Roasted Vegetable Soup

Every now and then...approximately once a year, to be precise...we manage to roast so many winter root vegetables that we have leftovers.

You might wonder, given how frequently we roast them, that there aren't leftovers more often. I blame parsnips. You see, we'll start out with the best of intentions to stop eating before the bottom of the pan, but then there will be a parsnip, and the only way to get to the parsnip will be to eat the carrot above the turnip above the yam that's covering it. It's entrapment by parsnip. That's totally a thing. Look it up.

In any event, if you should ever find yourself with leftovers (to roast, simply cut your carrots, parsnips, turnips, and/or yams into equal-sized chunks, toss liberally in olive oil and—if you'd like—a couple cloves of pressed garlic and some chopped fresh thyme, then roast at 425°F for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes, till caramelized and tender)...if this serendipitous and rare occurrence of abundance should ever happen to you, here's what you do:

1. Remove serendipitous leftovers from fridge.

2. Put in a pot.

3. Cover (almost to the top) with good-quality, flavorful veggie broth.

4. Bring to a simmer.

5. Blend with an immersion blender until desired consistency. (If it's too thick, you can add more broth, but note that thicker also means more roasted veggie flavor.)

6. Add a slosh of cream, and adjust salt to taste.

7. Serve warm, garnished with nasturtiums and/or a bit of chopped parsley.

Roasted Beets and Turnips with Fresh Rosemary and Balsamic Reduction

Okay, yes, I'll admit it. I don't have anything to hide. I love beets. Love them. And no, I don't even recognize myself when I look in the mirror anymore. I'm a beet-loving shadow of my former self. But really...why look in the mirror when you could be eating roasted beets??

Here's a variation on a previous theme that incorporates turnips, if you happen to have them, and somehow tastes even more amazing.

Ingredients
5 medium beets, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into chunks or wedges
1-2 medium turnips (ideally golden turnips), peeled and cut into chunks
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, slivered
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
Several handfuls arugula
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 oz. goat cheese

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Toss the beets and turnips with the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, and a liberal sprinkling of salt. Pour into a nonstick baking pan (sized so that the beets are 1-2 layers thick). Roast for 25 minutes, then stir. If the beets are dry, crowd them together in the pan; if there's liquid at the bottom, spread them out more thinly. Return to the oven and roast for an additional 35-40 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, reduce the balsamic vinegar by gently simmering in small pan over medium-low heat until the volume is reduced by half. Coarsely chop the arugula and arrange it as a bed on the plates.

Just before serving, zap the arugula in the microwave for 10-15 seconds until it just starts to wilt (this takes the bite off the greens and reduces the volume a bit). Sprinkle with a little olive oil and balsamic reduction. Arrange the beets over the top, drizzle with balsamic reduction, and sprinkle with freshly ground white pepper and crumbled goat cheese.

Serve hot. Works as a complete meal with a little fresh bread and some roasted kale, or serve as a side dish. Pairs well with a good zinfandel.

Serves 2-4 (depending on whether it's a main dish or side dish).

Sauteed Turnips and Carrots

Turnips again. But so very good that they deserve their own post, even though this is similar to at least two other recipes already on here. So in case you have these ingredients on hand and need something quicker than roasting, the combination of sauteing and then steaming works beautifully, allowing the veggies to caramelize and cook through in just a few minutes.

Plus, this is the sort of dish that gets even better if you accidentally forget about it for a couple of minutes and almost burn the bottom. Which is basically my favorite sort of dish (the "of course I meant to do that" kind).

Ingredients
1 stalk green garlic, chopped (or sub 1 clove garlic, pressed)
3-4 yellow turnips, peeled, halved (or quartered if large) and sliced about 1/8" thick
4-5 red carrots, scrubbed and sliced
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper
1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

Heat a glug of olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the turnip and carrot slices, and toss to coat with oil. Continue sauteing for a minute or two, then add the green garlic and stir. Cover the pan and allow to steam as it browns on the bottoms (about 2-3 minutes). Stir, cover, and repeat. The vegetables should release some juices that allow them to steam, but if and when they start to look a little dry, add a pinch or two of salt to coax some liquid out.



Add a tbsp or two of water, cover, turn heat to low, and steam until nicely browned and very tender. Toss with white pepper and parsley to taste, and serve hot.

Serves 2.

Pan-Fried Turnips

For some bizarre reason, I used to not particularly like turnips. Now I seem to be addicted. I blame this recipe, and others like it that involve browning the turnips with garlic somewhere nearby.  

