Parsnip Fries a.k.a. Parsnipples

I love Spring. I don’t think I could be any happier about the warm weather and the bright colors everywhere. I dusted off my bike on Monday after a long (2+ year?) hibernation. I remember when Mal and I used to bike 12-15 miles every morning before work up the steepest hills in Stamford, and it feels like a lifetime ago. I am dabbling with the idea of training for a triathlon this year for some added motivation with my workouts. It has been four crazy years since my last race, and I would love to get back into it and beat my time now that I am an old lady. I will never forget that dreaded “swim” flailing for my life like a lunatic in open water – I would have to think things could only improve after that ridiculous performance. I will share my training plan (once it exists) and keep you posted on my progress.

I am thrilled to announce that I am almost 50% through my kickstarter campaign, and my project has surpassed its initial funding goal and is climbing over $11,000. The outpouring of support has been incredible, and I am so excited to continue the momentum and pre-sell as many copies of the cookbook as possible. I am just over 130 backers, and I hope to get over 200 by the end of the month! You can pre-order a copy of the cookbook and check out the campaign at http://kck.st/1fMYQDo. Huge shout out to my photographer Erica Gannett who has created gorgeous images for the cookbook and campaign. Check it out!

Today’s recipe is a staple in my kitchen: parsnipples. I really have no idea where this name comes from, but I am pretty sure we can blame Ryan for it. Parsnipples (or parsnip fries) are one of the easiest roasted vegetables to make, and they come out incredibly every single time. The sweet/salty flavor combination is irresistible, and they go great with every meal. I am making less and less roasted veggies these days as the weather gets warmer and I turn to salads, but this is a great staple to always keep in your back pocket.

Parsnip Fries: Serves 2, Prep time: 5 min, Cook time: 20-25 min

Ingredients:
- 2 parsnips
- 1 Tbsp (or less) olive oil
- Sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Peel your parsnips and slice them into pieces that look like your favorite french fries
3. Arrange the pieces on a foil-lined baking sheet
4. Spray or lightly toss the parsnips with olive oil 
5. Season with sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning once

Parsnip Soup w/ Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Great news, followers! My blog is not dead. It was simply hibernating for a bit while I figured out some pretty monumental life decisions. I wasn't feeling as creative with my cooking (and time was limited), so I remade a ton of my old recipes to make things quicker and easier. In the midst of the craziness, I quit my job at McLagan and accepted a new position at PepsiCo! It is going to be a huge change, and I am thrilled to start this next chapter. I have this week off before I start to get things organized, so I am hoping to share some great new recipes with all of you.

I was feeling very jealous of Grace and my other Boston friends who visited the Sunday SOWA market today because the farmers market here in Stamford just doesn't even compare. I go and support them every week, but I am pretty convinced that a lot of the fruits and veggies are not local. There wasn't a parsnip to be found yesterday, so I went to the grocery store to pick some up so I could experiment with a new soup. I try to make a new soup every (or every other) week in the Fall/Winter to have ready-made meals handy. This recipe is incredibly flavorful with amazing fall tastes, and the spiced pumpkin seeds add the perfect crunch.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Parsnip Soup w/ Spiced Pumpkin Seeds: Serves 4-5, Prep time: 20 min, Cook time: 75 min

Ingredients:

- 1 Tbsp. olive oil

- 1 large sweet onion, chopped,

- 6 cloves garlic, chopped

- 1 bunch green onions/scallions, chopped

- 1 bunch celery, chopped

- 1 XL carrot, peeled & chopped

- 3 XL parsnips, peeled & chopped

- 4 cups organic chicken or veggie stock (no sugar added!)

- salt and pepper to taste

- 1/2 cup raw organic pumpkin seeds

- 1 tsp. olive oil

- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

- 1/2 tsp. paprika

- 1/2 tsp. cumin

Instructions:

1. Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat

2. Add onion, garlic, and scallions and saute about 10 minutes until fragrant

3. Add celery, carrots, and parsnips. Stir well to combine and cook another 5 minutes

4. Add stock and bring to a boil

5. Cover and reduce heat. Cook for 1 hour

6. Meanwhile, heat 1tsp. olive oil in a small pan over medium heat

7. Add pumpkin seeds and toss to combine

8. After 1-2 minutes, add cinnamon, paprika, and cumin

9. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until fragrant and then let cool

10. When soup is done, let cool slightly and blend with immersion blender or food processor

11. Season with salt and pepper to taste (I just added some pepper)

12. Serve piping hot with ~1Tbsp. of spiced pumpkin seeds on top! Happy Fall :)

  

  

  

Lean & Mean Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

I am officially ready for Spring! I had to pass on my daily wheatgrass routine this morning because it was only 12 degrees! I did some yoga in my warm apartment instead of braving the cold, and it was a great start to the day. I missed the morning walk but looked at this picture of my favorite part of Union Park while I sipped my tea. It may be freezing, but Boston is a gorgeous place to be. 

