Curried Parsnips?

Last night we had friends over for dinner, so I thought I would experiment with food. I know that is counter to conventional wisdom. I should have tried the recipe before subjecting others to something I haven't tried myself. That was actually the plan, to try it myself first, but circumstances changed midday and I know my friends well enough to know they won't eat what they don't like. And Helen would definitely tell me if something was unacceptable before it reached the table. So, we tried Curried Parsnips with Yogurt and Chutney. No, I've always been interested in winter vegetables and roots (besides potatoes and acorn squash), but I've never tried them. I found a good looking recipe in Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I would recommend this book to anyone. It's got a lot of really good tasting, accessible recipes. I particularly like that it isn't an elitist cookbooks that has hundreds of ingredients no one but an instructor at the CIA has heard of. Here is the recipe:

Curried Parsnip with Yogurt and Chutney

1 1/2 pounds parsnips, peeled and chopped into even-sized pieces
2 to 3 tablespoons butter or canola oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 apples, cored and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon curry powder
Salt and freshly milled pepper
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cut Apricot and Dried Fruit Chutney, page 81, Apple-Pear Chutney, page 81, or a commercial mango chutney
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Steam the parsnips until barely tender, about 7 minutes. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium skillet. Add the onions, apples, and curry powder and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Add the parsnips, season with salt and pepper, and cook 5 minutes more with the additional tablespoon butter to help them brown. Turn off the heat, then stir in the yogurt, chutney, and cilantro and serve.

Yum. We used a mango chutney we found at the local market, but I think the Apricot and Dried Fruit Chutney would be really good, and looking at her recipe (on page 81) it would be fairly easy to make.

It was a nice change from the vegetables we normally eat.