How I Came to Love Parsnips

Confession:  I didn't really like vegetables until a few years ago.

Sure, I'd forced down peas, green beans, and broccoli in every possible iteration throughout childhood. But I didn't really like it. And I didn't try other veggies. I hated anything raw. Healthy food just didn't taste good.

At the end of college, with my athletic career wrapping up and my metabolism slowing (dang!), I wanted to establish healthy living habits for my entire life -- exercise, eat right, keep my mind sharp, give back to others.  Lofty goals, I know, but it took this complete change in my mindset to make me want to give vegetables (and lots of other healthy foods) a chance.

My mainstay was steamed broccoli or green beans tossed with butter or lemon juice.  More recently, I've begun to explore new produce.  Kale--made into crispy, light-as-air chips.  Carrots--roasted in pomegranate molasses (a la Melissa Clark).  Broccolini--tossed with butter (some things shouldn't be messed with). Steamed snap peas--with an Asian dipping sauce I could drink out of the bowl. And parsnips--roasted to bring out their inherent sweetness.

This is the recipe I tried that made me love parsnips, that humble and often overlooked root vegetable that deserves some love.


Roasted Parsnips with Orange, Cumin, and Honey
From Sassy Radish (get the original recipe here)

Parsnips look like white carrots without the green top.
I typically find them in a bin in the refrigerated produce section,
next to the loose carrots and rutabagas.

Peeled and cut into roughly the same size pieces.

After roasting, the parsnips luxuriate in their sauce,
tender, juicy, sweet, and spicy.

And if sweetly golden roasted parsnips weren't enough, this delectable parsnip cake from A Plum By Any Other Name will get you started. The cake itself is a bit unusual -- olive oil takes the place of canola or vegetable oil, giving a lovely mildly grassy flavor to the cake.  And please don't omit the cointreau-soaked figs. They're juicy pockets of deliciousness scattered throughout the moist spice cake.

Parsnip Cake with Rum-Cream Cheese Frosting

From A Plum by Any Other Name (get the original recipe here)

Two layers of parsnip cake, fresh out of the oven.

Adding dark rum to the cream cheese frosting offered
a subtle spicy note that made the frosting
different from the usual incarnation.

A healthy slice of parsnip cake, studded with
walnuts, orange zest, and Cointreau-soaked figs.

Oatmeal of a Different Color

I had pink oatmeal today.  Pink, because the raspberries tinted the almond milk a pale and lovely pink. Don't worry, there was chocolate and coconut in there too. I made it for breakfast. All I can say is...incredible! It'll make you finish the entire bowl of oatmeal, which is not typical for me.

Oatmeal of A Different Color

Ingredients:
1 package of instant oatmeal (I prefer Nature's Path brand)
Almond milk (add enough to get the consistency of oatmeal you love)
Handful of raspberries
1 tbsp. walnuts, broken into pieces
1 tbsp. chia seeds
1 1/2 tsp. cocoa nibs
1 tbsp. shredded coconut
1 tbsp. semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation:
Combine oatmeal packet and almond milk in a bowl. Microwave as the packet instructs.

Add remaining ingredients and stir well, so the chocolate chips begin to melt into the oatmeal.

*I like to use frozen raspberries, because they're always in season and because I enjoy the texture and chill of a frozen raspberry.  If you use frozen raspberries, microwave the oatmeal for half the time listed on the packet...then add in the raspberries and microwave for the remaining time. The frozen raspberry will be thawed just enough to enjoy while still providing a chilled and firm texture.

But Everyone Else Is Doing It

If you're like me, you spend an ungodly amount of time each day reading posts from various food blogs. Reading is quickly followed by printing a few new recipes. And even more rapidly followed by awe and envy at people's skill and creativity in the kitchen, behind the camera, and on the computer.

If you've looked at many food blogs in the past few months, you'll probably see at least one post about kale and quinoa cakes. I swear, everyone is doing it.

Including me.  Oops. Sorry to be a sellout. But I promise these are deliciously worth the effort.

Kale and Quinoa Patties

from Joy the Baker

originally adapted from Heidi Swanson (her blog is 101 Cookbooks - check it out!) 

I did have to adjust Joy the Baker's recipe...

1) She says to moisten the quinoa mixture with water until they can be formed into and hold a patty shape. I added a lot of water...and the mixture still wouldn't hold shape. So I added an extra egg and an egg white (leftover from another recipe), and things seemed to work like they should.

