I’ve never been a vegetable person. I have my favorites (ahem… brussels sprouts), but in general they aren’t something that I get excited about. Especially when it comes to vegetable side dishes, where they don’t get to hide behind other flavors. But these maple-glazed root vegetables are another story: they can be enjoyed just as much by the veggie-hater as the veggie-lover. I made these to go along with steak and french fries – at the end of dinner, my plate still had steak and french fries on it, but there were no vegetables left. I was so excited about them that I made them again right away, to bring for lunch the next day. It’s amazing what a little bit of maple syrup can do.
That’s not to say that these vegetables are super sticky sweet – the syrup really only forms a light glaze that imparts a hint of maple flavor while keeping the vegetables from drying out while they roast. You also want to be sure to use real maple syrup on these, rather than “maple flavored syrup” (like Aunt Jemima and the other popular brands) that have corn syrup as their first ingredient. Real maple syrup has a lot less sugar, and a slightly bitter taste that takes some getting used to on your pancakes, but it a perfect foil to the natural sweetness of the root vegetables and to the peppery flavor of the parsnip and turnip.
You can use whatever winter root vegetables are available, and whatever you like. I used sweet potato, carrots, parsnip, and turnip – but you can feel free to leave any one of those out or add another vegetable of your choice. When I make these again I want to try adding fennel, which I think will be fabulous. I also want to play around with adding some beets (probably not with the carrots and sweet potato though). It’s all about figuring out which vegetables you like best and going with it. [....]
Thanksgiving dinner has been eaten, Christmas music is in the CD player, and it’s COLD out!!! It seems like Mother Nature got the memo, and all of a sudden it feels like winter.
Since my mom always hosts Thanksgiving, I’m not stuck trying to get rid of leftovers all week. No turkey sandwiches here! I’m focused on more important things. Like soup. This time of year, there is very little that appeals to me more than a nice, warm bowl of soup. This bean soup is a great way to get back on track after the Thanksgiving weekend – it’s vegetarian (vegan if you skip the sour cream on top), full of wholesome vegetables and fiber, and extremely soul-satisfying. Adding your own toppings also makes the soup fun, and allows you to switch it up a little bit so that the leftovers don’t all taste exactly the same. [....]
If I don’t cut it out with the pumpkin and sweet potato soon, I’m going to turn orange! I have them on the menu three times this week – THREE! – But I can’t help it that they’re so delicious or that to me they are the ultimate fall treat. I think that sweet potatoes and yams often take the backseat to pumpkins this time of year, but I like to mix it up. I have trouble dealign with whole pumpkins (they’re so hard to cut!), so for the most part I use sweet potato any time I’m looking for something other than a puree. These sweet potato latkes feature a lot of flavors that also go well with pumpkin (like sage and cream), but they have a crispy texture that you wouldn’t be able to achieve with a pumpkin.[....]
These were really filling! Could use a little improvement, but not at all bad as is. I think next time I’ll up the seasoning a bit, add some brown rice, and use bigger tortillas (but then have one for dinner instead of two). I bet they would alos be really good baked without the enchilada [...]
I don’t feel like I did much cooking on this one, but it was really delicious so I’ll post it anyway. I picked up a burgundy marinaded boneless leg of lamb at Trader Joes and cooked it according to package directions (for medium rare, just over an hour for a 2.5 pound cut. Not too [...]