Ingredients
2-4 turnips, peeled, halved if large, and sliced into 1/4" pieces
Olive oil
1 large clove garlic, smashed
Splash chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
Balsamic vinegar (optional)

Heat a glug of olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. When hot, add the garlic clove and simmer until lightly golden on both sides. Next, add the turnip slices, spreading them so they're a single layer against the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then turn and again spread out. Sprinkle with a very small pinch of salt, cover, and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes, turning halfway through, until at least one side is golden brown.

Add a splash or two of chicken broth and cover the pan again. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let steam for another 4-5 minutes until tender.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar in a small pot over medium heat until it simmers. Turn heat down and simmer gently until the volume is reduced by half, then remove from heat. Try not to take a big deep breath over the pot as you do this (i.e., turn on your exhaust fan if you have one).

When the turnips are golden and tender, sprinkle with a little more salt and some white pepper, and serve drizzled with a little balsamic reduction if desired.



Serves 2.

Roasted Yellow Turnips and Red Carrots

We found yellow turnips and red carrots in our CSA box last week, and fell in love. Yellow turnips seem to be creamier and less bitter than their plain white cousins, and the red carrots were especially carroty and sweet. For this recipe, you want to end up with about equal parts carrot and turnip once sliced.

Ingredients
4-5 short, fat carrots, brushed and sliced
2-4 yellow turnips, peeled, halved lengthwise, and sliced
Olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, pressed
Small handful flat leaf parsley, chopped

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Toss the veggies with the olive oil and garlic in a baking dish or roasting pan sized so that the veggies are about an inch deep. Roast in the oven for 25-40 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until lightly browned and soft. Season with parsley and salt to taste, stir, and serve.

Braised Turnips with Apple and Nutmeg

It's a turnipy time of year, and if you get a CSA box, you're likely to find them soon and find them repeatedly if you haven't already. We've been experimenting with different ways of cooking them, and here's a new one -- the sweetness of the apple offsets the slight bitterness of the turnips, and the whole thing tastes very autumny.

Ingredients
1/2 tbsp pastured butter
1-2 tbsp olive oil
3-4 turnips, peeled, sliced, and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
Pinch salt 
1-2 apples, peeled, sliced, and cut into smaller pieces
1/4-1/2 cup veggie broth
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Liberal dousing of freshly ground white pepper
Pinch brown sugar

Heat butter and olive oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat. Add the turnips and stir to coat. Cook until lightly browned on one side, then mix in the apples. Cover the pan and continue to cook for another minute or two to brown, then stir, cover, and let brown again. When the turnips are a nice golden brown on all sides, turn heat down to medium, add a little veggie broth, and cover the pan to let simmer for about 5-7 minutes or until turnips are tender (you should check the pan every 2 minutes or so, stir, and add more broth if it's starting to dry out). Last, add the nutmeg, white pepper, and a pinch of brown sugar, and season with salt to taste.

Serves 2-3.

Easy Roasted Veggies

Swimming in a sea of swiftly approaching deadlines? Toss your plants in the oven while you type madly on your computer. I can't think of a vegetable that wouldn't be good roasted, although surely there must be something. Lettuce, I suppose. Please do not roast your salad. But yes on root vegetables, or cauliflower, or practically anything else. Cut them into chunks, toss with olive oil, a pinch of salt, and some freshly ground black pepper, and roast in the oven at 400-425 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until nicely browned and tender, stirring every 10-15 minutes or so.

Play around with spreading them out in a wider pan versus clumping them together several layers deep -- layering keeps them moist, but if they stay too wet, they won't brown as nicely. (My turnips tonight ended up getting wetter than I expected, so halfway through, I spread them out more sparsely in the pan, and they soon turned golden (and purple, due to the purple carrots, which ended up looking kind of neat).

Side note: I notice, upon rereading the preceding paragraph, a distinct lack of grammatical correctness, or at the very least a glaring absence of a second closing parenthesis. This is because my brainpower has been usurped by the aforementioned deadlines. I take no responsibility. None.

Onward, then: Turnips are particularly good with a little pressed garlic thrown in, and I always love huge pans full of roasted root veggies this time of year (turnips, parsnips, carrots, yams, potatoes, fennel bulb, you name it -- mix with olive oil and garlic, then add a bit of chopped parsley just before you serve). Roast cauliflower until tender and sprinkle with a tiny bit of ground cumin and some ñora pepper. Eat. Enjoy. Thumb your nose at the evil deadlines.


P.S. Found it:    )