Ideas for Using Frozen Parsnips & Potatoes? Ingredient Questions

Q: For dinner this past Christmas, I had pre-chopped all of the vegetables before finding out that several guests wouldn't be coming. I threw the extra veggies in the freezer, hoping that I would figure something out in the future.

So, it's the future. I have parsnips, white sweet potatoes, and par-boiled potatoes sitting in my freezer. Can I do anything with these?

Sent by Ashley

Editor: Ashley, I'm thinking soups and casseroles! Both of these dishes would welcome some starchy roots and would be forgiving if the vegetables lost some freshness during their time in the freezer.

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Readers, what ideas do you have for using up these frozen root vegetables?

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(Image: Emma Christensen)

Comments (8)

I saw a recipe on Food Network not too long ago, for a salad that had roasted parsnips, roasted carrots, pears, arugula, walnuts and a honey based dressing. Here is a link:

http://giadadelaurentiis.com/recipes/708/roasted-root-vegetable-salad

What about roasting them tossed with some cumin, lemon juice, honey, and olive oil?

How about a potato/parsnip mash? I also like the soup idea, because you'll be able to compensate for any loss of flavor due to freezing the veggies.

If none of the other (great!) suggestions strike your fancy, you can always include them in a veggie (or chicken!) stock. A good homemade stock beats the patootie out of canned stock any day.

How funny! I made a soup last month with that exact combination. i used sauteed onions, a bottle of riesling, seared lamb chunks, fresh thyme, and those veggies. Threw it all in a pot at 300 for 4 hours or so, and it was delicious.

You could always mash them into this Indian mashed veg stew called pav bhaji. Just replace the carrots in the recipe for the sweet potatoes!

http://smultronsoul.blogspot.com/2010/04/pav-bhaji-bun-with-mixed-vegetables.html

You could mash them with eggs & breadcrumbs, form them into little pancakes, and serve them with something on top. Maybe mushrooms & gravy...? Or add additional herbs and cheese, then let the little veggie pancakes stand alone as a side dish to salad?

You could roast them with carrots, onions and garlic and build a pureed root vegetable soup with stock, spices, and maybe a hit of cream.