A slowly braised roast was our planned centerpiece for this meal. We simply needed to choose some side dishes to accompany it. Rather than going with tried and true recipes, we chose vegetables that would have garnered “No thank you” serving requests. Parsnips seemed like a perfect choice.
I never had cooked parsnips previously, but I had enjoyed them at restaurants and friends’ houses, which meant that it clearly was time for me to give them a try. Serving them in a mashed or pureed form would be a simple way to experiment with this vegetable. To add subtle flavors to the parsnips, we decided to infuse the milk, which would be used during mashing, with thyme and garlic.
This side dish was amazingly delicious and creamy. In fact, we thought it was so good that even the kids would enjoy it. We will be making it soon for our four and certainly will get honest feedback.
- 1 pound parsnips, peeled and diced
- 1-3/4 cup skim milk
- 6 cloves garlic, cut in half
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 1/2 Tb. butter
- salt
- pepper
- Fill medium pot with water, and bring to boiling over high heat.
- Add parnsips, and boil for 7-8 minutes, or until fork tender. Drain.
- While parsnips are boiling, combine milk, garlic, and thyme in a small pot.
- Place over low heat, and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes.
- Strain milk, and discard garlic and thyme.
- Place parsnips in a blender, and add butter and half of milk.
- Puree mixture, adding more milk until desired consistency is reached.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
