates such as ours, root vegetables filled people's plates from November through March, when the fresh wild greens start to come in. And all of the marvelous roots and tubers I mentioned grow very well in our area. Roots on the winter table not only support local eating, they are key to seasonal eating, nutritious and warming for the cold weather.

Cresset vegetable share members have parsnips in their share this week, as well as carrots, and turnips last week. With that you can make the all-time favorite dish: Roasted Root Vegetables.
Almost everybody likes these.

Roasted Root Vegetables

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 pound carrots, peeled
1 pound parsnips, peeled
1 pound turnips, peeled
salt to taste
Herbs to taste: rosemary, oregano, marjoram, thyme

Cut carrots and parsnips in half or quarters lengthwise, then into 2 inch lengths. Cut turnips into thick slices, then cut in quarters or eighths depending on size. You want the sizes of the vegetables to be about the same so they finish cooking together.
Put oil or butter into a baking dish, add vegetables and mix well. Sprinkle with herbs. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then stir again, moving the outer veggies to the center and vice versa. Bake another 15 minutes, or until nicely browned. Sprinkle with salt.

Feel free to vary the roots: rutabagas and beets also work well, as do potatoes. Fingerlings or new red potatoes will hold up to the baking process better than russets.

Parsnip and Carrot Puree

1 pound peeled and trimmed parsnips
1 pound peeled and trimmed carrots
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
butter
salt to taste

Cut parsnips and carrots into small pieces, and put into large saucepan. Pour milk over, bring to boil, simmer 20 minutes, until vegetables are very tender. Let cook a few minutes, then puree in blender. Return to saucepan, add 1 cup cream and salt to taste.
Decorate with a little butter, melted on top.

I had pureed parsnips and carrots in Ireland; they were wonderful.
I had to ask what the dish was; it looked like mashed sweet potato but tasted different.

You can pull the same trick with parsnips and potatoes; in this case use the russets or older red potatoes, since you WANT them to fall apart. Turnips and carrots make a somewhat spicier puree, but also good.

Turnip-Carrot Potage

1 medium russet potato, peeled and cut in 1" pieces
1 largish turnip, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
3 medium carrots (or 1 large) peeled and sliced into 1/2" rounds
1 small onion, diced
4 medium cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
2 medium stalks celery, cut in 1/2" pieces
2 cups fresh parsley, spinach, or other tender green, chopped,
or you can use 1/4 cup dried parsley
salt to taste, up to 1 tablespoon.
butter or olive oil

Put all vegetables except greens into large saucepan, add 4 cups water and simmer 15 minutes. Add greens, cook another 10 minutes. Stir in the salt and let cool a little. Put it through a blender or a food mill. Sprinkle with pepper and/or celery seed, and stir in a little butter to each serving.

Dill weed can be used in place of some of the parsley, either fresh or dried, maybe 1/4 cup fresh dill weed or 1 tablespoon dried. You can experiment with other mild herbs such as tarragon and basil in smaller quantities.

Beet and Endive Salad

1/2 pound beets, cooked
3/4 pound endive or chicory (you can use escarole or sugarhat
lettuce) sliced thin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Peel, chop and cook the beets by steaming or in boiling water.
Or you can use Ursula's lactofermented beets--UNCOOKED. In this case you probably won't need as much vinegar since they are naturally sour.

In your salad bowl, mix oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Stir in
the beets, whatever form you have, and the endive. Stir well
and serve.

You can also add chopped apple to this salad, or a little slivered red onion.