P is for Parsnip

My personal productivity was plentiful so I penned the process of preparing the plethora of parsnips n' produce puree and posted pronto. Peeps, I'd be pleased as punch if you provide pointers on possible prospects for planned parsnips in potential packs of produce.
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Curried-Apple, Parsnip Soup 

Ingredients
3 parsnips
3 cups water
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 large red pepper
2 cloves garlic
3 large Granny Smith apples, fresh
1 cup red lentils
1 tbsp salted butter
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
pinch of red pepper flakes or red pepper sauce to taste
I added a splash of apple juice just cuz.

Directions 
Wash and cut apples, parsnips and red pepper into rough pieces and put in slow cooker, leaving skins on all veggies.
Combine all recipe ingredients in slow cooker with water (omit or add some water depending on volume of ingredients in pot).
Cook on high until all ingredients are soft-about 2 - 3 hours.
Then, using a hand blender or blender and puree all ingredients in cooker until smooth.
Continue cooking on low until all flavors have combined and you're ready to eat!
Easy as pie and better for you.
Makes about 6-8 servings.

NI
Calories: 162.2; Total Fat: 2.7g; Dietary Fiber: 7.4g; Protein: 4.7g

Alien brains have invaded my fridge! Brainiac? Nope. Celeriac.

Mondays we get our list of CSA vegetables and fruits that are ready for pick up on Thursday.  A couple weeks ago, we got some celeriac. 

WTH?  

I have know idea what a celeriac is, how to prepare it or what it is.  Yes, Google is your friend. 


According to wiki...

Celeriac, also known as 'celery root,' 'turnip-rooted celery' or 'knob celery', is a kind of celery, grown as a root vegetable for its large and bulbous hypocotyl rather than for its stem and leaves. The swollen hypocotyl is typically used when it is about 10–12 cm in diameter; about the size of a large potato. Unlike other root vegetables, which store a large amount of starch, celery root is only about 5-6% starch by weight.

I know many o' peeps that would love to be known for their large and bulbous hypcotyls.  *ahem* 

The celeriac is that alien brain looking tentacle thing on the right. I think it was the star in one of the movies David watched and reviewed on Tomb It May Concern. 


But I digress. Back to the food.


I found this on a blog called Tiny Urban Kitchen and after having this soup at the Monday Club in Harvard Sqaure, she made it herself and graciously posted the recipe.  

Ingredients 

1 celeriac root (peeled and chopped)
2 medium sized Idaho potatoes (peeled and chopped)
1 large apple (peeled and chopped)
1/2 onion, diced
1 Qt chicken broth
1 T butter
1 T oil
1/2 tsp dried Thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Chopped bacon for garnish

Directions

Saute onions in butter and oil under medium heat for a few minutes until browned and translucent. Add the celeriac and potatoes. Saute for about 8-10 minutes until they are cooked. Add broth and apples. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. Blend in batches in the blender. I'd like to eventually get an immersion blender for soups like this.

I served the soup with bacon and we enjoyed our roast chicken with roasted CSA vegetables.  The entire meal was either from the CSA, organic or free-range. 

The Tally....
NI: 143 cals/6g fat/3g fiber/3g protein
Cost: $4.83 or $.73 per serving

Clean up your plate pancakes

Saturday is "Mama" day to the kids and the one day a week I make breakfast for *S* and *I*.

Of course, by make this used to mean pour Cheerios and milk into a bowl.

David still has to remind me to give them a drink. Why do I always forget their 1/2 water 1/2 juice concoction?

Ok, PCE (pre-cleaner eating) I *did* occasionally make pancakes with the kids, but they were used to be the Joy of Cooking variety; ya know, white flour, white sugar, covered in margarine (*blech*) and Aunt Jemima. (And you *know* how I feel about Auntie J.)

Today we cleaned up our beloved pancakes. Instead of sugar we used local honey, we replaced most of the flour with whole-wheat flour. They were so darn good, not one of us even requested said Auntie J.

This is for a double batch.  We freeze most of the pancakes to be used as 30 second nuke jobs on other mornings.

Ingredients
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
6 Tbsp melted butter
3 c. milk
1/4 cup of honey
1 peeled and chopped apples with cinnamon for 1/2 the batch (Enterprise Farm apples)
1 mashed banana for 1/2 the batch

Directions
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Mix the remaining ingredients.  Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry.   Separate them back into two bowls and put the mashed banana in one and apples in the other.  Add some more flour if you like your pancakes a little thicker.  We added about 1/4 cup more flour.

Pour 1/4 cup of batter in a pan or griddle with a little oil. Brown on both sides.

After we made the batches, I sprayed a cookie sheet with cooking spray and placed the leftover pancakes on the sheet and in the freezer.

The kids didn't even bat an eyelash at the cleaned up version.  I might try using all whole-wheat flower the next time.

The Tally...
NI: 158 cals/2g fat/1g fiber
Cost: Cheaper than Denny's.  I'll get back to you on how cheap.