In the Fall when vegetables like rutabagas, parsnips, purple top turnips, and celery root (aka celeriac) start showing up in our CSA share it’s the first time some people have seen these and of course they want to know what to do with them. I always say the same thing; anything you can do with a potato you can do with any root vegetable and, they are all interchangeable. Not only are they interchangeable they are so interesting and delicious together, mix and match any and all you have. Baked, mashed, roasted, au gratin, scalloped, and grilled you can do it all with any of them.
Today I was making some mashed potatoes and I had some parsnips, celery root, carrots and a rutabaga so I am making a mixed root vegetable mash instead of just plain mashed potatoes.
Peel and cut up whatever vegetables you are using. I didn’t peel my potatoes or carrots but I did peel everything else.
Put the peeled and diced vegetables in some salted water. Bring that to a low boil and cook until the vegetables are very tender. I cooked mine about for about 25 minutes. I added some pepper and herbs too. Celery root floats, weird huh?
Drain the cooked vegetables and fish out any herbs if you added them.
I was making this for a simple weeknight meal so I wanted to keep it light so I used milk and some olive oil. If I was making this for Christmas or Thanksgiving I would use heavy cream and lots of butter. The cream and butter make it fluffier.
I just eyeball the amounts and err on the side of less because I can always add more.
Milk and olive oil in the pan, oh, I rinsed out the pan.
Add the veg back and mash and taste to see if you want more salt or olive oil or butter if you are using that.
I like my mash a little lumpy. Keep mashing if you like yours lump free.
That’s it. So easy and quick and deliciously earthy and complex compared to just plain mashed potatoes.
So good. Enjoy your winter vegetables.
Mo