Last week some people (aka Mal) were weirded out by my spinach and mushroom turkey pie. It was simply a green meatloaf in a pie dish, but I know it raised a few eyebrows. I figured I'd switch it up this week and try a meatloaf muffin recipe. I had some fresh parsnips and onions from Silverbrook Farm in Dartmouth, so I threw those in with some celery and made 10 little meat muffins. They are the perfect travel meal or snack. Each muffin has about 2oz. of lean meat, and they are packed with flavor. You can switch up the veggies (think mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, or whatever you have in your fridge) and play with the herbs as well. It's almost impossible to mess these up, so be creative!

Lean & Mean Meatloaf Muffins: Serves 5, Prep time: 20 min, Cook time: 30 min

Ingredients:
- 1.2 lbs ground turkey 
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1 Tbsp. italian seasoning (oregano, thyme, marjoram, basil, rosemary, and sage)
- sea salt & pepper
- 1/2 sweet onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp. chopped garlic
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 1 parsnip, peeled and diced
- olive oil

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. While oven preheats, heat olive oil over medium heat
3. Add onion and garlic, and saute for 5 minutes
4. Add celery and cook for another 5 minutes
5. Add parsnips and cook for another 5 minutes
6. Mix veggies with the meat, egg, almond flour, italian seasoning, sea salt, and pepper in a bowl until thoroughly combined
7. Spoon mixture into a greased muffin tin - I made 10 muffins (about 2 oz. of meat each)
8. Bake for 30 minutes until there is no pink in the center

  

  

Winter Farmers Market Chicken Soup

Big things have been happening in my kitchen lately. Winter has been brutal, so I have had to increase my tea intake - I am drinking at least 4 cups a day, and in the spirit of accepting cool gadgets (and avoiding the microwave) in 2013, I got a few new things for my tea-drinking. I had been looking for some new mugs that are huge with a big handle, and I got some great ones at Marshalls with a very old store credit. There was a fourth one that said "Crazy Cat Lady", but that one was for Mal of course. I also got this great cuisinart electric tea kettle. It has six temperature settings and heats up in just a couple of minutes. It is faster than a standard tea kettle and safer than the microwave, so really a win-win. Lastly was the most romantic gift a girl could get from her boyfriend - an infrared thermometer. You may be wondering why it is such a life-changing gift, but we discovered in Vermont that my ideal tea temperature is 140 degrees (very hot still but not hot enough to burn my mouth). Even though the tea kettle has temperature settings, you have to steep the tea after the water is heated, so I couldn't take the chance of drinking my tea at the wrong temperature! Now all my cups of tea are perfect, and I can check the temperature of my computer, walls, feet, etc. when I'm bored. Any guys out there stuck on a Valentine's gift for your girlfriend/wife... you're welcome!

    

I had another great trip to the Cambridge Winter Farmers Market on Saturday. I was craving soup (like always), so I decided to go with a winter chicken soup - all ingredients (other than olive oil and broth) can be found at the market, and the soup is fantastic. It is hearty, sweet, and perfect for these 10-degree nights we've been having. Heat yourself up with some 140-degree tea and a bowl of chicken soup, and you'll be good to go! Spring will be here in no time...

Winter Farmers Market Chicken Soup Serves 10ish (it's a lot), Prep time: 30 min, Cook time: 2 hr

Ingredients:
- 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 medium sweet onions, chopped
- 2 shallots, chopped
- 1 head garlic, chopped
- 5 carrots, peeled & chopped
- 5 parsnips, peeled & chopped
- A 5lb. free-range organic chicken
- 2 quarts low sodium organic vegetable broth
- Sea salt, pepper, paprika, & thyme
- 2 bunches kale

Instructions:
1. Heat olive oil over medium-low heat and add onion, shallots, and garlic for 5-10 minutes

2. Place whole chicken on top of onions and season generally on both sides with salt, pepper, paprika, and thyme

3. Add the carrots and parsnips 

4. Cover the chicken and veggies with your broth (can use half broth and half water if you want) 

5. Bring the pot to a rapid boil and then cover the pot and cook on low for at least 90 minutes 

6. Take the chicken out of the pot, remove skin and bones, and add all shredded meat back into the pot

7. Break your kale into 1-inch pieces, add to the pot, and cook for another 5 minutes

8. Enjoy your local soup!

  

Chunky Hunky Man Soup

Does your hunky man hate soup? If so, I have created the perfect recipe that will make you both happy! To me, a fresh soup every week is the best part of winter, and it is even better if you can share it with others. I even eat soup for breakfast these days as an alternative to my old favorite oatmeal. Some of the soup haters out there think that it doesn't count as a real meal and is too watery, so I created this recipe that is chunky, full of flavor, and guaranteed to please your biggest critics. 