2) I needed to add a new drizzle of oil each time I placed the patties in the pan. After the first rather sad-looking batch, I also drizzled a little oil atop the patty before flipping it (to cook the second side).  Without enough oil, the patties didn't brown and crisp oh-so-nicely.

I dipped my patties in Greek yogurt with sriarcha....delicious!

I hoped to make my own aioli with capers to use as a dipping sauce...but, alas, that never happened.  Perhaps next time.

I suspect that Joy the Baker's suggestion to eat these atop a salad would be spot on too.

Everyone else is doing it. So you probably should too. You'll be happy you did.

Friday Cheer! Abita Strawberry Lager

It's Friday. It's summer. It's oppressively hot out there, at least in my part of Ohio. 

This calls for a refreshing beer.

What's this? Abita Strawberry Lager? 

Why, yes, I'll have one of those. Please.

Abita's Strawberry Lager is a crisp golden lager with strawberry juice added after filtration.  It doesn't have a strong, distinct taste of sweet, juicy strawberries, but there is a pleasant sweetness added to the lager's taste and aroma.  Happily, this brew remains well-balanced between sweet and dry despite the addition of the strawberry juice.  Because it's real juice, there isn't any of that odd artificial fruit flavor that I've noticed in some other fruit beers. Thank goodness, because at 4.2% alcohol by volume, this lager is perfect on a hot summer's day.

On my to-do list with Abita's Strawberry Lager are two recipes from my favorite inspiration for cooking with beer, The Beeroness.  I think this berry flavored brew would be perfect for her Beer Popsicles, and, though it's a bit more of a stretch to use lager in it, her Strawberry Beer Lemonade.  I'll report back with my take on these treats...if I don't run out of Abita first. It's that hot here.

Happy Friday!

Cheer for the Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope you're relaxing with family and friends, grilling out, and enjoying an ice-cold beverage.  More importantly, I hope you're wearing red, white, and blue. And I sincerely hope you get to see some fireworks tonight.

If, like me, you were inappropriately ridiculously excited to don the colors of the Stars and Stripes (blue running shorts, red tshirt from a Fourth of July 5k, and blue headband), you may also be excited to drink American.

There's the option to drink red or blue...

Shiner Ruby Redbird - a summer seasonal made with Texas
Rio Red Grapefruit Juice, ginger, and other flavors
Kennebunk Brewing Company Blueberry Wheat Ale - a wheat ale with
a distinct blueberry flavor

Rivertown Brewing Company Blueberry Lager - a pale golden
lager with noteable blueberry flavor

Or there's the option to drink a classic American brew, wearing patriotic colors...

Pabst Blue Ribbon - from a bottle or a can,
this is an all-American lager. Perfect for a swealteringly
hot day, like it is in Ohio

There's also some newer American brews, from 21st Amendment Brewery in California. One (Brew Free or Die IPA) is particularly patriotic...

Brew Free or Die IPA - A well-balanced IPA to go with your
burger or hot dog. It's one of the few IPA's I crave
Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer - A wheat beer with
watermelon. Pretty self-explanatory, but incredibly delicious and
refreshing. My favorite summer beer. Your first sip may be
super sweet, but keep drinking and you'll see why it
deserves your love

While there a plenty of cocktail variants with red, white, and blue, I've already done that to celebrate the Fourth. It's beer's turn this year.

So relax and celebrate. C'mon, go already!

See, the Fonz is relaxing with her squirrel.
Good job, Fonz.

Friday Cheer! Brooklyn and Belgium Beer Tasting

We went to another Burgers and Beers tasting event last night, and the theme was Brooklyn Brewery and Belgian Beers.  An interesting mix, right?  I'm not sure how they decided to combine these two styles, but the result was delicious.

The brews we sampled.
Brews 1,3, and 6 are from Brooklyn Brewery.
Brews 2, 4, and 5 are Belgian (not from Brooklyn Brewery).

