Even More Root Vegetables

Since it is winter and root vegetables are everywhere these days, and squash and carrots are getting a little boring, we're branching out and trying new root vegetables.  So far, we've tried turnips and celery root.  Both have gone well.  We've put a little potato with dark leafy green purees to give them more oomph, and sweet potatoes are popular.  Our newest additions to the root vegetable group are sunchokes and parsnips.

Sunchokes are overlooked and delicious.  The hardest part of cooking with a sun choke is peeling it if it has lots of little nubs and crevices.  I try to find the straightest and smoothest sunchokes, but realistically you should factor in a little bit of time to peel them well.  With the peel, they look similar to a ginger root, and without the peel, they look similar to a potato.  I've heard they are really high in iron and are good prebiotics for digestive health, so they seem like a good thing to give a baby.  (I've also heard that they cause farts, but so far that hasn't been our experience.)  

Along with our sunchokes, I added some turnip and our old standby - leek.  

Sunchoke, Turnip, & Leek Puree

• Peel sunchoke and turnip
• Chop into small chunks
• Wash leek and slice white end
• Add sunchoke and turnip chunks & leeks to a steamer basket
• Steam for 15 minutes
• Blend with a small amount of cooking liquid for desired consistency

I scooped out several portions of this dish and set them aside for Robert.  Then I made a mistake.  I didn't taste it before altering for a more adult version.  If I had tasted it, I would have declared it practically done - just in need of a small amount of salt and pepper.  Unfortunately, I plowed ahead without thinking and added a generous block of butter (and salt and pepper.)  

Whoops.  Later, while feeding this to Robert, I had a bite of his, and it was delicious.  The adult version was overrun with butter.  It wasn't bad, it just didn't let the flavors of the veggies through.  

Our next root vegetable was the misunderstood parsnip.  I thought this would be a good addition because they can be even sweeter than carrots and are easy to prepare.  

Parsnip and Carrot Puree

• Peel parsnip and carrots
• Chop into small chunks
• Steam for 15 minutes
• Blend with a generous amount of cooking liquid to get a good mush

I used substantially more parsnip than carrot, and Robert loved this!  Since he's familiar with orange colored foods - and likes them a lot - he took the first bite willingly and cleaned his bowl.