Parsnip & Apple Sauté

Parsnips have never been my favorite. I believe the first time I tried them I was already in my twenties, and their sweetness took me by surprise. I wanted desperately for them to taste a bit more savory, even when roasted. But there is something else I can't quite put my finger on when it comes to parsnips. Is it the Earthy tones? But I love beets, which even I admit can taste like dirt. I've heard parsnips described as "spiced," like nutmeg and cinnamon, but I can't say that's ever come to mind when eating one. Maybe that means my tastebuds just aren't quite on the parsnip game, but either way, there are still only a few ways I like to eat parsnips. I’ve found that this way is quite good!

Parsnips are also an ideal thing to make through out the winter. Did you know that they can be stored for six months after harvest and their flavors will remain just about the same? Apples, when stored properly, have a similar shelf life. So whether you're into eating seasonally or not, you can buy the ingredients for this dish basically throughout the entire year, and they'll still taste great. 

Parsnip & Apple Sauté

Published January 11, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 3   |    Total Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 4 medium parsnips
• 1 medium apple
• 1 medium sweet yellow onion 
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil  
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Salt to taste 

Directions:

1. Finely dice the onion. Then, peel and dice the parsnips into 1/2 inch cubes, and dice the apple removing the core (I leave the peel on the apple, but you may peel it if you prefer).
2. Heat coconut oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. When the oil glistens, add the onion and minced garlic to the pan, sautéing until the onion is transparent.
3. Add the parsnips and apples to the pan, and stir. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown and the parsnips are tender.
4. Mince the sage, and add it to the pan, along with the pepper and salt to taste. Cook for 2 more minutes, stirring occasionally, and then serve hot.

Hearty, Chunky Cioppino

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One thing is true about living landlocked: good seafood is hard to come by. Sure, there are special restaurants. Sushi joints, oyster bars, and rainbow trout on most "locavore" menus, but that's about where it ends. Scallops are a freezer-isle item. If they aren't in the freezer-isle, it doesn't mean they aren't frozen, it just means they're at the butcher's counter with the other imported seafood. 

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I've heard the raving: clam chowder is great, right? I wouldn't know. It's not really something people do when the ocean is hundreds of miles away. Lobster bisque, cioppino, jambalaya? We miss out on those too. 

This means I'm sort of a seafood noob. Yup. We buy scallops on occasion and usually we're at such a loss that all we do is fry them in the skillet and add a bit of lemon and a dash of cayenne. Not this time: for once it was going to be better. It was going to be Cioppino.

As a seafood noob I'm not really qualified to review this cioppino. As an eater, I can tell you that I was not disappointed. 

What's your best seafood recipe? Do you have a fall-back seafood indulgence? 

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Hearty Chunky Cioppino

Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free   |   Caitlin Sherwood    

Serves: 4-6   |    Total Time: 45 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 medium white onion
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 large carrot
• 1 parsnip
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon red chile flakes
• 1 tablespoon sage, minced
• 1/4 cup parsley, minced
• 1/4 cup dry wine
• 2 sixteen-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
• 3 cups fish stock
• 1/4 pound firm white fish (I use mahi-mahi)
• 1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 pound PEI mussels, scrubbed and debearded if not already
• 1/4 pound scallops

Directions:

1. Heat the coconut oil in the bottom of a large soup pot. Chop the onion and celery into small pieces, and brown in the pot.
2. Meanwhile, dice the carrot and parsnip into small pieces, and mince the garlic. Once onions have are translucent, add all three to the pot, stirring. Add the wine, red chile, and sage.
3. Pour in the tomatoes and broth. Add half of the parsley. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, until soup base is fragrant and simmering. Meanwhile, prepare your seafood.
4. Chop the fish into 1-inch cubes, debeard the mussels, rinse the scallops, etc. Once the soup base is simmering, drop the shrimp, fish, and scallops into the pot, stirring once, and then covering the pot and cooking for 3-5 minutes.
5. Give the soup one final stir (over stirring with break up your fish too much), and sprinkle mussels over top. Cover the pot once more, cooking about 5 minutes, or until all of the mussels have opened.Garnish with the remaining parsley and serve hot!

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