I know these look like yam fries, they are stained orange from the paprika. I think I can safely say they’re even better than yam fries, more of an earthy robust taste that just doesn’t compare. The lime aioli is also spiked with garlic and begs you to drench every fry in it. Recently we ordered our bulk organic vegetables to store for the winter. Being relatively unfamiliar with parsnips, I only ordered 5 lbs. Now that I’ve tasted these I think I’ll be ordering more, the parsnip is a noble vegetable, it may look like a carrot but the texture and taste differ in a palate pleasing way.
We actually enjoyed these for breakfast with sunny side up pastured eggs, a great fuel for a productive happy day. It reminded me of being in some hipster cafe that charges fifteen bucks a plate. Parsnips, in reality are mighty affordable and wholly underrated. I can see the sign outside the bistro right now, “parsnip fries are the new yam fries” I wouldn’t contest.
Now if you want to make your own mayo, which I strongly recommend, check out this post on the easiest most foolproof way to do it. Also, feel free to switch up the aioli, I know not everyone in the world likes cilantro so even a simple garlic aioli would be stunning with these fries, they really are the star of the show.
3 large parsnips, peeled and cut into ¼ inch strips
1 Tbs smoked paprika
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp sea salt
2 Tbs coconut oil, melted or preferred cooking fat
½ C mayonnaise
¼ C cilantro, finely chopped
1 Tbs lime juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425F
Using a large bowl or ziploc bag, add oil, paprika, cayenne and salt. Add the parsnip strips, cover the bowl and shake until all the fries are evenly coated with spices and oil.
On a large baking sheet lined with parchment, spread an even layer of fries and bake for 30 minutes. For the last 5 minutes turn the oven to broil for extra crispy fries, just watch them closely.
Combine mayonnaise, cilantro, lime juice and garlic in a jar and shake well.
Serve the mayo drizzle over the fries or on the side.
As a young girl I was given full freedom to experiment and have fun in the kitchen. I remember once combining raw rice, strawberry jello powder and flour resulting in a horrid red goo and a nightmarish dish to clean. My best friend growing up would always join in and together our cooking antics messed both our mothers kitchens daily. Our most memorable kitchen nightmare were the famous salsa sandwiches, we thought they were genius at the age of 9. Pitas stuffed with tortilla chips, salsa and cheddar. We’ve both come a long way, she’s an amazing chef at an accomplished Edmonton eatery and I write about my creations on this wee little blog. We all start somewhere, you can’t expect to not make mistakes in the kitchen. The key to finding your cooking mojo is to just have fun. Cooking is an art form and this quote rings true for me, you don’t hold back when you’re in love. You can’t. You can’t hold back when you make art of any type, or it will lack the essence of expression which has no boundaries or rules. So open your fridge, rip apart your cupboards, forget the rules, blend,mash,chop, throw together what inspires you. Okay there are basic boundaries an artist stands by, you want your paint to stay on the canvas, you want your food to taste amazing. Here’s my equation for creative success in the kitchen… Balance the sweet, salty, bitter, spicy, umami aspects and the rest is cake. If I’m making a salad for example this mandarin (sweet) kale (bitter) ginger (spicy) sunshine sauce (umami) lime roasted cashews (salty) I can use whatever I have on hand and create something delicious by following this simple guideline. Look closely at your favourite recipes and you will likely see this pattern.
Combine kale, mandarins and onion in a large bowl and set aside.
In a blender combine the sunflower seeds, lime, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, olive oil, ginger, garlic, salt and coconut sugar until smooth and creamy.
Coat the kale with ginger sunshine sauce and toss with cashews or additional sunflower seeds and sliced red chile (optional)
I have breaking news, regular nutella isn’t nearly as healthy as they claim it to be! Shocker right? What should be a wholesome organic spread with emphasis on 2 amazing natural ingredients somehow got lost along the way. No fear, my feller cohorts and I have resurrected what nutella should be, no weird hydrogenated oils or refined sugar, just real food. It is 10:30 at night and I’m eating this stuff out the jar. I know you’re meant to spread it on stuff but I just can’t help myself. But why am I indulging in a bowl of this nutella at such a late hour? My inner night owl has not been tamed by motherhood. Though it is always just as difficult waking up at the crack of dawn to a hair pulling little ball of energy, I still can’t help but stay up late, creating, writing, laughing. What is this extraneous creature that dwells within me only to enliven after nine. She has always been there, when I was a young lass I would wait until everyone went to bed and have meetings with all my teddy bears arranged in a circle. We’d talk for hours. Or those slumber parties with all your best girlfriends, prank calling sexy phone lines in the wee hours of the night. I can see myself as an old woman, still staying up late to read, write, create, laugh, cry. Do you any have night owl tendencies? It’s interesting that my partner is what some would call a ‘morning person’ though to me he’s more of an ‘afternoon person’. How important is it to have similar sleep schedules in a relationship? Is it a little more difficult to find balance when one person eats nutella at night from a bowl and one spreads it on toast in the morning? Perhaps it matters more that both people love nutella, there’s a special bond there. Which reminds me of a quote…
Too true isn’t it? You certainly can’t please everyone. I know I’m guilty of trying to make everyone happy, but hey, it never works. There are even people out there who don’t like nutella (I’ve met them).
In a high powered blender or food processor, add hazelnuts and process until they start to form a smooth nut butter, you can add a bit of water here to get things moving.
Use a double boiler method to melt the coconut oil and cacao paste, stir in the honey and add this liquid to the hazelnuts.
Add salt,blend everything together until super smooth, adding water as you go to achieve desired consistency.
