Roasted Parsnip Soup with Toasted Hazelnuts

I'm really excited to be sharing this recipe with you all as my first one EVER on the blog! A friend of mine gave me a bag of parsnips about two weeks ago. She bought them because she was curious but came to the conclusion that she wasn't going to use them. So, she gave them to me and told me to find something to make with them. A food challenge? Heck yes I'll take it!

Not only had I never cooked a parsnip, I had never seen or tasted a parsnip before! So this would defnitely be an adventure. I immediately started scouring the Internet for ideas. After finding a few winners, I did what I do and pulled a little from this one and I little from that one and came up with my own fabulous version! Now, I want to share this delicious, beautiful, Healthy recipe with you!

You'll have to forgive me for not taking pics of all of the ingredients before I started chopping. I was a little excited, mmkay? Anyway, here are the things you'll need plus parsnips (duh), an onion, and some apples. Don't hate on the high tech way I store my veggie stock, either. Please.

I just realized that you can't actually see the names of the spices. They are white pepper and ground cardamom.


So, first I chopped up the parsnips, onion, and apples. The apples will cook much faster than the onion and parsnips so you want to cut them into about 1 inch pieces and the others in about 1/4 inch pieces. Believe it or not, this was the most tasking part of this recipe. Exhausting, right? I tossed them, individually, in a bowl with a little EVOO and some kosher salt. Then I lined them up in my roasting pan like this:


Looks yummy, right? Just you wait! Just pop these beauties in the oven at 400*. You'll want to take them out after 30 minutes to take the apples out. I just went ahead and tossed them into my stock pot. Then, stir the onion and parsnips and spread them in your pan. I also threw in three cloves of garlic, just smashed and peeled, for a little extra depth. Plus, who doesn't love roasted garlic? Anyway, put the pan back in the oven for another 30 minutes and go do something. I fought it out with this blog (trying to figure out how this thing works again) and chased the dogs around the house with a topless toddler. Yes, it was a blast. :)

After your timer buzzes, pull you veggies out of the oven and throw them in the stock pot with your apples. They will smell divine. They will look something like this:


Now, just add your stock and your half and half and go crazy with your immersion blender until it's all smooth. I started with 4 cups of stock and just added until I got to my desired consistency, which turned out to be between 5-6 cups. Then just add your spices, and stir:


Turn the stove to med-low and let the flavors get all happy together in the pot! Meanwhile, grab yourself some crushed hazelnuts and toast them up. Yum!


Once the soup is hot, ladle it out into some bowls, sprinkle some of those toasty hazelnuts on top, add a drizzle of EVOO (I would have totally used truffle oil here, if I weren't out, but EVOO did the job this time) and prepare to indulge!


This soup looks like it will be heavy and creamy BUT it's not! It's actually light and wonderful! I might even venture to say that I would eat it chilled in the summer time. We were pleasantly surprised by parsnips and their peppery goodness! I'll definitely make them a fall/winter regular in our kitchen!



Roasted Parsnip Soup with Toasted Hazelnuts
Printable Recipe

1.5lbs parsnips

1 sweet onion

3 medium fuji apples (peeled or not)

3 or 4 cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled

4+ cups veggie stock (to desired consistency)

1/2 c half and half

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

Kosher salt, to taste

1/4 cup toasted crushed hazelnuts

Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Truffle Oil



Preheat oven to 400 F

Cut apples into thick 1 inch wedges.
Wash and scrub parsnips. You can peel if you want to... but I left the skin on. Slice into thin 1/4 inch slices.
Slice the onion into to 1/4 inch slices.
Line a baking sheet w/ parchment.
Toss apples in a med sized bowl with drizzle of olive oil and pinch of salt.
Place on one side of the baking sheet.
Toss Onions with olive oil and salt. place in the middle of the baking sheet.
Toss parsnips with olive oil and salt and place on the far side baking sheet....keeping them separate.

The apples will cook much faster and you want to keep them separate for easy removal. You could use separate baking dishes if you want, but why make more dirty dishes?

Place in the oven and check in 30 minutes. Apples should be very soft, remove them. Mix the onions,parsnips, and garlic and roast for another 25-30 mins until onions are translucent and parsnips are fork tender.

Add parsnips, onion, apples, and garlic to stock pot. Puree with immersion blender until smooth. Add white pepper, cardamom, salt. Let sit on med-low heat until heated through.

