The parsnip is not a vegetable that made a common appearance in my household growing up. In fact, I can't remember a time when we ate parsnips at home. Maybe I had parsnips when we went to grandma's for dinner, inside a stew perhaps. During a visit with cousins in England nearly two years ago, I found myself eating--and thoroughly enjoying--parsnip "fries".
Sometime during the chewing of tasty parsnip fries, I think I told myself that this was a vegetable I needed to eat more. Back in the States, however, I did not encounter parsnips in my regular grocery store haunts. Whether they were truly non-existent or I simply did not look well enough could be a point of discussion. However, it may be a moot point, since I did pick up some parsnips on my latest trip to the grocery store.
There were some potatoes on hand that I needed to use up, so I decided that they could share the spotlight and mash together with parsnips. I cooked the parsnips and potatoes together, and mashed them into a good consistency. Surprisingly, the flavor of the parsnips took over the dish. I only used a couple parsnips and six medium sized potatoes. Luckily, the mash was to accompany another strong flavor, Buffalo Tofu Triangles. If it had been anything else, the parsnips would have definitely stolen all of the attention.
While I do like to try new foods and am an advocate of getting variety in one's diet, I am a stubborn lover of mashed potatoes who will be not be tainting my mash with parsnip again. Perhaps next time I should try homemade parsnip fries next time, because I'll at least have a better idea of what I'm getting myself into!
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