Athena, Eirene, Gaia, the list of greek goddesses and their stories goes on and on. I’ve been thinking about Greece recently because some beautiful friends of ours are moving there. Often I day dream about living in foreign places, what it would be like, how the cultural mindset would be compared to Canada. My life goal remains to see the world, I want to show my son the diversity inherent in our humanness. Our buddy describes the Greek as being very warm and generous, they have stories from so long ago, a history rich and deep in mythology. There are no comparable characteristics in our culture, if we have ancient stories it is because we came from elsewhere. Both a curse and a blessing, since stories are interwoven in our bones, we seek them out. Why else would people read a newspaper everyday, or talk to the shop owner on the corner about the latest gossip. Stories are a deep craving. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could speak every language, travel to every place, and hear every story? If only a magic genie would appear, that would be my wish.
The story behind this salad dressing is that it’s amazing. My dear friend stopped for a visit before returning back to Greece and he came bearing the best olive oil and wild mountain oregano. This dressing is an ode to these fundamental, pure Grecian ingredients, simple, delicious, simple. Perfect for adorning salads, dipping crispy potatoes, dousing gyros, or swirling in a roasted soup.
I really wasn’t sure what to name this deliciously multi faceted concotion of mine. Originally I wanted to follow in my ma’s footsteps and make traditional sloppy joes for Halloween (she used to make little pepper faces on the buns for us-so cute). The dilemma was that I didn’t want the whole bun deal. So of course the yams come in, caramelized yam slices soak up sloppy sweet spicy beef pretty well. But it was still incomplete, the messy appeal of a sloppy joe was lacking, so I created these crispy thin flatbreads that work wonders as makeshift utensils. Top that with fresh roasted salsa verde, avocado and colourful rainbow chard and you’ve got yourself a pretty classy dish, a sloppy jane indeed with a south of the border flare.
Happy Halloween! I dressed up as the cat in the hat, J wore a creepy mask and baby Mav was a little skeleton, we had our own dance party to Whitney Houston, the monster mash and Fresh Prince of Bel Air. J threatened to tape my singing ‘I will always love you’ so that our future kin can laugh at my desperate quaking voice. I so wish I could sing like Whitney. I wrapped a bunch of mini homemade oh henry bars for the trick or treaters but alas, no little princesses and vampires came a knockin’. I guess our place is a little out of the way, but it’s our first Halloween here so I wanted to have treats just in case. Oh well, they certainly won’t go to waste.
Preheat oven to 400F, Line a baking tray and place the sweet potatoes and tomatiollos on the tray. Bake for 40 minutes.
In a large skillet melt fat or oil and add onion and garlic, cook until the onion starts to turn golden.
Add chile, chipotle and beef. As the beef starts to cook, raise the heat and add the molasses, stir on high for 2 minutes and turn heat to low.
Add in worcester sauce,oregano,cumin,chili powder and salt. Cover and let simmer on low.
To make the salsa verde, take the roasted tomatillos and add them to a blender or food processor, in addition to one clove garlic, lime, and cilantro. Blend on high and set aside.
Combine Tapioca flour, coconut flour, water, cumin and salt until smooth, it should be quite thin.
Heat a frying pan with a bit of your favourite cooking fat or oil, dropping about ⅛th C mixture into the pan and swirling the batter around the pan each time for small little flatbreads. They take about 2 min. per side to get nice and crispy. Repeat until finished.
Remove yams from the oven and sprinkle with a tsp cane sugar, turn oven to broil and brown the tops for a few minutes.
To assemble, arrange yams around the edge, sloppy in the middle, and all the fix ins around the edges of your bowl.
Aloha homies, I’m really excited today, I got to share an article on Real Foodies of my top 1o most affordable super foods. If you’ve ever checked out the super foods section at your local health food store you’ll know many of those rare earth delicacies don’t come cheap. But fear not, even if you don’t have elk antler velvet in the budget there are plenty of affordable, amazing super foods that have just as many superpowers.
Is pulled pork a superfood? Well I sorta think so, it sure gives you heaps of protein and energy. I’d never made it until a few weeks ago, we had a housewarming party and I made these pulled pork lettuce wraps and they were a hit. So I made them again and I wanted to share with you guys, I do realize my posts have been pretty ‘meaty’ lately…I hope you don’t mind. I will bring a little more balance to the table very soon, paleo brownie bites anyone? The pulled pork recipe comes from momofuku, slightly altered and the homemade bbq sauce is my own creation. We also made little gluten-free pizzas with the leftovers and they were superb with a nice glass of red wine. There’s something really therapeutic about shredding pork, I just can’t put my finger on it. P.S. The balance of easiness to deliciousness with this just topples, its SO easy and you could totally do without the BBQ sauce for an even easier take, but seriously would you want to?
Rub down your pork butt with the salt and sugar, let it sit 6hrs or overnight.
When your ready to cook it, brush off excess salt and sugar, preheat oven to 300F and let the pork cook for about 6 hrs. or until it's tender and pull able.
Turn oven up to 500F, remove the pork and sprinkle with ¼ C additional sugar for a crunchy caramelized crust. Return to oven for 10 minutes
Using 2 forks just tear in to that bad boy, rip it all up, smother it in BBQ sauce and plunk it into a crunchy lettuce leaf.
To make the BBQ sauce: Add fat, onion and garlic to a hot skillet and cook until slightly browned.
Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. For a really smooth BBQ, you could blend it all up with a touch of stock or water. This makes about 1 C worth of sauce for smothering on your pulled pork.
Hey I'm Chantelle, my alter ego would be a mermaid if I wasn't such a terrible swimmer. I love writing authentically and cooking in my pyjamas. My favourite pastimes include eating avocados, travelling the world and hanging out with a toddler.
