Lunchbox Liz

Although many people think of the twelve days of Christmas being the twelve days leading up to Christmas, it is actually the twelve days starting with Christmas day and leading up to Epiphan--the day the three wise men arrived in the manger to shower the newborn babe with gifts. By now we have been showered with our friend’s and family’s favorite sweet treats and we are ready for a few vegetables. To celebrate the conclusion of the Christmas season I’ll offer you twelve days of vegetables starting with the humble parsnip, the favorite starch of the old world until the potatoe arrived on the scene from that uppity new world. A root vegetable related to the carrot, parsnips are paler with more insense flavor. They top carrots in vitamin C content and beat the potato for carbohydrate and vegetable protein.



Today’s Lunch
Roasted Parsnips

3-4 parsnips
1-2 tbsp olive oil
salt

Slice the parsnips at both ends and in the middle. Then cut each piece into four quarters lengthwise (there is nothing magic to the shape, you can simply chop the tuber into whatever sized pieces you want). Bring a saucepan of water large enough to cover the strips to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and the vegetable and boil for two minutes. Drain the veggies and spread out on a baking sheet. Turn on your broiler to 425 degrees. Drizzle the veggies with oil and cook on the middle rack until done. This usually takes about 10 to fifteen minutes. The parsnips will get slightly crispy on the outside. You can skip the parboiling and bake the veggies for about twenty minutes and then flip on then drizzle the veggies with oil and flip on the boiler. This can also be done on the grill encasing the veggies in foil. So many choices!