Squash and Parsnip Gratin

We celebrated our Christmas on Sunday night since we will be out of town for the holiday. Every year we celebrate our Christmas Eve and Christmas the weekend before our road trip. I was looking forward to cooking and preparing a sit down dinner for Mr. Sideline Chef, itty bitty, and I but the truth is... I was dead tired when the time came to putting in the effort to do so.

After accomplishing a few things around the house that morning we headed to the furniture store to pick up a new couch... I am beyond giddy over this one... but I wasn't even drained at this point. What did it for me was when Mr. Sideline Chef stated our next stop was to Walgreens to get flu shots. My hands went pale and my blood sugar dropped instanteously. I was physically ill. He could see the horror in my eyes and the sweat beading on my forehead. In a moment of understanding he told me I didn't have to get one. That still didn't make it better. The mere mention of needles made me sick to my stomach. Yes, I have a tattoo behind my ear of my son's birthdate and that was 1 minute of pain I would only put myself through if I was heavily sedated had another baby. Needing to get food into my system he suggested the "golden arches" (to keep our toddler from knowing we were headed and having a tantrum in the backseat). A sandwich each to hold us over and we were off to Walgreens.


It was a Mickey Mouse Christmas Celebration!

By the time we got home I saw the mound of dishes in the sink, the dishes needing to be emptied from the dishwasher, and looking at the clock reading 5:30 p.m. I really didn't want to cook. I even shed a few tears. I don't know where they came from... sheer exhaustion... or tears of joy I didn't have to get a shot. Who knows? As the few tears rolled I pushed on to create a dinner that was ate right before bed but oh so worth the 3 hours spent waiting for it to be done.
I made Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin (recipe tomorrow), Squash and Parsnip Gratin, and just heated up some Pillsbury Grands Biscuits since I ran out of sugar from making Peppermint Stick Cocoa on Saturday night. He was lucky that can of biscuits hadn't been used for breakfast biscuits or else the one item he had requested for dinner wouldn't have made it to the table.

Parsnips and I are in a love/hate relationship. Acorn squash being beautifully vibrant and orange stood out next to the white chunks of the parsnips making them easy to segregate. I wasn't into the parsnips tonight. I was into them the other night when I made Roasted Potatoes, Parsnips, and Carrots with Horseradish Sauce. Their licorice-y taste was turning me off tonight. The acorn squash on the other hand was fantastic and thankfully there was more of it than parsnips.

Squash and Parsnip Gratin

MyRecipes.com and Cooking Light, November 1995

Makes 6 servings (Serving size = 1 cup)

Stars of the Show: (Standout performance from the acorn squash!)

• 1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley - I used dried parsley.
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 4 cups peeled, cubed, acorn squash (about 1 pound)
• 2 cups peeled, cubed, butternut squash (about 1/2 pound) - When writing down the ingredients I left this out and didn't realize it. The side notes on the original recipe state that any combination of winter squash may be used to make up the 6 cups of squash.
• 2 cups peeled parsnips - I will be leaving these out next time.
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• cooking spray
• 1/2 cup (2 oz) shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
• oregano sprigs for garnish

And Action:

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl and stir to mix. Add squashes and parsnips, and oil, tossing to coat. Spoon mixture in a 2-quart casserole dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and bake at 325° for 1 1/2 hours. Sprinkle with cheese and bake uncovered for an additional 15 minutes. Garnish with oregano if desired.

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 178 (24% from fat)

Fat: 4.8g (sat 1.5g,mono 2.4g,poly 0.4g)

Protein: 5.6g

Carbohydrate: 31.1g

Fiber: 3.6g

Cholesterol: 6mg

Iron: 1.8mg

Sodium: 323mg

Calcium: 189mg

Roasted Potatoes, Parsnips, and Carrots with Horseradish Sauce

My absolute favorite way to eat my veggies is by roasting them in a little bit of olive oil and sprinkled with spices. Along with finding the recipe for Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes with Horseradish Butter I found this one as well to help use up the jar of horseradish that has been sitting in the fridge until the occasional roast beef sandwich was made. Roasted veggies is one of those foods that makes me giddy. I look forward to nights when I create the menu to have a side dish of them and even when Mr. Sideline Chef is out on the road I'll make a pan of them as a stand alone meal. I'm easy to please.

Carrots are one of those foods I couldn't stand as a kid. I could eat them raw but cooked any way just made my stomach turn and my mother's hair grey with trying to get me to eat them. It wasn't until 2 years ago when she had made a large pan of roasted veggies for us at Easter that I gave them a shot and was smitten with the sweetness from roasting.

I recall eating parsnips one time in my childhood. I know they weren't well received and that explains why my mother never bothered making them again. My tastes have since changed in the past 3 years. Mr. Sideline Chef swears it was his love of mushrooms and my love for him that turned me into a mushroom lover and carrots are also now on my radar. Why not give parsnips another go?

This was a score in my personal playbook. Itty bitty had stuffed himself off of leftover pizza and Mr. Sideline Chef was surprised with his favorite and thus filled up on it leaving no room for roasted veggies. Excuses, excuses. More for me and my feelings were definitely not hurt.

The horseradish sauce was yogurt that had been drained of the excess liquid and then mixed with horseradish and salt. Simple and so flavorful and paired well with the roasted vegetables. I damn near licked the plate clean. If Mr. Sideline Chef wasn't home I would have gone wild but since I didn't want to turn his stomach I resorted to cleaning my plate of the sauce with my finger when he wasn't looking. Shameless. Beware Mr. Sideline Chef... your leftovers won't last longer than tomorrow and these roasted veggies will be making an appearance on a plate near you!

Roasted Potatoes, Parsnips, and Carrots with Horseradish Sauce

MyRecipes.com and Cooking Light, November 1999

Makes 6 servings (Serving size = 1 cup vegetables and 2 tbsp horseradish sauce)

Stars of the Show for the Horseradish Sauce:

• 1 (8 oz) carton plain low-fat yogurt
• 2 tbsp prepared horseradish
• 1/4 tsp salt

And Action:

Spoon yogurt onto several heavy duty paper towels and spread to 1/2-inch thickness. Cover with additional paper towels and let stand for 5 minutes. Scrape the yogurt into a bowl and mix the horseradish and salt. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Stars of the Show for the Roasted Potatoes, Parsnips, and Carrots:

• 1 lb (1-inch thick) sliced carrots
• 1 lb parsnips, peeled, and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 lb fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise - Our local market did not have fingerling potatoes. I had a large bag of Yukon Gold potatoes left from the night I made Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes with Horseradish Butter. You can also substitute small red potatoes.
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp chopped fresh sage
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 12 garlic cloves, peeled (about 1 garlic head) - I had minced garlic on hand.
• 4 large shallots, peeled and quartered
• 4 thyme sprigs - I used dried thyme.
• cooking spray

And Action:

Preheat oven to 450°.

Before the magic happens.

Combine carrots, parsnips, and next 8 ingredients (parsnips through thyme) in a shallow roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes. Stir. Reduce oven temperature to 400° and bake an additional 30 minutes. I like my veggies with more color and kept stirring mine after the 30 minute mark every 10 minutes for an additional 20 minutes. Discard thyme if you are using the sprigs. Serve with the horseradish sauce.

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 197 (15% from fat)

Fat: 3.3g (sat 0.8g,mono 1.9g,poly 0.4g)

Protein: 5.5g

Carbohydrate: 38.5g

Fiber: 5.5g

Cholesterol: 2mg

Iron: 2.1mg

Sodium: 371mg

Calcium: 129mg