Wife says, use them like you would carrots or potatoes. Treat them like any root vegetables. She puts them in stews and soups. Turnips are great too. A lot of forgotten veggies out there that we don't use much anymore.

 

I didn't know what these are. Never had them at dinner growing up. But Mother needed something from China-mart, so off we went. At the check-out, lady in front of us had a bag. Looked like pale carrots.

Any thoughts and uses for parsnips?

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To me a bite of a raw one tastes like a cross between a radish and a carrot. Peel the end and give it a nip and then decide what you would like it best in.

 

I like parsnips. We usually eat as a puree on its own or mixed in with mashed potatoes. I also put them in soup sliced like a carrot.

 

Treat like taters to mash em, or what we do is slice em into bite sized pieces w other root veggies, coat in olive oil, spices, and put on cookie sheet and bake em..add butter and viola...

 

They go good with boiled dinner and also with roast beef and horseradish. It's a carrot with some zing.

 

Parsnips are a winter root vegetable that is much too much neglected these days. (For that matter, all the winter root vegetables get neglected since people have been able to eat frozen green beans and corn year round. It's a pity. Eating no more different veggies than you can count on the fingers of one hand gets boring, boring, boring.)
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Dutch soup veggies always include parsnips and leeks along with the onions, celery, and carrots (plus potatoes, cabbage, and tomatoes for groentesoepe, Dutch vegetable soup). Try using those in your next split pea soup along with just a little curry powder (a common Dutch variation since they colonized the East Indies).

I consider them an essential addition to any New England/Irish corned beef or mutton boiled dinner.

They roast up sweet. Toss in oil and salt, roast in the oven, and top with some bacon bits. Or add an assertive green herb like rosemary or thyme when roasting.

They mash like potatoes, good done with butter and roast garlic. Or try a mashed potato, rutabaga, and parsnip combo.

As in the previously posted recipe under turnips, those two make a great pair in a gratin casserole. Parsnips and carrots are another good combo (one that improves my mother's zesty roast carrots with mayo, mustard, and horseradish).

I find they work well in almost any cauliflower recipe.

Here is a whole set of illustrative parsnip recipes:
19 Awesome Parsnip Recipes for Mains, Sides, and More

 

Some more parsnip recipe collections. At least a few have got to make your mouth water:

33 Ways to Love Parsnips

17 Parsnip Recipes That Will Make You Fall for This Underappreciated Root Vegetable

You will note a number of soups, stews, and roasts, classic winter fare that winter root vegetables all go well in.

 

• Peel (like you would a carrot)
• Cut into medallions (1/3")
• Boil until almost fork tender
• Saute with butter
• Salt and Pepper to taste.

 

French fried - cut them to the appropriate size and fry as usual. Try adding some rosemary or dill with the the salt. Or use a tempura batter and a sweet and spicy sauce.

 

I’ve used parsnips in homemade stews. You can also make one of those sheet pan roasted mixed winter veggies recipes and include parsnips.

 

I was actually able to grow them this year for the first time ever. Germination is poor with parsnips. They require more effort to get out of the ground than carrots do. Instead of storing in the cellar, I sliced into sticks and blanched them, then froze. We pull out a bag and add it to roasts along with carrots (preserved the same way). Yummy.

 

SLICED LIKE CARROT FRIED WITH BACON. HAM. OR side pork yooper delicacy.

 

Grew them once. They take a long time to germinate. They provide a little diversity, but basically carrots.

 

Right up there w/ roasted beets in my fav list. One yr in the 70’s we grew so many we sold them at the mom/pop store down the road.

 

I have some in the fridge, use them like you would a carrot.

I have always called them a carrot with an attitude.

 

Oven roasted until soft. Slather with butter. S/P and any other herb you like.

Chitting your seed will speed germ rates.

 

Oven roasted until soft. Slather with butter. S/P and any other herb you like.

Chitting your seed will speed germ rates.

Yeah, I direct sowed on my lone venture of growing them. Would definitely try a different approach if I ever grow them again

 

I like them roasted with potatoes carrots and onions. Chunk them up, oil, salt and pepper. Mix well, put on a sheet pan and roast in the oven until tender and carmalized.

 

They are used in this video of Food For The Poor. Used in soups along with Turnips. Next time I go to the store I plan to buy both of those and try them. I have never ate them before.

WARNING!!! If you watch one of these Townsends videos its very easy to watch another. And another and another and then you will end up watching these for a couple of hours without stop. They are that interesting. Some of the best videos on YT.

 

Be careful cooking the turnips, there is a point that they go from semi-firm to mush in a matter of seconds (or so it seems).

 

there is a wild parsnip that grows around here ,,they are not liked much by people now ,,,if you get the juice[think weedeater] and sun shines on it it burns the skin real bad if you want google it to get a idea ,,,but it can be nasty

,not sure if cultivated tops are as bad

not sure if its native here but it is widespread in this area , might of been introduced? and they grow all over and reseed easly,,given most soils here if its a bit wet the roots pull pretty easy not a big root but it adds up pretty fast

have thought about making a small bed just to see how big they would get given a good soil and looser soil

 

,not sure if cultivated tops are as bad..

not sure if its native here but it is widespread in this area , might of been introduced? ...

have thought about making a small bed just to see how big they would get given a good soil and looser soil

Cultivated parsnip foliage has the same photosensitivity effect.

All the parsnip family in North America got here from Europe. Wild parsnip is an invasive species.

Many centuries of selection went into getting cultivated parsnips with larger roots, so no, the wild ones won't get much bigger in a garden bed.

 

Parsnips are like a sweet terpy carrot and Lemon Pledge furniture polish.

Great with sweet potatoes and apples, and roasted pork roast or pork loin.

They won't grow here. Wonderful knee high tops but no roots.

 

I read many years ago that parsnips can cause Cancer. I checked the WEB and found this:
Parsnips cause cancer – AJS from PH

March 9, 2018 – AJS from PH

1 post published by bannedonph on March 9, 2018

bannedonph.wordpress.com

...
Mar 09, 2018 · Parsnips cause cancer. According to a study by health scientists, regularly eating parsnips DOUBLED the risk of cancer in a 5 year long study

 

I read many years ago that parsnips can cause Cancer. I checked the WEB and found this:
Parsnips cause cancer – AJS from PH

March 9, 2018 – AJS from PH

1 post published by bannedonph on March 9, 2018

bannedonph.wordpress.com

...
Mar 09, 2018 · Parsnips cause cancer. According to a study by health scientists, regularly eating parsnips DOUBLED the risk of cancer in a 5 year long study

Ah, sweet memories of youth and the end of innocence..when asked to do a dozen different statistical analyses of the same crappy research data until some bizarre one finally turned up a p less than the magic number because, you know, it's gotta be in there...

So later I continued to butter my bagels and put whole milk in my coffee while all those docs cluck-clucked at me.

 

i am not a fan, about the only veggie i do not like. generally cooked with port roasts etc.

 

I didn't know what these are. Never had them at dinner growing up. But Mother needed something from China-mart, so off we went. At the check-out, lady in front of us had a bag. Looked like pale carrots.

Any thoughts and uses for parsnips?

View attachment 407214

I grew some last year, they came out undersized due to soil problems but they are fine in stews. They are like a carrot but a little more starchy.

 

Cross between a carrot and a potato. They are wonderful cooked with a chuck roast. Use accordingly.

 

Turnip root, sliced thin makes a great substitute for water chestnuts in Chinese stir frys.
Same crunchy texture, mild sweet flavor, not at all like when they're boiled.
Just finished 2 plates full 😋

 

Great idea! I have used jicama with good results also (make sure you peel them).