Parsnips are under appreciated vegetables: gnarly and mottled with dirty brown smudges — a bit odd looking to attract anyone but a mother’s love.  They have an ancient, elfin air, like something pulled straight out of Tolkien’s Middle-earth, which doesn’t help their cause much.  Ask diners and cooks alike about this ghostly carrot doppelganger, and you’ll receive a blank stare.  Parsnip is not a vegetable on the Safeway circuit, and given the choice, most shoppers will eagerly select its cleaner, prettier, more familiar cousin (the orange carrot) instead.

It’s a shame, since hidden beneath the rugged soiled-looking surface lies the sweetest, tender heart among edible roots.  Parsnips are patient, hearty souls that wait for a nip of frost to develop their seductive honey-laced flavor — a delight to experience and worth digging down in the cold, hard dirt. This makes them a wise local option throughout winter months when summery vegetables are flown in from warm fields far away — a waste of fuel when the produce is blah.

A classic when deeply caramelized in a roasting pan, but equally sensational as dreamy soft bites of creamy gratin or earthy stew, parsnips shine in the oven or on the stove.  Heat coaxes the butterscotch goodness out.  I wouldn’t bother with a raw one.  It isn’t worth much by comparison.

The following recipes are from London-based Nigel Slater’s fantastic cookbook come memoir, Tender: A Cook and his Vegetable Patch, chronicling his love affair with homegrown vegetables.  This book is utterly captivating (tops on my holiday wish list).  Slater will reel you in with his colorful narrative, woven vegetable by vegetable with recipes, tips and facts, memories, stories and lush photographs — all tantalizing.  Curl up in a comfy chair on a cold day and read this tome cover-to-cover if you dare take the time.  Dinner and laundry will wait.  It won’t be complete indulgence, so don’t feel too guilty; you’ll find inspiration for fabulous food in the process that might mitigate the laundry predicament.

Recipe – Roast Parsnips

Recipe – Root Vegetable Korma

Recipe – Winter Squash Pangrattato