I made this soup on New Years Day for my own special hunk and our friends. It was the perfect mix of sweet and savory, and it was a wonderful way to start out 2013!

Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp. Olive oil
- 2 sweet onions, chopped
- 1 large leek, chopped (whites & greens)
- 2+ Tbsp. garlic, chopped
- 1 bunch of celery, chopped
- 5-7 large carrots, peeled & chopped
- 12 mushrooms, chopped
- 6 parsnips, peeled & chopped
- 2 sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped
- 2 cups of chopped steak (I used leftovers from a garlic roasted bottom round roast)
- 3 sprigs of fresh, organic rosemary
- 2 quarts of organic chicken (or beef) broth/stock (no sugar or preservatives added)
- pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. CHOP EVERYTHING! (I've warned you about this before.. it takes a while but is totally worth it!)
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat
3. Add onions, leek, and garlic and saute for about 10 minutes until soft
4. Add all other veggies and cook for another 10 minutes
5. Add steak, rosemary, and broth and bring to a boil
6. Cover pot, turn heat to low, and cook for 45-60 minutes until everything is soft
7. Eat this soup with your hunky man - mine likes his grains, so I threw some farro in there for a little extra chunk

  

Paleo Chicken Soup on SOWA Sunday

Do you love food enough to go to two food festivals, a paleo potluck, and a farmer's market all in weekend? I do! Today's adventures included the Boston Local Food Festival and the SOWA market. If you are wondering what a 26-year-old paleo girl eats at a food festival when she is all alone, here it is: 

This meal definitely was worth all the embarrassment of carrying such an absurd plate around without a friend by my side. Knowing that any friend of mine would support this decision was all that mattered. I ate my Thai chicken stick and Haitian plantain and then visited 50-100 vendors all with local products and businesses. There were farms, restaurants, gluten-free bakeries, sustainable energy vendors, bands, and more. The weather was horrible, but it was well worth the trek. I even got to taste the most delicious gluten-free macaroons that were 100% paleo! I would've taken a picture, but I ate it too quickly :)

After the food festival, I headed back to the South End and stopped at SOWA to stock up for the week. You can see I got a solid haul this week of carrots, parsnips, turnips, zucchini, honey crisp apples, tomatoes, eggs, shallots, onions, some fantastic paleo crackers (www.sproutedrawfoods.com)and a beautiful 5lb. pastured chicken from Westminster meats (www.westminstermeats.com). My favorite part of SOWA every week is when I buy my eggs from my favorite farmstand - a fantastic barefoot hippie farmer in a cowboy hat picks a dozen eggs for me, opens the carton, gives all twelve a slow, careful stroke, and then tells me they are beautiful. This man makes my Sunday every Sunday.

After having some great chats with the local vendors and filling up my bags, the rain finally started. I headed home and did what any person in their right mind would do on a rainy Sunday in the fall - make chicken soup. 

Ingredients:

- 5lb. chicken (mine was frozen)

- 2 bunches carrots, chopped

- 3 turnips, chopped

- 2 parsnips, chopped,

- 2 onions, chopped

- 2 Tbsp. chopped garlic

- 1 quart chicken broth

- 6-8 cups water

- Olive oil

- Salt, pepper, paprika, parsley, and oregano

1. Heat olive oil over medium-low heat and add chopped onion and garlic for 5-10 minutes

2. Place whole chicken on top of onions and season generally on both sides with salt, pepper, paprika, parsley, and oregano

3. Add the quart of chicken broth and all of the chopped parsnips, turnips, and carrots

4. Add 6-8 cups water as needed just to cover the chicken 

5. Bring the pot to a rapid boil and then cover the pot and cook on medium-low for about two hours (can do less if you're really hungry)

6. Take the chicken out of the pot, remove skin and bones, and add all shredded meat back into the pot

7. Put on some sweatpants, turn on an amazingly bad tv show, and enjoy!

 P.S. If you are ever wondering how to remember the difference between turnips and parsnips, just ask my mom - turnips are round, and parsnips look like... well, just ask my mom!