Winter Blues Got You Down ? Vegging Out is an Antidote !

So what you need bubbling in your kitchen, is a pot of happily colored veg soup and some parsnip crackers !  Always nice to have a plan as to how to beat the winter grey here in Paris!

Veg soup is the easiest thing. Various veg, peeled and chopped some into chunks : carrots, rutabaga, red cabbage, some just cut in half: cherry tomatoes, and some left in their skin like the cloves of garlic. Few grains of cubébé black pepper, a larger generous sprig of thyme and the stalks of parsley that you might have thrown out, find a home here.

Two onions, browned slowly in a bit of olive oil, all the veg and goodies tossed in on top, water to cover and you are off! I start this out on top of the stove and move it to the oven after it comes to a bubble.  

Slow slow oven : 100° C

To go with my plain jane veg soup, I'm trying out a new recipe for parsnip crackers. This is a variation on making neat and tidy baked parsnip strip chips. Visually, these look much more chaotic!

 

Parsnip Crisps :
2 parsnips
5- 6 juniper berries ground with a mortar and pestle
small bunch of fresh thyme
bit of sea salt
Olive oil

Using the veg peeler, i make quick work of my two parsnips. Some of the strips are nice and neat and others are little shreds. Nothing goes to waste here!

Sprinkle a few drops of olive oil, add the freshly ground juniper berries, salt and thyme and toss as you would a salad.

Spread this in an even layer over a parchment paper covered cookie sheet which goes right in the oven above the pot of veg . Both while away in there for a couple of hours, sweet perfumes filling the entire house..

Take care to turn the pan every so often so that no one corner browns before another.    



I put this on in the morning and serve both at about mid afternoon.

Brightens up any day!

-L