Back in the fall, we got parsnips in our last CSA bag. I’d never had them and didn’t entirely know what to do with them, so they just sat. When we got back from Christmas, I finally decided to do something with them (the wrong thing, it turned out – I pureed them with milk and cinnamon, don’t know why, and they tasted like wallpaper paste. Next time, use a real recipe.) The tops had tiny little new green sprouts, so I cut them off and put them in water. Now they look like this:
Such cheerful growing green things to have on the counter in January. They’re growing tiny roots – I wonder if ultimately they’ll be replantable? I suspect I’ll lose interest or forget to water them before then. But for the moment, such a fun thing to see each time I enter the kitchen!
A great thing to do with parsnips is cook them like carrots (well, actually beyond carrots) and then mash them with potatoes. They will make the mashed potatoes sweeter and healthier!