Tasting Notes:
1) Brooklyn Lager - light, crisp, from a can!
2) Flo - extremely floral and moderately sweet, it reminded me of Jeni's Ylang-Ylang and Honeycomb ice cream from last summer. Not my favorite, because I don't like sweet beers.
3) Brooklyn Brown - well-balanced, though very mildly flavored. Not strongly malty or hoppy. I think I'd choose other brown ales before this, but I'd drink it without complaint.
4) Leffe Bruin - another brown ale, but with the characteristic Belgian spiciness (clove, banana) from the yeast strain. I like Belgian style beers, so this was tasty.
5) Tripel - direct from Bruges, Belgium, where it is made with 500 year old equipment (though I'm betting they have some new equipment too). A cloudy gold color with both spiciness and a definite floral note, as well as the higher alcohol content you'd expect of a tripel. Tasty.
6) Sorachi Ace - made with rare Sorachi Ace hops, this beer was surprisingly light after the heaviness of browns and a tripel. A distinct citrus note played on a wheat and hops background. Nicely balanced. Very tasty, probably one of my Brooklyn Brewery favorites.

We also tasted the elusive Black Ops, a Russian Imperial Stout from Brooklyn Brewery produced in very limited quantities every year.  It was extremely dark and thick, but without a heavy feel.  My roommate claimed it smelled exactly like the chocolate and bourbon cake she makes...and it did. Since the stout is aged temporarily in bourbon barrels, it definitely had the chocolate + bourbon combination going on.

Our burger of the night was The Seven Napkins, consisting of a burger, barbecue sauce, creamy coleslaw, onion rings, and the perfect bun.  I know the combination of barbecue + coleslaw is revered in parts of the South, but honestly, I wasn't sure I'd like it. After all, I've never liked coleslaw, whether it's creamy or a vinegarette dressing.  But this was insanely delicious. All the ingredients worked together perfectly.

Because the Brooklyn Brewery rep was there, we also made off with some swag.  A coaster (to match the one we already have) and a miniature button for everyone, plus two t-shirts we won in the raffle.  If the metal sign of the Brooklyn Brewery logo had still been available when I went to claim my prize, I would've grabbed that for Eric's new bar...but a t-shirt for my New York roomie is an awfully good second.

Happy Friday!

I hope there are some frosty drinks in your weekend forecast to help you survive this crazy heat wave! It's 100+ degrees here in Ohio! Yikes!

Friday Cheer! Stone Ruination IPA to drink and eat

Guess what? I read a lot of blogs. A lot of food-centric blogs.  While they inspire me to be a better blogger (still working on that...), they also make me want to cook so many of their incredible recipes. Today's Friday Cheer was instigated by a post from a favorite blog, The Beeroness.  This brilliant lady develops delicious recipes, sweet and savory, that feature different types of beer.  I've tested several of her recipes and every single one has been awesome...from Chocolate Stout Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust to Chocolate Pretzel Beer Toffee (a huge hit with my coworkers and family) to the  IPA Marinated Citrus Pork with Peach Poblano Salsa that prompted today's post.

Not only does The Beeroness offer recipes featuring beer, she gives some useful advice on how to choose a beer to use in a specific dish.  So if I can't find the exact beer she recommends, I know what features I need in the beer I ultimately choose.

Can you tell I'm a fan?

Thankfully I was able to find Stone's Ruination IPA, because her description of it as one of the few perfectly balanced IPA's made me mad to try it.  Because they are tremendously hoppy, IPA's are not a style of beer I drink too often. I really have to be craving an IPA to enjoy it, and summer is the time I love IPA most -- with a burger and on the patio. It's bliss.  But if I'm not in the mood for an IPA, it just sits there, collecting dust and wondering why all his beer neighbors are disappearing.

Stone Ruination IPA
Perfectly balanced and beautiful
Very drinkable

Apparently it is a serious issue that many IPA's on the market aren't balanced. They focus on cramming in as much hop flavor as they possibly can. And a population of people goes bananas over it...which I also dislike (be educated about what you love, people!), but that's a whole other thing.  Trust me, though, as The Beeroness claimed, Stone's Ruination IPA is balanced - it's full of hops with citrus and pine flavors which are balanced against a honey-like sweetness.  Don't think this beer is a sweet one, though. It's hops, through and through, but used in the way they ought to be.

I followed The Beeroness' recipe for IPA marinated pork chops with peach poblano salsa. The IPA came into play twice:  in the pork chop's marinade and in the salsa.  The salsa, by the way, is fantastic on it's own. Her recipe makes extra salsa, so I enjoyed that on my beloved Milagros tortilla chips for days.

Incredibly delicious

Up close, it's just as delicious

Thanks for the inspiration, Beeroness!  I know I'll be back for more recipes and more beer recommendations.

Happy Friday!!!