parsnips

Ginger Chicken with Roasted Parsnips

| ellenfobrien
Ginger chicken

Spice kissed ginger chicken with sweet roasted parsnips over couscous makes for a delicious change of pace. You can add lots of variation in the couscous: try mixing in chopped dried cranberries, toasted pecan pieces, or raisins.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1-1 1/2 lbs chicken thighs
4-6 parsnips (depending upon size)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves minced garlic (or 1 1/2 tsp garlic paste)
2 tbs thin sliced ginger
3/4 tsp five spice powder
1 1/2 tsp each, salt & pepper
1 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup finely minced parsley
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)
3 tbs olive oil
1 box Near East (or similar) couscous
1 tbs butter (for couscous)
Variations
Add 1/2 cup:
– finely chopped dried cranberries
– 1/2 cup raisins
– 1/2 cup toasted, chopped pecan pieces

Equipment Needed:

Heavy bottomed, ovenproof covered skillet
Small saute pan
Cookie sheet

Cooking Instructions:
  • Heat oil over medium-high heat in ovenproof skillet; once hot, add ginger, garlic and onions. Cook until onions are translucent; make sure to keep stirring so that garlic and ginger don’t burn.
  • Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  • Sprinkle 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of pepper and five spice over chicken thighs and layer into skillet; be sure that the pieces do not overlap so that they cook evenly. Sear the chicken on all sides; this will take about 5 minutes.
  • Add chicken stock, cover and place skillet on the middle shelf in the pre-heated oven.
  • In a small bowl, mix 1/2 tsp of remaining salt and pepper with 1 tbs olive oil; coat parsnips in oil and lay out on cookie sheet.
  • Place cookie sheet on top shelf in the oven. After 10 minutes, turn parsnips so that they cook on all sides.
  • Prepare couscous per package directions.
  • At 25 minutes, the chicken should be cooked and the parsnips should be roasted and fork tender.

Serve chicken family-style on a platter, over couscous. Garnish with finely minced parsley.

Carrots & Parsnips

| ellenfobrien
carrots and parsnips

This is so simple that I wouldn’t really say it’s a recipe — but it is one of my favorite veggies dishes of all time and reminds me of happy family Thanksgivings — always a nice go-to option when I’ve had a really stressful day. (BTW: lots of Americans don’t seem familiar with parsnips; my Mum was English and she introduced our family to this wonderful root vegetable.)

Prep Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • Carrots: whole carrots are best, but you can use baby carrots (pre-peeled) to cut prep time
  • Peeled, coined parsnips
  • Salt/pepper, to taste

Cooking Instructions:

  • Heat a large pot with salted water
  • Prep vegetables
  • Once the water is at a rolling boil, add veggies to the pot
  • Cook until vegetables are fork tender
  • Drain vegetables
  • Whip until you achieve a smooth, but not totally pureed, texture
  • Test for seasoning; add salt and pepper, as desired
  • Note that any leftovers can be used to make the equivalent of potato pancakes — mix the leftover veg with an egg, Panko breadcrumbs and dredge with flour. Make patties about 1/2″ thick; preheat olive oil to 350 (you need about 1/2″ of oil in the pan) and cook about 5 minutes on each side. The patties should be crispy and brown; keep an eye on them — you want to ensure that they don’t burn!