Pour into individual bowls and garnish with toasted crushed hazelnuts and a drizzle of EVOO. Enjoy! We did!

What we've been up to

The last time I wrote an update was about 10 months ago. That's just too long, so it's time that I give you an update.

Shortly after my last post, Mitch left for Japan for what would turn out to be a nearly 7 month deployment. Deployments are never easy, but this one was definitely easier on us than the last. We were able to FaceTime or Skype at least once a day and Sophi got to talk to and see daddy a lot, which was HUGE for all of us. She would "love daddy" (press her face against his and make a loving sound) and give him kisses. They would have tea parties and dance parties. It was cool.

We had a pretty fun summer, despite daddy being away. We stayed outdoors most days. I can't keep that kid inside! She is an outside girl just like her mommy. She loved going over to Granny's and getting into the pool or going to the base and playing at the splash park. She wanted to learn to swim so bad and would dunk her head under water or just dip her ears in or her face to blow bubbles. We played in the dirt a lot. She helped me in my garden, watering plants and pulling weeds and plucking flowers for our hair.

We started going for runs in late summer. We would grab the jogging stroller and a dog and head out early before it got too hot and run 3 miles or so. She loved to stop and feed the ducks. I loved getting what I fondly call my runner's tan and sweating my face off. I was able to lose 20 pounds from running. That's the rest of my baby weight plus a few pounds for good measure. ;)

In October, Sophi finally said something other than "mama" and "dada" which got the ball rolling on her really talking. I remember being concerned about her because she wasn't talking like most babies at her age. I knew she could hear me because she would respond in her own way, but she just refused to talk. We talked to her pediatrician about it and she sent us to have her hearing tested. After a couple of tests, it was determined that her hearing was fine. She was just stubborn...or maybe it was something else.

Mitch came home in December(Yay!). His flight arrived real late on the night they came in. Sophi had used up all of her energy by the time he came off the plane. She had just enough to give daddy a little hug and kiss and then back to mommy to fall asleep while we waited for Mitch's bags to unload. Naturally, I was nervous about how she would be the next morning since she kind of shied away from him that night. That baby put my worries to rest, though. When she woke that Saturday morning (the next day), She woke up saying "mommy mommy" as usual, but Mitch went to go get her while I watched on the monitor. Here's how it went: he walks into the room, she sees him, jumps up in her crib, throws her arms out and let's out this huge, happy scream: "DADDY! DADDY!!!". She leapt into his arms and pretty much didn't leave his side for the next few days. She would snuggle in his lap or tackle him on the floor. She would say his name and touch his face as if to say, "daddy, it's really you!" All of my fears were cast away.

Oh, about the talking thing? She was obviously saving that for her daddy because as soon as he came home, that baby started saying a handful of new words a day and was talking sentences within weeks! Amazing. She can now hold a conversation with us, along with reading her favorite books and singing a couple of songs. She blows our minds daily.

Sophi turned two earlier this month. TWO. My, how time does fly. We had a couple of celebrations for her. Mitch was working some crazy long hours so, the day before her birthday (Sunday), we let her pick out a cupcake at Target and smash it up. This was followed by a crazy dance party. The kid loves to dance on the coffee table! The following weekend, we had our family and closest friends come over for a little party. It was a lot of fun! Sophi's cousin, Jaiden, came to play and she also got to play with another new friend, Kiani. She played until the sun went down and then still partied for a few more hours until daddy finally came home from work and was able to read her a bed time story and it was off to bed she went.

I can't believe how much our family has grown over the last 10 months. We are happier and stronger than ever! 2013 has been and I know that it will continue to be an awesome year for us! Thanks for hanging with us!

Picking Back Up....again.

Over the last few years, I have started and stopped this blog more than a few times and I have finally asked myself "why?". The reason is, when I first started this thing, it was meant to be a blog about all about my pregnancy and about Sophi. So I felt guilty any time I wanted to write about anything else, but here is what I have come to realize: Even though not everything I write is directly about my baby, everything that I do or write is done with her in mind or to directly affect Sophi and our family. I am her mother, Mitch is her father, and she is our child. We are one unit and not three individuals. So, with that said, I am going to try and make a conscience effort to pick this thing back up off the ground again. I won't promise to write every day, and maybe not even every week. I don't know if anyone still reads this thing or not but, it makes me feel better to write. So here I am, once again, blogging. And happy. :)