Roasted Parsnips with Thyme
By: Carrie Murphy
Published: Friday, December 30, 2011 - 4:16pm

Ingredients




8-10 raw parsnips
a glug of olive oil
dried or fresh chopped thyme
salt and pepper to taste
2/3 cup of the broth of your choice, divided (I used chicken broth)

Preparation

1 1. Preheat the oven to 350. 2 2. Rinse parsnips and peel if you want to. I like leaving the skin on, but I did chop off the ends. 3 3. Place the parsnips in a roasting pan and add the olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme (at least a few tsps of thyme). Mix it very well or use your hands to rub each veggie with the spices and oil. 4 4. Pour 1/3 cup of broth over top of the parsnips. Roast for 30 minutes. 5 5. After 30 minutes, pour the other 1/3 cup of broth over the parsnips and rotate them. The original broth should be almost completely evaporated. 6 6. Roast for another 30 minutes or until parsnips are very tender.

About

I ate parsnips for the first time only a few weeks ago, when I bought a big old bag of mixed root vegetables and roasted the hell out of them. I had no idea what some of the vegetables were (can YOU identify celeriac by sight?) but one veggie really stood out to to me: parsnips! The roasted flavor of parsnips is so deliciously smoky-sweet, like a carrot that is naturally gourmet. 
Parsnips are pretty ugly, though. They're a light brown color and kind of bent and misshapen, like an old man with a bad back. Don't be fooled by their ugly exterior, however; parsnips are such an perfect, easy side dish, especially in the  fall and winter (when they're in season).