Rosemary Roasted Parsnip Fries

As many of you know, Jim and I are avid gardeners.  Having our own veggies and herbs just steps from our back door is one of our favourite things, and we try and make the most of our Canadian growing season. We have pulled carrots and parsnips, in years past, well into January, and, when we have planted enough kale, have pulled kale just before Christmas. This year, however, the winter cold came on early and hard, leaving a bunch of carrots, beets and parsnips unharvested. The ground was just too hard to get them out, and we mourned the loss of the last of our small root crops as we watched the snow get deeper… and deeper… and deeper.  

who knew a pressure
washer was such an
effective veggie scrubber ?

Fast forward to this past weekend. After a very long, very cold winter that seemed it would never end,  we were gifted with a warm spring Sunday that just begged to be spent out of doors. Even though rain threatened off and on all day, and the wind tried its best to blow us down, we spent most of our time in the yard and garden getting things ready for spring planting. When I pulled the dead foliage from the  parsnip bed, I was surprised to see little green leaves sprouting in nice tidy rows. (I have, in past years pulled a few stray parsnips out of the ground in the spring, but they were few and far between, and not very edible looking to say the least.) Not  expecting much, I dug the pitchfork out of the shed, and proceeded to dig up part of a row. When these marvelously perfect parsnips emerged from their earthy home, I was tickled pink! Dinner plans were quickly revamped to include these beauties. Nothing beats garden to table eating, and having this surprise spring harvest made it that much better.  I think Overwintering parsnips will become part of our garden plan every year!

These "fries" have a nice spicy undertone, and a lovely texture. They were a  perfect side for our rotisserie chicken and Bacon Scalloped Potatoes. (that recipe will be posted soon!)

Rosemary Roasted Parsnip Fries

Approx 9 parsnips, scrubbed and/or peeled

 1 ½ tsp dried rosemary

¾ tsp smoked sea salt or other sea salt of choice

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

2 tbsp melted coconut oil

Preheat oven to 400F

Scrub parsnips well, peel if desired.  Cut into 3-4 inch lengths, and then cut lengthwise into “fry” sized sticks.  (the smaller you cut them the quicker they will cook, ours were on the chunky side) Toss in 11”x15” glass baking dish (or a parchment lined baking sheet, cooking time may vary) with oil, rosemary, salt and pepper.

Roast for 20 minutes, stir and roast again for approx 15 minutes or until they start to brown and crisp. Serve hot!

Cheesy Swiss Chard and Onion Bake

My Swiss chard is still going strong in the garden, and I am always trying new ways to prepare this lovely leafy green. I threw this together tonight to go with this recipe.  (see my comments at the end of this post about the meat loaf recipe!) Supper was pretty darn tasty!  You could substitute any leafy green of your choice here, kale would be lovely, but would take a little longer to cook.

Cheesy Swiss Chard and Onion Bake

2 bunches Swiss chard, any colour (mine is a mixture of red and green)

1 large red onion, chopped

2 tbsp butter

½ cup cream

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 375F

Rinse the chard and then remove the large middle stem from the chard leaves. Roughly chop the remaining greens and set aside.

In a 8-9 inch cast iron (or other oven safe ) pan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Sauté the onion until it starts to soften and brown slightly. Start adding the chard by the handful, stirring after each addition until it wilts down.(it will look like you have a TON of chard to add, but it will wilt down, really it will!)

 As soon as you have all the chard in the pan and it is all nice and wilty, add the cream, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for approx. 5 minutes or until the cream reduces slightly. Turn off the burner, and sprinkle the cheese over top of the chard and onion mixture.

Using an oven mitt, (because the handle of your pan is probably hot!) place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is nicely melted and browned. Serve immediately!

A recipe from Real Simple, well worth trying!

The only thing I did differently to the meat loaf was to leave out the ground pork (It is hard to find a good clean source of ground pork in my area, and I am not all that fond of it anyway—I just left it out all together) I also used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. Other than that, the recipe was exactly as written, and was very very good! The roasted cherry tomatoes become a smoky sweet topping for the meat loaf,  It does use oats, which I use sparingly and only occasionally. Although this makes this recipe not grain free,  I think cooked quinoa would be a great substitute if you wanted to keep it grain free)

Grain Free “Battered” Cauliflower

I found this recipe browsing on Pinterest the other day, and being as I had a nice head of organic cauliflower in my fridge, decided it was the perfect time to try it out. But, I was already marinating this chicken to go on the BBQ for dinner, and the buffalo flavour for the cauliflower just didn't seem to match. Being as I already had to tweak it to make it grain free, I ended up changing the entire recipe to suit the flavours of my chicken. The concept is similar, but the recipe is totally new, and incredibly tasty!! My eldest son, who generally doesn't like cauliflower, declared it “delicious”, much to my surprise.  I can’t wait  to try a grain free version of original recipe, but for now, this one is a keeper!!

Grain Free “Battered” Cauliflower

4 T coconut flour
1 tbsp chick pea flour

¾ cup water

1 egg

1 clove garlic

1 tsp Herbamare

½ tsp dried basil

½ tsp dried oregano

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½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 Tbsp arrowroot powder

4 cups bite sized pieces of cauliflower(approx 1/2 of a large head)

Preheat oven to 425F.

Place all ingredients  except for the Parmesan, cauliflower and arrowroot in a blender and blend until completely pureed.

Let stand for 5 minutes to thicken up.

Chop your cauliflower into bite sized pieces, place in a large bowl or ziplock bag and toss with the arrowroot powder.

When “batter” has thickened up, toss with cauliflower until all pieces are well coated.

Scrape out onto parchment lined pan. sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the pieces are starting to brown nicely.

Serve hot alongside this chicken and a tossed green salad.

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